My first choice of the KO2s are backordered until February nationwide. I’ve checked everywhere and no one has any left in stock. So now I’ve narrowed it down to the General Grabber ATX and the Falken Wildpeak AT3W. Anyone have experience with either? What would. You vote for? I’m seriously wasting too much time debating what to get so any experience would help!
I had KO2s on my 80 and now I roll 275/70R18 ATx on my 100. So far so good. I think they look a little more aggressive than the AT3W. They make an acceptable level of noise. Traction has not been an issue thus far.
I had a lot of experience on all terrains with the KO2s on the 80. The only time I really had any trouble was snow deep enough to give nearly any tire, especially All Terrain tires, trouble. I do not have the same experience yet with the ATx. I notice the road noise more but that's probably b/c I'm driving a 2007 instead of a 1997 but it's not enough to bother me. The tires weigh about the same and look very similar. I do prefer the look of the KO2s better but I couldn't argue since I got the ATx at 50% list price. I was trying to decide between Grabber X3 and ATx. Maybe when the ATx wears out I'll try the X3. So in a round about way to answer your question... the jury is still out. Thus far, the ATx has been able to do everything the KO2 has - and at a higher pressure - since I can't air them down to 8 like I could with the KO2s on the 16" OEM wheels. On my OEM 18s, the lowest I've gone is 15.
This is a hard call. My immediate answer was going to be the Falken because of these pics: HOWEVER after researching the ATX I’m thinking they may be the way to go. Honestly the tread looks very close to the KO2 Besides the million google images I looked at, I also watched this video Started cracking up because someone posted that the guy looks like Jonah Hill
Not to complicate things but did you consider the Cooper ST Maxx ? The people that have them love them. I know they run a tad bit smaller but they seem to be a good hybrid tire. Good luck man
I have looked at the Coopers, but their “35 inch” tire actually measures below a 34.5 but a full 12.5 width which I don’t love. I do like the Falkens but learned tonight, as I was at Discount Tire to order them, that they are a 2 ply sidewall compared to the 3 ply sidewall of the KO2. I told him I’d have to research sidewall ply to determine if 2 would be fine or not. I found some 315s KO2s but they’re in Canada and will cost a pretty penny to bring them in.
Did you find 5 tires in Canada ? Here’s an idea: I’d call BFG - tell them about your sweet build and that you’ll sport their logo in exchange for some 315s at cost ... might work ? Your truck will be as nice if not nicer than those in the km3 videos
Oh man - that is sad Gotta love Costco - did they look in all 3 million of there stores? There’s got to be 3-4 more somewhere
Been running the ST Maxx for a few years now with ZERO issues other than picking up a lag bolt at one point on the road and running the tire down low without realizing what was going on. This resulted in multiple internal sidewall tears that were unrepairable (per Discount Tire) and thus required a replacement tire. Been offroad multiple times with them down to 12psi running over sharp Nevada rocks and nary and issue. Last club run resulted in two guys having flats in our group running "stronger" tires (one KO2 and one random) but no issues for me. The cooper have their standard ArmorTek sidewalls that are supposed to help with reinforcement of the tire so I would take that into account over the direct ply comparison. My question when someone starts throwing a question at you like that is whether they are just trying to upsell you to something they have in stock or stock regularly?
I probably would go with the STMaxx if they measured closer to a 35 and skinnier than a 12.5 but unfortunately they measure closer to a 34 and they're dead at 12.5.
Does a 1/2" of rotational length actually make that much of a difference to you? Or is this purely an aesthetic thing? Every tire out there is going to be slightly different is size but I would go for something with better quality than worry about something like that? Just my person opinion and with the amount of constant threads you can find about issues with the KO2, and my person experience with BFGs in the past, I stay FAR away from them.
Yes, I would prefer something a little taller, even if it is 1/2 inch. The KO2 served me well for years but I certainly also like the aesthetic of the tire as well. There will be negatives of every tire, just trying to find what will work for me.
Absolutely have loved our Wildpeaks on our 200 series. They have worn great, are still quiet, and have performed as needed. I have 30K miles on them so far over the last 2.5 years.
So I ended up going with the Cooper ST Maxx due to side wall construction. I decided to play it safe with a 3ply sidewall instead of the AT3W and ATX's 2-ply.
