My review of BFG K02's

[ginandtonic]

Hey all,

Recently swapped out my 35/13.5/20 Ridge Grapplers for some 325/60/20 K02s. The K02's are almoat a full inch taller but half an inch more narrow. The ride quality is fantastic, likely because I went from a 79lb F-load down to a 70lb E-load. I'm impressed with how the K02's look at this size, they seem aggressive enough, although not as aggressive as the old RG's. I made the switch due to cupping with the RG's and because I'm in Canada so I need something better for the snow (going down in size to find a snow tire was not an option).

At highway speed the tires are very quiet, potentially as quiet as how my RG's were when new. I have no complaints about them in the rain really - they're not the best but they're an A/T, what do you expect.


I'll post some pics when I get it all cleaned up this weekend... and I'll update this thread once the snow flies in a month!

 

[olyelr]

I will be waiting for the updates.

The damn snow has been flying here already this week doh!

 

[dhay13]

My son had them on his 2018 2500 and loved them. He got over 50,000 miles out of them

 

[Badger 13]

I had those on my previous truck, and run them on the wife's Wrangler Unlimited. We have been very happy with them. They have been great in the snow, and wet roads. When I need new tires for the truck, they will be BFG KO2's.

 

[Longhorn1500]

Thank you for posting. Am seriously considering these for my truck.

 

[BuschLatte420]

Only tire I purchase for 3 vehicles in the past 10 years!

 

[62Blazer]

I had 2 sets on my last truck and loved them. Best tire I have owned for my application....majority of time on the road, snow, a little light off-road, and did some towing. It's the only tire I have ever worn out the first set and decided to stay with the same thing for the next set of tires. Every other time I have tried something different because I wasn't 100% satisfied. Kinda' wish I would have gone with them on my current truck. However I was set on getting 37x13.50's which BFG does not offer in the KO2, and thought I would get something a little more aggressive. Went with the Ridge Grapplers, and while I don't hate the tires they are also not the greatest. Poor wet weather traction and louder than the previous MT's on had on the truck.

 

[ginandtonic]

Here we go! Gave the truck a real quick wash this morning. I'm not sure how but the shop that mounted the tires got the tires/rims/wheel wells SO dirty... like I coudn't get them that dusty on a gravel road. I plan on re-cleaning the wheels and titres before the snow flies and then getting rid of that haze in the paint with a polish next summer - it's been 3 years now and I wash it A LOT.


Anyways, about 250 clicks on the tires this week and I am still very very impressed with how quiet they are at 65-75mph. Too early to tell if the 9lbs savings per corner made a difference in mpg though. I like the look of the extra height of the 325/60's over the 35's - it's minimal but I still notice it - not sure someone else would at first glance though.








One thing that I do miss is how the Ridge Grapplers had more rubber up against the rim protecting it. I like how the rim is slightly inset from the sidewall of the tire. it makes the tire appear wider imo, and I'm a bit surprised that with what BFG is going for with the K02 they don't do something similar. Their tire meets the rim the same way most basic car tires do.

 

[Ludville1]

I have them on my '09 and like them a lot.

 

[Schotzy]

Hey all,

Recently swapped out my 35/13.5/20 Ridge Grapplers for some 325/60/20 K02s. The K02's are almoat a full inch taller but half an inch more narrow. The ride quality is fantastic, likely because I went from a 79lb F-load down to a 70lb E-load. I'm impressed with how the K02's look at this size, they seem aggressive enough, although not as aggressive as the old RG's. I made the switch due to cupping with the RG's and because I'm in Canada so I need something better for the snow (going down in size to find a snow tire was not an option).

At highway speed the tires are very quiet, potentially as quiet as how my RG's were when new. I have no complaints about them in the rain really - they're not the best but they're an A/T, what do you expect.


I'll post some pics when I get it all cleaned up this weekend... and I'll update this thread once the snow flies in a month!

Looking forward to the pics! I'm going to replace the stock tires on my power wagon next week with 35X12.5 R17 KO2's. Looking forward to going up in size and I've had good luck with KO2's in the past on my other trucks.

 

[Mike Wenrich]

I recently put four LT265/70R17/10 tires on my 2004.5 Cummins. Was told they are quiet and much better for mud and snow than the stock Good Year Wranglers that are no longer available. I like everything about them except they do sing a little and I imagine affect fuel milage a little because of the better traction. Not 35's as discussed here but maybe this info is helpful to other viewers considering KO's.

 

[2Tallguy]

Hey all,

Recently swapped out my 35/13.5/20 Ridge Grapplers for some 325/60/20 K02s. The K02's are almoat a full inch taller but half an inch more narrow. The ride quality is fantastic, likely because I went from a 79lb F-load down to a 70lb E-load. I'm impressed with how the K02's look at this size, they seem aggressive enough, although not as aggressive as the old RG's. I made the switch due to cupping with the RG's and because I'm in Canada so I need something better for the snow (going down in size to find a snow tire was not an option).

At highway speed the tires are very quiet, potentially as quiet as how my RG's were when new. I have no complaints about them in the rain really - they're not the best but they're an A/T, what do you expect.


I'll post some pics when I get it all cleaned up this weekend... and I'll update this thread once the snow flies in a month!

I had a defective KO that caused highway vibes. Discount Road Forced them and got them to zero out on the Hunter Balancer. Vibes still. Each tire took between 4-9 oz.s of lead to balance. It happens. Bad batch that BFG nor Discount would help me. Hand written letter and all. I sold those at a huge loss and began running Toyo's 20 yrs ago. Never an issue.

 

[Bj Binette]

Pretty happy with mine. Gonna be my 3rd winter with them.
People always ask me how noisy they are. I tell them they should ask me how quiet they are.

 

[ginandtonic]

Good angle of the sidewall now that it has soaked in the CarPro Perl that I put on it... the perfect amount of sheen!

Aired down to 43f/40r and they seem to be happy.

 

[CanuckRam1313]

I was running LT285/65R20 BFG KO2's on my 19' as my summer only tires, and I put a lot of mileage on them, too.

I ran them 40psi cold f/r and was very vigilant on tire pressure checks and adjusts, rotations, and an annual alignment check and adjust if needed.

While they do look great I had some incidences that prompted me to switch them out.

For me, their wet road traction and stability aren't there. In heavy rainfall they really lose grip because of their chunky tread design. The water doesn't evacuate as well.

There was noise at highway speeds, but that wasn't a real deal breaker for me though. What do you expect from a chunky AT tire.

What was horrible was balancing them out. I had two replaced just after purchase as they wouldn't zero out, and they were always road force balanced. As the tires aged and wore their balancing became more and more weighted, and was not able to get a smooth ride.

The tires averaged 7oz to 10oz per tire to balance them, and even then it was still a horrible ride. I had enough and sold them all with 60% tread remaining just to get them gone at the start of their third summer (this past summer).

I'm not knocking these great tires, but for me they just weren't worth the hassle. I hope all others have great experiences with their BFG KO2's.

I'm now running new summer tires in LT295/65R20 that are about 5lb a tire lighter, and only took between 0.75oz and 2oz to balance out on a road force balancer, and I've gained about 2mpg back, too.

 

[ginandtonic]

I was running LT285/65R20 BFG KO2's on my 19' as my summer only tires, and I put a lot of mileage on them, too.

I ran them 40psi cold f/r and was very vigilant on tire pressure checks and adjusts, rotations, and an annual alignment check and adjust if needed.

While they do look great I had some incidences that prompted me to switch them out.

For me, their wet road traction and stability aren't there. In heavy rainfall they really lose grip because of their chunky tread design. The water doesn't evacuate as well.

There was noise at highway speeds, but that wasn't a real deal breaker for me though. What do you expect from a chunky AT tire.

What was horrible was balancing them out. I had two replaced just after purchase as they wouldn't zero out, and they were always road force balanced. As the tires aged and wore their balancing became more and more weighted, and was not able to get a smooth ride.

The tires averaged 7oz to 10oz per tire to balance them, and even then it was still a horrible ride. I had enough and sold them all with 60% tread remaining just to get them gone at the start of their third summer (this past summer).

I'm not knocking these great tires, but for me they just weren't worth the hassle. I hope all others have great experiences with their BFG KO2's.

I'm now running new summer tires in LT295/65R20 that are about 5lb a tire lighter, and only took between 0.75oz and 2oz to balance out on a road force balancer, and I've gained about 2mpg back, too.

Interesting! Always good to have different opinions on tires here! Mine only took 4oz max to balance out. Did you try different shops for the balancing? Very odd that they couldn't get them zero'd out.. makes me think it may be a skill issue instead of the tires themselves. What kind of rims are you running? are they true and round still?

 

[RamDiver]

For me, their wet road traction and stability aren't there. In heavy rainfall they really lose grip because of their chunky tread design. The water doesn't evacuate as well.

I'm curious as to the type of driving that caused a lack of grip. Were you rookie road racing during typhoon rains?

I know the BFGs don't have as many sipes as some of the less beefy tires and could see they wouldn't perform great with very wet aggressive driving but I've rarely had any slipping during high rains.

Then again, I have mellowed out in the past 15 years but it might be related to width too. I've always used narrower tires in the winter, currently 245/75/17.

I use my KO2s as winter-only tires and primarily for deep snow. Living in a rural area, sometimes we don't see a plow for up to 36 hours after any major snow dump.





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[CanuckRam1313]

Interesting! Always good to have different opinions on tires here! Mine only took 4oz max to balance out. Did you try different shops for the balancing? Very odd that they couldn't get them zero'd out.. makes me think it may be a skill issue instead of the tires themselves. What kind of rims are you running? are they true and round still?

Totally agree that rookies can cause issues, and so can uncalibrated and/or poorer quality machines.

My shop is a high end tire shop that I've worked with for about 20 years now.
They use quality machinery, weights, and have their equipment calibrated several times a year as they specialize in everything from rubber band performance tires to monster tires for the truck and Jeep people.

The BFG's I had were reverse rotated, spun on the rims..you name it, all the tire tricks.
Checked for hop, run out, belt shift...the works.
Mind you, they were better when brand new, but as they aged it became more difficult to balance them.

I'm running the OEM 20" rims, and those too were checked for truness, hop, wobble, etc., and they are in perfect condition. I've not ever hit any potholes (now I just jinxed myself...lol) and don't beat the heck out of my truck.

I really liked the BFG KO2's. They looked great, weren't too noisy at highway speeds, and were tough as heck. But being on the highway all the time I couldn't stand the vibrations any longer. So off they came.

 

[CanuckRam1313]

I'm curious as to the type of driving that caused a lack of grip. Were you rookie road racing during typhoon rains?

I know the BFGs don't have as many sipes as some of the less beefy tires and could see they wouldn't perform great with very wet aggressive driving but I've rarely had any slipping during high rains.

Then again, I have mellowed out in the past 15 years but it might be related to width too. I've always used narrower tires in the winter, currently 245/75/17.

I use my KO2s as winter-only tires and primarily for deep snow. Living in a rural area, sometimes we don't see a plow for up to 36 hours after any major snow dump.

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I only used the BFG KO2 tires in the summer. Yes I like to be spirited when I drive, but in wet road conditions I exercise extreme care as it's nothing to spin out easily.

Especially when it's that light mist and the road is just starting to get wet where all the oils start to come up.

It was on the highway and getting into the ruts of the road in heavy rains that I really felt the BFG's lose grip. Or hitting the edge of a deep section where a sewer backed up and it was starting to come into the highway.

I run skinny 17" Blizzak DM-V2's on steel rims for my winters. I drive all over Ontario and QC/MTL, needing all the traction and safety the Blizzak's provide.

I've put many thousands of KM's this season with my new summer tires, and the difference is night and day in how they provide better road manners and wet traction in light rain or torrential downpour with puddling, etc.

I also gained about 2mpg back as well, and I'm not objecting...lo.l. TBH though (and IMO only), we don't buy these trucks, put bigger tires on them, and hope to get good gas mileage....

 

[ginandtonic]

What did you put on for summer tires? What size K02's were you using? It's worth pointing out that in order to have an honest comparison between tires the same size needs to be compared. Same with the class of tire - if you went from a K02 down to a highway designed tire then of course the K02's are rough and noisy, but you didnt buy them so they would be quiet and smooth haha.