BFG Ko2's suck that bad in rain?

[RagTopDeluxe]

Interesting thread. I’m finding that selecting tires is hard! I was thinking about the KO2s but reading that they’re not good in rain or packed snow (think snowshoeing trips to Tahoe) is not good.

There are mixed reviews on the Cooper AT3 XLT on tirereack.

I need tires that are good in the rain, occasional snow, and trail. And quiet.

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[nle]

I’ve never had any issues on ko2s here driving in the rain with all the hills in Seattle. Also do 20ish ski trips to the mountains every winter and no problem in snow. Running 31-32 psi cold all around. Tires now have 12k miles and so far so good.

 

[2003hummerh2]

I have a theory: It seems like all of the people claiming poor traction are driving a 4-door, while all of the 2-door drivers claim good traction. This could be due to the characteristics of the different wheelbases when using the same rear suspension setup. Basically the shorter wheelbase & different center of gravity would allow the 2-door to put the power down better than a 4-door.

These articles discuss the suspension mounting points, which I don't believe change between the different wheelbases, but the same principles do apply to the wheelbase changes.
https://www.crawlpedia.com/4_link_suspension.htm
https://jsmachineandfab.com/2016/06/14/tech-talk-instant-center/


If this drawing could be considered a 2-door, making the wheelbase longer would move the anti-squat line closer to (or even the other side) of the instant center (the instant center should be the same between the two wheelbases).

I think the reason you don’t hear anyone with a 2 door complaining is because there are way more 4 door owners. I pretty much have all of the same traction issues with 2 door on ko2s.

 

[shekmark]

Interesting thread. I’m finding that selecting tires is hard! I was thinking about the KO2s but reading that they’re not good in rain or packed snow (think snowshoeing trips to Tahoe) is not good.

There are mixed reviews on the Cooper AT3 XLT on tirereack.

I need tires that are good in the rain, occasional snow, and trail. And quiet.

For me, I love Coopers, but the XLT in a 35 is E rating and I thought it might me too stiff.

 

[SolarWizard]

Interesting thread. I’m finding that selecting tires is hard! I was thinking about the KO2s but reading that they’re not good in rain or packed snow (think snowshoeing trips to Tahoe) is not good.

There are mixed reviews on the Cooper AT3 XLT on tirereack.

i own a large business that requires trucks to go all over the place to install solar and some other things. frequently there aren’t good roads and sometimes no road at all where the crews need to go. We work in around donner pass, all over southwest Colorado, near Buffalo, now in Minnesota etc so plenty of experience with garbage weather.

im inherently cheap so we do leave the stock tires on but once those are due for replacement all the trucks below 4500 class get AT3 XLTs. They outlast their warranties, balance great and mostly importantly keep my guys from running off the road or into other driver$.

37” flavored ones are going on my gladiator for everyday/winter use when it arrives.

 

[RagTopDeluxe]

For me, I love Coopers, but the XLT in a 35 is E rating and I thought it might me too stiff.

That is a concern that I have, too. I want to get 35s and most seem to be E rated. I need a good sidewall because the trails around here are rocky (Rubicon, etc).

i own a large business that requires trucks to go all over the place to install solar and some other things. frequently there aren’t good roads and sometimes no road at all where the crews need to go. We work in around donner pass, all over southwest Colorado, near Buffalo, now in Minnesota etc so plenty of experience with garbage weather.

im inherently cheap so we do leave the stock tires on but once those are due for replacement all the trucks below 4500 class get AT3 XLTs. They outlast their warranties, balance great and mostly importantly keep my guys from running off the road or into other driver$.

37” flavored ones are going on my gladiator for everyday/winter use when it arrives.

Good input, thanks. We go over Donner, too, to go to snowshoeing.

I appreciate the feedback!

 

[Whaler27]

I've found the BFG KO2s to be surprisingly good on packed snow and ice, but I have only one direct comparison to share. One of our Powerstroke diesel trucks was fitted with 35" Toyo MTs that had about 15, 000 miles on them. I returned home one day after an ice storm and, after three attempts, two in forward and one in reverse with 150 pounds of sand over each rear wheel, I was unable to get up my driveway which is quite steep for the first 50 yards. I was pissed, so I drove down to the tire store and replaced the Toyos with KO2s. When I got back to the driveway two hours later the truck climbed right up with very little wheel spin. The next morning, with my nads in my throat, I went back down the driveway with no problem.

In deep mud, clay, snow, or water the KO2s are very weak for the same reason they're pretty good on ice: they have good contact with the surface and decent siping, but no big, easy-clearing channels to ensure that each turn of the tire will grab and clear big chunks of material.

When I stopped towing really heavy trailers we downsized to the Toyota Tundra and ran studded Duratracs in the winter. In my experience they were the best all around fit for our winter needs in Oregon. I hope the Jeep popularity eventually translates into Goodyear selling them in a 17 x 37.

The Tire Rack surveys to get assessments on tire performance. Their sampling spans North America and all of its climates, so you may find them helpful. They also do some tire performance testing, which is a slightly more objective measure of some tire characteristics, like wear, stopping distance etc. You can use their search engine to drill down, but I've linked a couple surveys that may be of group interest.

All Terrain survey: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=ORAT

Mud/Traction: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=ORMT

 

[DizzyIzzy]

Does Michelin have good 37" all terrain tires? I love my Michelin X-Ice tires for both rain and snow on my sedan.

My Jeep has 37" KO2s, and so far so good in the rain, no issues.

 

[Milk Money]

OK, not sure I have seen it mentioned. BFG KO2 Mud Terrain (MT) is a very different animal than BFG KO2 All Terrain (AT).

I have a set of Rubi take off's on my JLU that had MT's on them when purchased. The MT's sounded like a hot mess, and handled absolutely horrid. I actually swapped back to the factory JLU Sport wheels/tires because they were so bad (my Jeep is a daily driver of ~60 highway miles).

When I finally had available cash, I replaced the MT's with AT's on that set of rims as I've had experience with AT's in the past. The difference is incredible - AT's sound fine on the highway, and have tremendous grip on wet pavement. I'll get to try them on snow soon enough. But based on my experience, I'd bet OP has MT's and not AT's...

 

[Drytellsr]

I assume you're implying that your 4-door has good traction, correct? If so, I worded my post to specifically exclude 4-door drivers that claim good traction.

LOL, that's like saying:

All people with Blue eyes have blonde hair!, Excluding people with Blue eyes and brown, red or Black hair. You cant selectively choose and exclude any data when testing a Hypothesis in order to make your point valid. Doing so corrupts the whole experiment.

 

[captnjbk]

New to Jeeps. I fitted 315/70/17 BFG KO2's on my JLU sitting on 17x9" et 12 Method wheels. Running 30psi. The tires were used w/ only about 8K mls on them. Long story short, they are HORRID for wet traction. I'm fish tailing barely pressing the gas, and came to a light stop sliding... this doesn't seem normal. Or is it? Thanks

I've been driving KOs/KO2s on my trucks and jeeps for years. Besides them liking to collect rocks in the treads I haven't had any trouble with them at all.
I can easily break them lose in my truck (wet or dry conditions) if I want to but I'm driving a full size truck with a BIG V8 in it. Never had an issue, wet or dry, in the jeep but in my opinion the 3.6L V6 in the wrangler doesn't have enough power to run a lawnmower let alone burn rubber.

 

[Whaler27]

Here are the KO2 test results:

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=All-Terrain+T/A+KO2&partnum=725R7KO2RWLV2#testResults

They are okay on pavement that's just wet. It's the standing water that induces the butt-pucker.

 

[IceBerg]

Zero Issues here. Ive used them in the snow and rain all over missouri, texas, and new mexico.

maybe your problem is too much skinny pedal?

 

[AnnDee4444]

LOL, that's like saying:

All people with Blue eyes have blonde hair!, Excluding people with Blue eyes and brown, red or Black hair. You cant selectively choose and exclude any data when testing a Hypothesis in order to make your point valid. Doing so corrupts the whole experiment.

No. I'm not a scientist with a hypothesis and this is not an experiment. This was just a thought that I've had for far longer than this thread has been going, and I figured others may enjoy this as a part of the discussion. You can ignore it if you would like.

My statement was " It seems like all of the people claiming poor traction are driving a 4-door, while all of the 2-door drivers claim good traction." This is hardly your blue eyes/blond hair analogy, and it's not even the theory in my post.

 

[AnnDee4444]

I decided to tally the results in this thread by wheelbase. I skimmed, so sorry if I misinterpreted someone's opinion or how many doors their Jeep has.

So far 100% of 2-door drivers claim good traction, while only 70% of 4-door drivers say traction is good with the K02s.

Totals:
2-door, good traction = 7
2-door, bad traction = 0

4-door, good traction = 14
4-door, bad traction = 6

User	Door count	Opinion on BFG K02 traction
dginz	4 door	bad
jakebrake	4 door	good
Some Random Guy	4 door	bad
sam0329	4 door	bad
The Fixer	2 door	good
JDJL	4 door	good
drvn	4 door	good
jessedacri	2 door	good
calemasters	4 door	good
Bryce	4 door	bad
chris4prez	4 door	good
Neanderthalman	4 door	good
ads75	2 door	good
McKenzie	2 door	good
RedundanT	4 door	good
Drytellsr	4 door	good
Jeeporama	4 door	good
Windshieldfarmer	4 door	bad
LastMango	4 door	good
Roadglide	2 door	good
AnnDee4444	2 door	good
Kidcia	2 door	good
mdelzer	4 door	good
shekmark	4 door	bad
nle	4 door	good
DizzyIzzy	4 door	good
captnjbk	4 door	good

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