BFGoodrich KO3 vs. Falken Wildpeak AT4W

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hskb

hskb

Joined
Jun 12, 2022
Threads
26
Messages
117
Location
Northern CA
Hi all,
Currently, i am looking for a new set of good off-road tires, and i decided to go with 285/75R18 - I know i need to mod the pinch well, flap, step board, and washer cover to make this 34.8" tire to fix.

My local tire shop quote me:
Falken Wildpeak AT4W 285/75R18 for $1809 out of the door.
and local costco center has:
BFGoodrich KO3 285/75R18 for $1855 out of the door (KO3 $60 off for 4 tires currently).

So they cost about the same.
Which tire would you choose?

For the mod, I will follow this write up here:
Brandon Ryder

Thread 'how to trim fenders AKA pinch weld mod'

I haven't seen a step by step for this on Mud but considering how many people are afraid to cut even the plastic on their fenders, i thought i'd show you what I did today to prepare for putting on some metric 35s next week. (285/75/18) i planed to hammer the pinch weld down, trim a little and heat gun the plastic to retain some splash protection for the body panels.
first step is to get an idea of what you're dealing with. after removing the plastic liner here is what the pinch weld area looks like.
20200515_115030-01.webp
20200515_115040-01.webp



the back side
20200515_115048-01.webp

and from below
20200515_115115-01.webp
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Thanks
hskb
 
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Yes they are Load E

I went to costco website, and they ask for the car plate to see if it fix, so I did not do it.
Instead, i went to the store, and the rep told me if it's not normal tires for the truck, then NO warranty.

I really don't care about warranty anyway. I asked if I can take off the tires, bring them to them for the installation instead of bring my car in.
the rep said 'ok' but he was too busy with other customers. Not very assurance answer. I can always find other avenue instead of costco.
 
Dont go to Costco period. They are a joke of a tire retailer. The kind of people that go there drive appliances like Corollas and Chevy Equinoxes, and Costco just wants to sell them Michelins and BFGs so they dont ever come back until its time for them to get new tires. Ive had e rated tires on my 100 for the past 5 years. Im getting them taken off this week for some P load tires. E rated stuff imo doesnt belong on 100s unless youre 7k lbs loaded, and also wheeling Colorado or Rubicon.

Falken AT3w and AT4W have been ridiculously heavy tires. They are heaviest in every single size without fail. Also that size will have the Duraspec and HD sidewall, so just know you are going to be riding extremely rough. This is a tire for 2500 and 3500 series trucks. However they are tough. Falken does make a 35x11.5R18 in load range C which weighs like 8 lbs less than the 285.

KO3 - I hear they are better in the wet now. Looks like its around the same weight. And you get 3/32nd less tread than the AT4w.

Also are you sure you want 285/75/18? I think you might need to do some cutting along with some bumpstops so you dont rip your fender. I think either tire you cant go wrong.
 
Thanks hickuptruck for the E rated explanation. I would love for a good suggestion for a good tires that's lighter and decent for off road.

The reasons I am looking at these 2 tires, and the size are that after reading these threads:

OEMGUY0720

Thread '295/70R18 on LX470'

Hi everyone. I was trying to search for a similar topic with this but couldn't find any...

I am planning to change tires soon, would like to max out the tire size uing OE 18" rims , was wondering if anybody has fitted a 295/70R18 Nitto Trail Grapplers or Cooper STT PROs.

Will the 295/70R18 mud terrain tires' side walls rub on the UCA?
If the side walls will hit the UCA, wheel spacers/adapters and what's the thickness to clear it?
With or without wheel spacers/adapter, will the tread of the tires hit the plastic splash guard or even the OE side step on Neutral height setting?

--2006...
nitteo

Thread 'The size 35s Discussion and Pics (mods/ wheel & tire choices)'

35 inch tires CAN fit into the 100 series... with some modding.

Ive always wanted to fit the 35s into the 100, but always found conflicting info on the web.

This thread is for KNOWN parameters. Hopefully we can list what wheels and offsets, tire choices, and mods needed to do to make them fit.

Inspired by @kreiten build, I went to replicate his 35s build.

My Specs:
Tires: Kenda Clever RT 35x12.5x17
Wheels: Method 304 17x8.5 0 offset
Mods: Extended Bumpstops with Timbren Rears and Washers on Front OEM Bumpstops
Fitting: Pinch Weld Mod, lots of hammering to bash the inner...
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As in my other build thread, I did order the front bumper, rock slides, and Timbren Bump-stops. Hope these 3 components help to fix a larger tires.
I am a total newbie, and have a tendency to to rush things lol. Maybe i need to slow things down, install these 3 components first and then look for the
best fix Tires that i can get..

Currently I am on a Tundra BBS TRD 18" wheel with Michelin AT2 275/70/18 and spacers (I got the set already come with the spacers and not sure what size- i think without the spacers, the front caps don't fix).

LX.webp
 
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Yes my truck will be no longer stock with the following heavy items: deluxe ARB front bumper, WARN 10s winch, Metaltech rock slider, and an Autohome Columbus RTT, extra battery and Light and other accessories.
 
Are you planning to spend much time off road? What type pf surfaces, sharp rocks, gravel roads, mud, sand?
I have three sets of tires for my exceptionally heavy truck (7800 lbs). My favorite tire by far are Michelin Defenders - they will do mild off roading and are a joy on paved surfaces (where I am more than 90% of time!).

They don't look very aggressive and I won't want to ride them on sharp rock crawling but for everything else they are great!
 
I just join the Bay Area Overlanders group, and they do a lot of cool stuff including fire road, and technical 4x4 trails, sharp rocks, gravel roads, sand dune and more?
It was my daily drive and camping, towing truck (used to have a Boston Whaler Outrage Boat) until recently i got an LS460 for my daily so i decided to make this more of a wk warrior instead of a daily.

so i am not too concern with terrible mileage, and road noise
these are all the things i just order in the past week:

1. Metal Tech Rock Sliders
2. ARB Sahara Deluxe Bumper
3. Warn VR EVO 10-s Winch (103253)
4. ARB Compressor (just the old brushed single for now)
5. Bump-stops: Timbren Active Off-Road for rear, and Timbren SES for front
6. Whelan Engineering Pioneer Micro LED lights (3) and control box, some StrobeNmore LED light bars for front and back.

​

 
Have Falken on my van AT3W on my van for years, just work!
Mickey Thompson on the LC and will surely move to Falken when they're done ;-) Just a great overall tire taking whatever you throw at them.

But I guess comparing these two specific tires you'll find a close to 50:50 vote anywhere you ask ;-)
 
I have k03 e load on my stock 100 series , rides pretty damn good on the highway and around town. I’m sure SL or P would ride much better
 
I have had the atw4 in the size you are looking at on my built (heavy) 200 series only it is C rated and I absolutely love the ride. I moved to these from an E rated Toyo open country 275/70/18. These tires are much better on and off road so far.
 
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KO3 it is.

So the KO3 K.O. the AT4W for me.
One of the factor that helps me choose is that it's Made in the USA - and I like that.

To put more things in the decision making, I just got myself a nice set of LX470 OEM 16" wheel from the market place LOL. The tires on my current 18" only has 7k miles on it so don't want to throw them away.

I look at the KO3 available tires for the 16/18 and here are the contenders:

1. 285/75R18 $1,760
2. 285/70R18 $1725

3. 295/75R16 $1,288
4. 315/75R18 $1,444

Right now, i am backing off, and leaning toward the less aggressive tires: 33-34 range instead of 35.
 
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hskb said:
KO3 it is.

So the KO3 K.O. the AT4W for me.
One of the factor that helps me choose is that it's Made in the USA - and I like that.

To put more things in the decision making, I just got myself a nice set of LX470 OEM 16" wheel from the market place LOL. The tires on my current 18" only has 7k miles on it so don't want to throw them away.

I look at the KO3 available tires for the 16/18 and here are the contenders:

1. 285/75R18 $1,760
2. 285/70R18 $1725

3. 295/75R16 $1,288
4. 315/75R18 $1,444

Right now, i am backing off, and leaning toward the less aggressive tires: 33-34 range instead of 35.
Click to expand...
ok mr trump haha!
 
Just put on KO3 285/75R18s. I had rubbing on my fender liner, but not at the pinch weld.

I also have rubbing at full lock left but not right. I discovered that one of the tires was rubbing on the frame. Will correct this by adjusting the knuckle steering stops. May also have some rubbing at the top of the fender liner (12 o'clock position) but I'm not sure about that yet.

Before:
1759461103085.webp


After:
1759461085333.webp



Where I live the cost for the AT4s were substantially more expensive once I factored in the "hidden costs". KO3s were available at Costco so were cheaper.
 
That 18" wheel look small in those pics. I also notice you have the white letters in one, and black on the other. I will make sure they are on the same side when I mount mine. At first i think some contract on the white letter over black tire would look cool, but after seeing your pick, i think i will stick with all black :)
 
Octous said:
Just put on KO3 285/75R18s. I had rubbing on my fender liner, but not at the pinch weld.

I also have rubbing at full lock left but not right. I discovered that one of the tires was rubbing on the frame. Will correct this by adjusting the knuckle steering stops. May also have some rubbing at the top of the fender liner (12 o'clock position) but I'm not sure about that yet.

Before:
View attachment 4003439

After:
View attachment 4003438


Where I live the cost for the AT4s were substantially more expensive once I factored in the "hidden costs". KO3s were available at Costco so were cheaper.
Click to expand...
Where are you buying tires from that have "hidden costs"?
 
hskb said:
That 18" wheel look small in those pics. I also notice you have the white letters in one, and black on the other. I will make sure they are on the same side when I mount mine. At first i think some contract on the white letter over black tire would look cool, but after seeing your pick, i think i will stick with all black :)
Click to expand...
probably because the first pic with the black letter is a 285/75-16 KO2 on a 16" wheel, and the pic with the white letter is a 285/75-18 KO3 on an 18" wheel.
 
16 vs. 18:
I chose 16" to have more room when airing down for offroad stuff. If you only do mild offroad/ dirt road 18 is also fine.
 
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