Opinion based on cost : KM2 or KM3 / BFG’s

[BILT4ME]

If you are seriously off roading your rig, you should stay far away from the duratracs. The sidewalls are too soft. My brother ripped three sidewalls on the same trip 3 or 4 years ago. Ruined the trip for him (obviously). I have read about many others experiencing the same issue. Great snow and rain tire for street use but unreliable otherwise. He had good success with the Goodyear MTs however.

I have been running the Pro Comp extreme MT2s. I am now on my third set. For the price (they have a buy three get the fourth free) I feel they are hard to beat. They have put up with a lot from the desert rocks and sand to the mountains on many hunting trips. Performed well on all surfaces and had no issues other than one tire when I put a tree branch through the sidewall retrieving an animal when towing a tandem axle trailer off the beaten track. I would be cautious running them in the snow however.

I also have had very good experience with the BFG ATs. Put sets on my son's Taco and daughter's 4runner. She lives in Montana and loves them, especially in the snow.

As on any forum, as you well know, the tire experts will come out of the woodwork with their opinions. Run what you want, you already have a lot of time in the seat an know this. If you compromise, you will never be happy.

I have heard this many times.

What ply rating were the Duratracs in question? D or E?

 

[BILT4ME]

Why would you run mud tires on a pavement pounder rig?

For that off chance possibility that I may go offroad at any moment.

I drive in snow, ice, rain, dry pavement, and I go to construction sites and fab shops in remote areas, and I put on about 20K miles per year.

I want to make sure I can get where I need to be, when I need to be there, and not worry about not having the right tires to get me there.

There are not too many places I need to go that I must climb a cliff made of rocks the size of small cars. However, there is sand, mud, snow, rain, and ice......

 

[Cruzerman]

For that off chance possibility that I may go offroad at any moment.

I drive in snow, ice, rain, dry pavement, and I go to construction sites and fab shops in remote areas, and I put on about 20K miles per year.

I want to make sure I can get where I need to be, when I need to be there, and not worry about not having the right tires to get me there.

There are not too many places I need to go that I must climb a cliff made of rocks the size of small cars. However, there is sand, mud, snow, rain, and ice......

Op said his was a pavement pounder. And from the sound of your use, I would still think an A/T would make more sense. But that's just me.

 

[LINUS]

Why would you run mud tires on a pavement pounder rig?

Better to have & not need than to need & not have.

Same rig has a winch, all equip I may never use (but did when this was the 80’s job) - if I need it retrieving the boat from a informal riverbank, I need it right then.

With a Sequoia TC & a RR Harrop, I could even get to single-vehicle ownership that has the HP/TQ and traction to launch & esp retrieve the boat anywhere.
That may happen if I buy a lot I’m eyeing, that already I’ve stated would have a switchback driveway & road punched with 4”- rock for awhile (so my driveway alone would be very unfriendly to street cars).

But in reality, my reasons are mine. I’m surprised you ask this at all.
Just like whatever caliber of any random freedom stick I buy, or anybody else buys.

-Do you have BFG MTx experience to provide?

 

[SHREDwagon]

Ridge grappler will suck on snow or ice, not enough siping.

35" RG's have been fine so far this year compared to previous KO2's. They do flat spot though - worse in the cold.

@LINUS - you seem pretty set on BFG, so my vote is KM3 because it wasn't hard to improve on the KM2.

 

[Azca]

Better to have & not need than to need & not have.

Absolutely agree! That is why we bring tools and parts when hitting the trails. Still have not needed any, for my rigs, but have used on others. Also why I replace my tires at 50%, tires with no tread do no good...

 

[chap79]

Like I said before, I’ll vote KM3. Better compound and better looking. Who knows the age of the KM2s you might get. And what happens if you need to replace one in the future and are unable to get a new KM2.

 

[BILT4ME]

Are the KM2's and the KM3's as soft as the old BFG Mud Terrains of yesteryear? If so, I liked the grip in the mud and the softness of the ride, but they wore quickly, and the sidewalls were very soft, which led to some separation of tread and sidewall when I ran them 30 years ago. Admittedly, not the same tire, but they may have the same characteristics. I'm asking because I'm not sure.

I run E rated Duratracs now and have almost 75K on them. Again, primarily highway mileage.

If My choices were KM2 vs KM3 and one was "discontinued", I would go with the new version due to the possibility of a failure or flat that destroyed a tire and required a replacement. Otherwise, buy 5 or 6 to work into the rotation to cover for the difference in "expiration", but your up front cost will end up being more.

 

[graham5david]

Km3. I've had both and they are great. Also loving my general grabber x3s.

 

[LINUS]

35" RG's have been fine so far this year compared to previous KO2's. They do flat spot though - worse in the cold.

@LINUS - you seem pretty set on BFG, so my vote is KM3 because it wasn't hard to improve on the KM2.

It seems the smart money if I do BFG’s is KM3’s from all points made - age, replacement tire/ future availability, tire tech, etc.

That said, @baldilocks & myself have a shorthand that I’m going to grill my work friend as to why he out-of-rounded 2 pairs of Nittos on a 3/4+ diesel GMC/Chevy & get a definitive answer / may wait ‘till he hits the same milage he was burning Nitto tires.
I want to say that truck has auto-fill airbags/RR susp - It’s the Duramax/Allison powertrain meant for his style of use.

My greatest concern is as dedicated as I generally use/don’t use the Tundra, currently I’m only doing ~3K/yr, so 8-10K flatspotting I’d be some ~3yrs down the road/no warrenty.

 

[baldilocks]

It seems the smart money if I do BFG’s is KM3’s from all points made - age, replacement tire/ future availability, tire tech, etc.

That said, @baldilocks & myself have a shorthand that I’m going to grill my work friend as to why he out-of-rounded 2 pairs of Nittos on a 3/4+ diesel GMC/Chevy & get a definitive answer / may wait ‘till he hits the same milage he was burning Nitto tires.
I want to say that truck has auto-fill airbags/RR susp - It’s the Duramax/Allison powertrain meant for his style of use.

My greatest concern is as dedicated as I generally use/don’t use the Tundra, currently I’m only doing ~3K/yr, so 8-10K flatspotting I’d be some ~3yrs down the road/no warrenty.

I’m also curious as to how he ended up with flat spots.

 

[LINUS]

I’ll PM you when I know, he was also who IIRC said the Nitto/Toyo are tied brands/company.
His truck is at oldest a ‘17, not sure what all tow pkg functions it has but they ate the tires on the rear axle, front tires weren’t problematic.

At the rate he racks up miles, he should be at ~10K soon, he easily does 7-10x the miles a yr I do & I still have around 1/4” of tread on worse pair.
Ideally I’d like new truck tires of whatever flavor prior to any snow we may see, but the 80 still is fine & I have those skidder-type chains for it, worst case scenario.
And the 4WD quad, so I have options.

 

[baldilocks]

I’ll PM you when I know, he was also who IIRC said the Nitto/Toyo are tied brands/company.
His truck is at oldest a ‘17, not sure what all tow pkg functions it has but they ate the tires on the rear axle, front tires weren’t problematic.

At the rate he racks up miles, he should be at ~10K soon, he easily does 7-10x the miles a yr I do & I still have around 1/4” of tread on worse pair.
Ideally I’d like new truck tires of whatever flavor prior to any snow we may see, but the 80 still is fine & I have those skidder-type chains for it, worst case scenario.
And the 4WD quad, so I have options.

I ran a set of Toyo AT’s back in 2005 with no issues on those either other than they only lasted 35k and for some reason I don’t care for Schwab’s stores. Much prefer Discount tire.

 

[ajordan1975]

the main reason the KM2 is 100 cheaper than the KM3 is because they want to move the old stock out!
I'm a huge fan of BFG's . I've ran the KM2 on an old crawler and loved them. I currently run KM3's on my LX450 and love them! Both in a 37" flavor.
I also love the KO2's on my DD's. Ran those on my F250, Excursion and 3rd gen 4runner.

 

[LandLocked93]

So here’s where I’m at:

I can either pay ~$460 pre-tax & install, for KM3’s
-or- I can pay ~$357 pre-tax & install, for KM2’s

Bottom line - do you guys who have been through both tires, think KM3’s are worth $100 more each corner?
***IDK how old the KM2’s are, at all - Discount tire / closeout priced***


Do the KM2’s or spend $400 for the KM3’s?




—————————————
It’s a size tire for my Tundra, but this forum sees more guys who have been through multiple sets of any tire, so I figure my odds of getting 100% voices of experience are going to happen here.

A thousand pardons if I missed it but...are your numbers for 4 new tires??
Where the hell are $100 BFG's??? They run minimum $250 each in Colorado for E-rate (closer to $300 for a 255/85 16)
Toyo's are sitting @ $300+ ea.
Minimum $200/ea for your average A/T or M/T.

 

[COYS]

A thousand pardons if I missed it but...are your numbers for 4 new tires??
Where the hell are $100 BFG's??? They run minimum $250 each in Colorado for E-rate (closer to $300 for a 255/85 16)
Toyo's are sitting @ $300+ ea.
Minimum $200/ea for your average A/T or M/T.

He is looking at the price delta dude

 

[LandLocked93]

He is looking at the price delta dude

Uhhhh...if you say so.

 

[Broski]

I ran two sets of Duratracs in a row on my Dodge Cummins and liked them. Each set lasted just less than 55k. Last month I needed new tires for the pickup so I decided to try something different. After much deliberation, I discover that Nitto tires are made in The USA and garner more respect than I previously thought.

I ran across their tire called Nitto EXO Grappler AWT while researching and that’s what I ended up getting. They are designed as a hybrid and compete with the Duratracs. I was running load range D Duratracs in 285 because D is what discount tire always had in that size. These Exo Grapllers are load range E and obviously more stout. They are actually more quiet than Duratracs and have been putting Cummins torque down on wet pavement very well, even better than the Duratracs in wet conditions. They are definitely more suited to the service a tundra provides than KM’s.

Nitto Exo Grappler Tires

Nitto Exo Grappler tire specs. Find specs for Nitto Exo Grappler tires in every size available on the market.

tiresize.com

Been running Nitto tara grapplers on my tow regs for years very nice tire. Had problems with BFG not balancing right.

 

[LINUS]

A thousand pardons if I missed it but...are your numbers for 4 new tires??
Where the hell are $100 BFG's??? They run minimum $250 each in Colorado for E-rate (closer to $300 for a 255/85 16)
Toyo's are sitting @ $300+ ea.
Minimum $200/ea for your average A/T or M/T.

5th line of original post - $100 per corner more for KM3’s.

$460 - $357 = $103 EA TIRE. So $100 per corner.

You owe @CYKBC those 1000 pardons, he nailed it 100%
—————————

I didn’t catch the guy with enough time to talk his Nitto experience, but we briefly spoke & he has auto-bags in the rear that keep the shocks in a certain sweet spot between the bumpstop & full excursion.

He messed with PSI, and tried the auto-level defeat button, but he’s also on something like 22’s or so (not positive, his just look larger than my 20’s) -and I have 20’s on mine with manual-fill airbags on my RR axle, so I almost wonder if it’s the lack of sidewall that is flat-spotting Nitto tires.

IDK - fortunately I found a set of 17” RW wheels like my truck originally had, but they need work & powdercoatimg before I ever put tires on them.
A project for when I have land, not now.

 

[mario65]

We've built several rigs with both. KM2s are discontinued. If you need a replacement in a few months you'll be screwed. Km2s are louder. KM3s are very quiet for a mud terrain and they look great. Get the KM3's.