Big Blue's Transformation

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, interesting, I didn’t know the ratios were different.

Matt, I’m not having noise problems or rough rides with the BFG’s. Our Suburban is a lead sled and I noticed a big difference with the KO2’s on black ice.

Matt - Interesting on the Falkens. Unfortunately on Tirerack there's not any consumer survey stats yet as the tire is said to be new.

Dane - Check out the specs at Documentation/Driveline/Calculators. That calculator is pre-loaded with all the tranny specs. And the diesel came with the close-ratio tranny while the gas engines got the wide-ratio.

All - Please keep the tire suggestions rolling in.

[Machspeed]

Matt - Interesting on the Falkens. Unfortunately on Tirerack there's not any consumer survey stats yet as the tire is said to be new.

Dane - Check out the specs at Documentation/Driveline/Calculators. That calculator is pre-loaded with all the tranny specs. And the diesel came with the close-ratio tranny while the gas engines got the wide-ratio.

All - Please keep the tire suggestions rolling in.

I have the KO2's on my Truck and while I haven't driven it much since mounting them, I find them to be rather quiet. My fear was that they would be rather noisy but they are not, at least not on my truck. Lots of varying reviews on this tire.

I looked at the Falken tires for my truck, as the reviews on them are very good and I really like the profile. I also have a friend whom put them on his 2019 GMC Sierra and liked them a lot. I had driven in that truck with both the OEM tires and his Falken tires and I would say they were just marginally louder. I ultimately passed on them because they do not make a 31" tire for 15" wheels.

[Nothing Special]

I have the KO2's on my Truck and while I haven't driven it much since mounting them, I find them to be rather quiet. My fear was that they would be rather noisy but they are not, at least not on my truck. Lots of varying reviews on this tire.

I looked at the Falken tires for my truck, as the reviews on them are very good and I really like the profile. I also have a friend whom put them on his 2019 GMC Sierra and liked them a lot. I had driven in that truck with both the OEM tires and his Falken tires and I would say they were just marginally louder. I ultimately passed on them because they do not make a 31" tire for 15" wheels.

I've run a lot of BFGs, but I've fallen out of love with them and don't think I'll be going back, to the ATs at least (I can't completely rule out another set of MTs at some point).

I've always had BFG ATs on my Bronco (other than the trip to Missouri in 2020). The first set were either the originals or else the KOs, the second set were definitely KOs. I thought they were a pretty good compromise tire, quiet on the highway and OK off road. But for the Bronco I decided I didn't want compromise tires, so I went with wider mud tires for off road (ProComp Xtreme M/T) and I'll be getting smaller more street-oriented tires for road driving. For what it's worth, so far I'm happy with the ProComps off road, but they're noisy on pavement and so far they aren't balanced well.

I've also run BFG ATs on most of my pickups. Until the KO2 I really liked them there too, quiet on the road, handled well, really good on snow and ice, pretty good for the very limited off-road driving I do with my trucks. But after one set of KO2s I'm not getting another. Too much road noise and they caught pavement grooves and pulled the truck around. I know other's like them on the road, but they really didn't work out for me. I went with Michelin Agilis and they handle a lot better than the KO2s as well as being a lot quieter. I need to shift into 4WD on muddy forest roads sooner than I did with the BFGs, they aren't an off-road tire so I'm not really recommending them to Gary here. But they've been good on snow and ice, so I'm really happy with them for my use.

[Gary Lewis]

I've run a lot of BFGs, but I've fallen out of love with them and don't think I'll be going back, to the ATs at least (I can't completely rule out another set of MTs at some point).

I've always had BFG ATs on my Bronco (other than the trip to Missouri in 2020). The first set were either the originals or else the KOs, the second set were definitely KOs. I thought they were a pretty good compromise tire, quiet on the highway and OK off road. But for the Bronco I decided I didn't want compromise tires, so I went with wider mud tires for off road (ProComp Xtreme M/T) and I'll be getting smaller more street-oriented tires for road driving. For what it's worth, so far I'm happy with the ProComps off road, but they're noisy on pavement and so far they aren't balanced well.

I've also run BFG ATs on most of my pickups. Until the KO2 I really liked them there too, quiet on the road, handled well, really good on snow and ice, pretty good for the very limited off-road driving I do with my trucks. But after one set of KO2s I'm not getting another. Too much road noise and they caught pavement grooves and pulled the truck around. I know other's like them on the road, but they really didn't work out for me. I went with Michelin Agilis and they handle a lot better than the KO2s as well as being a lot quieter. I need to shift into 4WD on muddy forest roads sooner than I did with the BFGs, they aren't an off-road tire so I'm not really recommending them to Gary here. But they've been good on snow and ice, so I'm really happy with them for my use.

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the input.

I'm starting to think that quiet wins over offroad traction. That's because I spend so long getting to where I'm going offroading, and so little time there. And it isn't like I'm in some serious competition that needs that extra little bit of traction.

Drove the truck today with the never-been-on-the-ground spare on the LF and the difference was amazing. I could hear the cupped spots on the other 3 slapping the pavement, but not nearly as loudly as the previous tire that was in the LF position. And now that there's only one tire on the front with flat spots I can tell that the jiggles in the steering are timed perfectly with the slapping sound.

So, what's with the cupped spots? They are on the outer edged of the tread and I'm wondering if these tires aren't round. Everyone that looks at them sees the huge amount of weight that was required to balance them, and with that weight they don't seem to be out of balance. But as they've worn they've developed the cupped spots that are visible and audible, and all I can think is they aren't round.

Thoughts?

[Bruce moose4x4]

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the input.

I'm starting to think that quiet wins over offroad traction. That's because I spend so long getting to where I'm going offroading, and so little time there. And it isn't like I'm in some serious competition that needs that extra little bit of traction.

Drove the truck today with the never-been-on-the-ground spare on the LF and the difference was amazing. I could hear the cupped spots on the other 3 slapping the pavement, but not nearly as loudly as the previous tire that was in the LF position. And now that there's only one tire on the front with flat spots I can tell that the jiggles in the steering are timed perfectly with the slapping sound.

So, what's with the cupped spots? They are on the outer edged of the tread and I'm wondering if these tires aren't round. Everyone that looks at them sees the huge amount of weight that was required to balance them, and with that weight they don't seem to be out of balance. But as they've worn they've developed the cupped spots that are visible and audible, and all I can think is they aren't round.

Thoughts?

The cupped spots are from not rotating the tires enough. Through multiple tire classes in my years of vehicle maintenance as a fire mechanic, the manufacturer told us that on a 4WD they need to be rotated every 5000 miles and if positraction diffs, every 3000. These are not my numbers. The cups will be more noticeable on rougher tread tires.

[mat in tn]

The cupped spots are from not rotating the tires enough. Through multiple tire classes in my years of vehicle maintenance as a fire mechanic, the manufacturer told us that on a 4WD they need to be rotated every 5000 miles and if positraction diffs, every 3000. These are not my numbers. The cups will be more noticeable on rougher tread tires.

let's not forget that the bigger the weights are the more they get out of balance as the tire wears. the heavy gets heavier in comparison. not really noticeable until damage is getting done. it should always be rotate and balance.

[Gary Lewis]

The cupped spots are from not rotating the tires enough. Through multiple tire classes in my years of vehicle maintenance as a fire mechanic, the manufacturer told us that on a 4WD they need to be rotated every 5000 miles and if positraction diffs, every 3000. These are not my numbers. The cups will be more noticeable on rougher tread tires.

That's possible, Bruce. But the tires don't have that many miles on them. No idea how many since I got the truck with them on it. Biggest trip was to Ouray, and probably 2000 miles to/from Ouray. Maybe another 2K around here. So maybe a total of 5K miles. And I've rotated once while I've had it.

[Gary Lewis]

let's not forget that the bigger the weights are the more they get out of balance as the tire wears. the heavy gets heavier in comparison. not really noticeable until damage is getting done. it should always be rotate and balance.

Hadn't thought of that, Matt. I've never had them rebalanced.

[Gary Lewis]

The cupped spots are from not rotating the tires enough. Through multiple tire classes in my years of vehicle maintenance as a fire mechanic, the manufacturer told us that on a 4WD they need to be rotated every 5000 miles and if positraction diffs, every 3000. These are not my numbers. The cups will be more noticeable on rougher tread tires.

Bruce - Is it possible that the PO didn't rotate often enough and the cupping started then? I've always thought that once cupping starts it only gets worse. Right?

[Bruce moose4x4]

The cupped spots are from not rotating the tires enough. Through multiple tire classes in my years of vehicle maintenance as a fire mechanic, the manufacturer told us that on a 4WD they need to be rotated every 5000 miles and if positraction diffs, every 3000. These are not my numbers. The cups will be more noticeable on rougher tread tires.

Bruce - Is it possible that the PO didn't rotate often enough and the cupping started then? I've always thought that once cupping starts it only gets worse. Right?

I was told every 4WD will cup do to the way the front axle steering pivots. I have seen street radials cupping on them. Mud tires or aggressive tread patterns are worse. So it is possible that it started with the PO. Do you know how many miles are on the tires total? And I am not sure if a better posi, Detroit etc. would make it worse, not being a limited slip with clutches. But most don't use those in the front axle.

If I remember one of your previous posts you said you chalked the tires to get the air pressure correct. That definitely needs to be done. I always used a piece of cardboard and read the pattern. You could tell how deep the tread was on the cardboard. On my 35 Gumbo Mudders on 10 inch wide rims I used to run. I ran the rear at 15 and the front a 20 to get the tire patch correct. Made a world of difference in the mileage I got out of them. After the first several sets of wearing out entirely to quick. I went to 12.50 x 33 x 16.5 Coopers all terrain and if memory serves me I ran 25 in those unless I had a trailer behind it.