Why so much hate for BFG A/T?

It’s interesting how some have had mixed experiences with the KO2s. I’ve had 2 sets of 265 70 17 KO2 in C, for 140k miles. I just picked up 5 - 285 70 17 for a good price, only 51 lbs each. Great all round tire. I do have winter tires for the couple months of real winter here. Really any AT tire isn’t great on ice and wet slick compact snow.
The Aussie 4wd guys tested MT vs AT, they run Goodyear tires so this test seems unbiased.

 

i remember having a set on my t4r; 275/55/20 on 20x10 fuel kranks. i also remember them being eerily quiet on the street for being such an aggressive looking at tire. they are way more quiet than duratracs thats for sure.

 

They just havent aged well. The KO2 revision made them much better in snow and ice but they still fall short in many ways, on and off road.

I've had more issues with BFG's than any other all terrain in regards to balancing. It's random and some are good, some are bad. It's mass produced so you hear more about them than any other tire.

I would consider them for a 1/2 ton or bigger, but for Tacoma, like duratracs. It's just not the right tire.

 

Overpriced, mediocre performance, scarily bad in the rain, terrible longevity when actually put to off-road use. There are far better tires on the market for significantly less money. Source: over a decade of managing a fleet of off-road LE patrol vehicles.

 

What would be your choice? I'm by no means a rock crawler, just a camper that goes off road sometimes. I've had 2 sets of BFG's and no complaints if that says anything. I'm not bound to any particular brand of tire. I just had good luck on the TJ, so I bought some for the Tacoma. I also like saving money, so I'm open to hear your choice.

 

They were the best for a very long time, now they're not. So the hate you see is directly proportionate to the glory they rode for so long. I've ran them too and there's a better option for any quality of the bfg at including as a do-all tire. So unless they still give you the warm-n-fuzzies that much, look elsewhere.

 

I'm not stuck on any particular brand. I just liked them on the TJ, so I bought some for the Tacoma. I want a good A/T that has great wear/longevity, which I got out of my last set. I'm about to lift the truck, so I'll need new tires soon.

 

My 295/75r16 BGF KO2 A/Ts currently have ~74500 miles on them. Several cross country road trips. Wheeling in Moab, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Wyoming. I’ve done plenty of guidebook rated “hard” trails, lots of snow (two winters in Wisconsin), rain, some mud. They’ve done amazingly well. Tons of tread left on them and still pretty quiet.

I don’t get why people hate on them. I’m definitely going to get another pair When these finally wear out.

This pic is two days ago. 74k+ miles.

 

I ran the KO's on a few different trucks and had no issues. I ran the KO2's on a my Tacoma and a Full Size Dodge Ram. They ran great on the Ram. Could never keep them balanced on the Tacoma Had the first set warrantied out and the second set was just as bad. Went to the Cooper ST Maxx and they ride smooth. Wont go back to the BFG's after Many Many years of use.

 

I had KO2's on my 4runner for 29K miles
265/70/17 C load. After 29K miles, they all measured 12/32 or 80% of their original tread depth. They also wore very evenly, and looked like new when I swapped them out for 285's. Proper inflation and 5K rotations were probably a big factor.

I had no issues with balancing. They were a great do-it-all tire for me. I see plenty of guys using them off-road.

I went with Toyo AT3's this time just because they were new to the market and the guys at my off-road shop had highly recommended the AT2 for weekend warriors. Otherwise another set of KO2's was one of my top choices.

 

It has the stickers that’s what matters

 

Have you used them for “true off road use”? Quantifying your comment with some specifics could help... Why do they suck off road for you? suck for tear assing around on desert roads? Or rock crawling? Or mudding? Why? Adding some incite into why they didn’t work for you would be helpful, for people considering these tires.


Personally I love mine and will be getting them again. Worked great for me in Moab and in the San Juan’s of Colorado and more. Can’t remember how many ridiculous rainstorms I drove through in them, endless Wisconsin snow last winter.

 

Traction in the rain with K02's is terrible, I would constantly lose traction when the roads were wet. I drive up a decent size hill to work every morning and when the roads were wet I would have to switch into 4x4 to get going when stopping at an intersection.

With the cooper AT3 XLT's I have zero issues, and the ride is way smoother.

 

Whoops I’ve offended someone. My buddy’s 4x4 Sport digs itself into the sand at the beach with deflated 285 KO2 tires. Wet traction on road sucks. Tread pattern fills itself with mud immediately making them useless. Chunks of the tread literally fall off if used on harsh gravel roads. Is that enough for ya?

 

They’re basically “sexy” tires. They look good and there is a large marketing budget behind them luring in a lot of simpletons. They cost a premium and for the price point they’re not the perfect tire they’re made out to be. I would argue that they’re far from it. People who actually put some effort, thought, and research into tires quickly realize 1) you can buy better tires 2) you can buy tires just as good 3) you can go route 1 or 2 and not pay the premium BFG charges.

once you realize how all these other tire companies are producing good tires and you see all the Chads going up and down talking about their KO2 suffering from confirmation bias, posting pics of their KO2s and overall acting like it’s the shit handed to them by god. You cringe and want to pull your self away from those people.

I ran the original KOs and thought they were the shit. I was younger at the time and more naïve, not bothering to make the correlation that I had gone from street tires to AT hence the improvement. They howled like crazy, and the rubber became very hard after a couple of years. Fast forward, I needed new tires and KOs were out of my budget. The shop offered General Grabber AT2s for $300 less. I got them due to my budget constraint thinking I was getting budget tires. I’m currently on my 3rd set. I’ll definitely need a new set by mid next year. I will most likely try another brand just for the sake of it, although their new generation of general grabbers looks really appealing and better rated than the KO2s. I guess we’ll cross that bridge next year.

 

Lol that’s the exact same reason why I have them now. I was 17 at the time when I got mine 2 years ago. Didn’t give a shit about performance, just looks

 

I'm really liking all the replies. Looking forward to how my set moves forward with wear and tear.

 

Had a set of KO2'S on my GF 2017 Tundra, drove quite well in the spring "wet season" here. Mileage always varies of course

 

Both of these statements are word for word precisely what my experience with them was.

Never again. Not for the money I paid for each one.

 

Will never buy that tire again, only good thing I have to say about them is that they look good and I got good mileage out of them. Plenty of other tires to choose from that perform better and cost less