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FJ005

FJ005

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Jul 29, 2009
Threads
24
Messages
482
Location
Fairview Heights, IL
Well
sooner or later I will have to get new tires (sooner than later).

I'm thinking of getting BFG KM2s. The question is should I upgrade from my current 33s to 35s?

Is there any benefits or drawbacks to upgrading?

Is the KM2 a good tire or can I get something better and cheaper?

Will upgrading make me more vulnerable to breaking something?

Your opinions are apreciated...:hillbilly:
 
Here are my responses.

1) Yes, I always like bigger tires.

2) Yes, Yes, It's not hard to start and argument on what is the best tire.

3) Yes, Speaks for itself.

Everyone has to decide what direction they want to go with their truck pr trucks in some cases. If you want bigger tires you will need different gears. If you wheel your truck harder you will brake axle parts. Sheetmetal is always in danger.
 
I think years ago I made the mistake of making my 4runner too big. It all started with the 2" body lift required to get the chevy transmission under the body. From there, it never looked right with 35's anymore, and I had two more inches of lift I never planned on after the initial lift that was already installed.

Lower is always better and safer on the trails and the highway. Towing my rig is NEVER going to be an option for me personally.

I would say you can run 80 percent of the trails in colorado with 33" tires, and all of them except the extreme trails with 35" tires. I would say the stock axles would be safer with 33's. I have not been on all the trails in Colorado, but I can attest to seeing Lonnie have a hell of a time with 33's on the Iron Chest Mine trail, and The 33" tire crowd on Holy Cross wasn't having it easy either.

My new 37" Km2's suck on the ice, but I think all mud tires do.
 
if i where to buy some new 35's id like to try out the Kevlar MTR's.. but KM2s are sweet too.

35's are sweet, but 33's can go almost everywhere the 35's do..

ive tried to convince vic to go 35's but he refuses, and got through iron chest and blanca with some scraping of the diffs ;) He also is spring under, so his leafs take a beating..
 
Oh, I forgot to mention, I probably will not get in the Garage with extra inches....would have to deflate the tires every time :frown:
 
There are two reasons I have not gone with 35's on my FJ40:
1. It won't fit under my garage door opening with 35s. As much as I would enjoy having a "big dog" rig, it's more important to be able to put it in the garage any time I want to.
2. 33s fit perfectly in my rear wheel wells and tuck up into them perfectly, even with tire chains. That is more important to me than having one more inch of ground clearance. I have 4" of lift with a highly articulating 4-link rear suspension.

Holy Cross was problematic for me this year because the rocks at French Creek are embedded and don't move when the diffs drag on them. Iron Chest is not a problem because the rocks are mobile and will roll under me when necessary. My front leaf springs and shackles would be a clearance problem regardless of tire size. Trevor and Brent have tried to convince me to convert the front to a spring-over but that will be a long term project, probably at least a year away.

I am told that 35s on a 40 can cause increased handling problems but I would not know from experience. I keep the 33s on it for the first two reasons. It's all a compromise, just depends on what your goals are.
 
black95 said:
My new 37" Km2's suck on the ice, but I think all mud tires do.
Click to expand...

I have been happy with my Discoverer STT tires in 33". I had them siped at Discount tire when I bought them. I think siping does make a difference on ice, though I am still careful.

Before you say antyhing Luke- I think chains are the only thing that would have kept me from kissing that tree last year :D
 
CO_Hunter said:
Before you say antyhing Luke- I think chains are the only thing that would have kept me from kissing that tree last year :D
Click to expand...

Leon, I was going to say you should have been letting your son drive, he probably would have missed that tree. :D just kidding.

I REALLY wanted to try the new kevlar MTR's........just couldn't come up with that kind of money this year, and they quit making them in 37x12.50x15, which I think is a ploy to make more money!! I wanted to keep my 15 inch rims. I suspect the MTR's would do better than the KM2's on ice. I was actually happy with my Super Swamper SSR's on the snow and ice, even when they were bald they did a great job.

I still laugh about how much crap Vic got about his 33's in the Spring Creek rock garden a couple years ago. :)
 
Ok, I got enough feedback, I think I got at least one thing figured out...stay with 33s. Now I need to find out if the BFG KM2s are ok or should I go Kevlar....it's all about the $$$

Good Year has a $80 mail-in rebate for the Kevlars....

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I have only two things to say:

First, I had suppressed all memories of the Spring Creek rock garden incident. Luke would have to bring that up...

Second, I can see now that I am not the only one to have hit a tree on the trail. Gary and CO-Hunter now share the infamous glory with me. We are "special." I was only trying to demonstrate to my daughter how to drive fast on a snowy trail. It's not my fault that the Cruiser didn't turn when it was supposed to....

Vic
 
Goslow said:
...I am not the only one to have hit a tree on the trail. Gary and CO-Hunter now share the infamous glory with me. We are "special."...

Vic
Click to expand...

Yes you are "Special", we need a sticker for that and award each one of ya..!!:grinpimp:
 
I have to admit I thought the goodyear had more sipeing than that. Looking at them now, it looks as though the KM2 would lend itself more to having that done. Putting sipes on the center row on the MTR might cause it to come apart because it would intersect the pattern already there and make smaller blocks.

You know, I almost talked myself into going with BFG all terrains, There really isn't any mud in colorado.....and if you have ever driven the all terrains on ice and rocks, they are just amazing. My wife has them on the heep cherokee and you would swear you are driving on flypaper they stick to the rocks so well. You almost can't make them slip in the snow.
 
Goslow said:
It's not my fault that the Cruiser didn't turn when it was supposed to....

Vic
Click to expand...

Now I have two things to say:

I had the opposite problem that Vic had. I hit something under the snow and the cruiser turned when it wasn't supposed to.

Second I thought our "tree club" would have been larger. I think Chuck needs to chime in and "out" himself. :D

As for the tires I had the same dilemma of lots of choices etc. I mainly looked at the 80 section on MUD and tire posts people made. There is even a discussion in the faq. It's a balance of performance and cost. How much better are the BFG than brand x is it worth $xx extra dollars. For me it was snow performance, tire noise on highway, tread life, replacement warranty (even off road damage) and cost. Good luck with your purchase.

ok that was 3 things...

Ok so now Luke posted since I was typing. I disagree that there is not mud in CO, I got into the stickiest slipperiest stuff I've been in out near Craig. My tires would not clear well. For deeper, what I would call Virgin snow, I would not go into places with an AT but have with an MT. I have actually gotten stuck in another vehicle with an AT and similar conditions with new MT and got around fine. An MT will clear snow, better than an AT. As for packed snow and ice performance, I would put my siped MT's up against an AT.

So that was 4 things :D
 
Alright, think I'm going with the Kevlars...thanks fellas...
 
black95 said:
I have to admit I thought the goodyear had more sipeing than that. Looking at them now, it looks as though the KM2 would lend itself more to having that done. Putting sipes on the center row on the MTR might cause it to come apart because it would intersect the pattern already there and make smaller blocks.

You know, I almost talked myself into going with BFG all terrains, There really isn't any mud in colorado.....and if you have ever driven the all terrains on ice and rocks, they are just amazing. My wife has them on the heep cherokee and you would swear you are driving on flypaper they stick to the rocks so well. You almost can't make them slip in the snow.
Click to expand...

Although I do like BFG all terrains for general all around use. Great as you said in the snow and in the rain also. Great traction on rocks as in concrete, asphault, and smooth stuff but when the rocks get rough they don't like gripping as well as the MT, KM, TSL, TSL SX, etc, etc.
BFG's have been my favorite tire for 20 years now. Still have the OLD MT's on the 74, and they are at about 80-90% tread.
JMNSHO:beer:
 
Second I thought our "tree club" would have been larger. I think Chuck needs to chime in and "out" himself.
Click to expand...

I have nothing to say about trees:o

Every once in a while you need to check the forest for root rot:grinpimp:
 
For all around tires that are good at almost everything I'll go with BFG AT. They are not great at anything, but good at all conditions. The best tires I had for icy conditions were Pirelli Scorpions, Wow would those tires grip. Unfortunately they would load up when in the thick mud. In mud I like the BFG MT tread, but they suck in the ice or rain unless you put a full sipe job on them. The absolute worst tires I had for traction were Michelin LTX ATs. If it wasn't paved they slid. They did get 80,000 miles before they were bald. So it tells you how hard the rubber was. Basic rules of tires: Hard rubber is good for lots of mileage before the tire is bald. Soft rubber sticks to rocks and ice and gives good traction. Dense tread is best for ice. Open tread is best for mud and snow. Sipes break up large tread blocks so they get better grip in rain and ice.

There is no best tire for all conditions, they are all a compromise. Guess which conditions you will drive in the most and take your best shot at a tire you think is pretty on your truck.
 
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