Christened the LC today (with a k-rail) (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

re: KO2 snow performance

I lived in southern Oregon where roads were always dry in town and at least a couple inches in the mountains (maybe similar to front range CO?). New KO2s felt fine in deep stuff to me, usually powdery snow. 20k miles later, the same KO2s are terrible in New Hampshire. Daily driving is icy, slushy, plowed roads roads that constantly freeze/thaw, lots of packed snow. Rarely deep. Real slippy tires. I need a softer compound and a snow tread; big lugs are useless. I think it depends on the conditions.

I’m ready to try out some studded Nokian Hakka LT3s. Haven’t heard much feedback on them yet but I’m hoping for the best.
 
My new wildpeaks showed up early, so I spent a couple hours mounting them (neighbor has a mounting machine).
All the tires had tread left but they were all hard and two even had cracking along the tread. So yeah about the worst possible condition ATs ever.
 
So what snow tires do you run @suprarx7nut? And do you run them off-road as well during the winter months?

When I bought my LC it also came with a set of Blizzaks. Great tires on-road, but not so much off road.
Cooper discoverer MS for the cruiser and blizzak for my wife's crossover.

I put them on roughly November to March and I don't off road in those winter months. I'm sure they'd be poor in most off road conditions. I'm more interested in grip on icy mountain passes if we go up to the ski towns in the winter.

With those winter tires I generally have to try to purposefully activate abs. With the ko2's on icy roads I have to try pretty hard not to activate abs.
 
You are correct. Previously it was only select tire sizes. Good to know. That said, the ones that came on my truck aren't.
There are two versions of KO2s. One version is snow rated, and the other version is not snow rated due to a harder rubber compound that gives them longer treadwear.
 
I live at 9,000ft of elevation in the frontrange over Denver, so I tend to abuse tires a bit. Blizzaks wear very, very fast in the canyons so I've been trying out snow rated ATs lately. So far I'm happy, but I do run full on snow tires with studs on my car while the trucks/suvs have been getting snow rated ATs.
 
For the occasional snow, I don't see how the snow-rated KO2s can be beat - because, for us, there's that other 99% of the time we're not on snow. Each time I've ventured out in the snow and ice in the 100, it's felt like I was cheating.

This pic's a few years old, but illustrates that cheating... The cop was stuck for 45 min - in the valley; polished ice roads both directions... I pulled him to the top and never spun a tire.

And yeah, we did make the jokes "Nice to finally pull a cop"
Screen Shot 2019-12-08 at 10.01.49 AM.png
 
"For the occasional snow, I don't see how the snow-rated KO2s can be beat - because, for us, there's that other 99% of the time we're not on snow. Each time I've ventured out in the snow and ice in the 100, it's felt like I was cheating."

I feel the same about my BFG snow rated tires and Land Cruiser.

I think most people who dis on the BFG do so because they don't like to have one of most popular options for an aggressive looking AT. They want to find fault and get something "better". Other possible reason might be they are comparing old worn tiers with new. The OP's tires were old, worn out, and stiff. Any new tire snow rated or not would have been better. Also, no tire will stop or alter the course of a 6,000 lb truck if it is moving too quickly. It's really easy to forget to adjust driving habits for snowy conditions. Going down hill only makes the problem worse. I'm guilty of it. More than once I've found myself off the road. It happens fast. I'm glad the damage was minimal and no one was injured. Still sucks though. Ruins your day and more.
 
KIMG0293.JPG
KIMG0291.JPG


Went Christmas tree hunting last week on a new set of BFG snow rated tires. Encountered everything: wet asphalt, slush, packed slick snow, fresh 18" deep snow, steep slick down hill, slick side hill. Never a tire spin or a slide. Except when trying to pull the Sequoia out of the ditch he slid into in front of me. Sequoia had nearly new AT tire of a different brand.

I replaced a 4 year old set of BFGs with 40,000 miles on them this year with new before snow season. Old set still had 30% tread depth. But I'd rather have the peace of mind of fresh soft rubber than get the last couple hundred dollars out for the old tires.
 
Actually, I've found that fresh snow (that isn't wet) is usually the easiest to drive in provided that you have clearance and good tread. It's the wet stuff and the refrozen hard pack that's the real PITA. Icy hardpack is what I hit the other day.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom