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Long-Term Review: Kenda Klever KR601 RT
Billy B. / 19 May 2021
Updated: 08 September 2021Billy B. / 19 May 2021
1000 Mile Update
I'll be adding new sections to this review as I meet the aforementioned milestones and timelines. I will also be adding to my initial review as I continue to dial these in for both on-road and off-road use, and hopefully will save someone some time in the future.
SPECIFICATIONS.
- Kenda Klever RT
- 35x12.50R17
- Price: $223.79 Per Tire
- Load Range E
- Weight (Manufacturer): 70.69 lbs
- Max Load: 3197 @ 65 PSI
- Tread Depth: 20mm
- Width: 12.5 Inches
- True Height UNDER LOAD: 34.25 Inches
- Mounted on 17x7.5 inch OEM Rubicon Wheels
- 2021 Rubicon EcoDiesel Vehicle Weight over 5200 lbs
- Driving Habits: 65% Town, 35% Highway
- Off-Road Use: Weekend Overlanding, Trails, Moderate Crawling
- Minimum PSI W/Out Beadlocks: 12 PSI
On-Road Performance
Noise, Vibration, Harshness.
I am going to come out and say it. These tires are as quiet, and as smooth as the ATs I typically run. I have been a long time owner of BFG KO2s and have enjoyed a set of Cooper STT Pros. These ride considerably quieter than the MTs, with a feint hum that is barely noticeable with no doors. I imagine this will get louder as they wear, but for now it is a non-factor. They ride as smooth as the factory tires that came off this new 2021 JLU and provide no change to the actual feel of the vehicle in both day low speed and highway driving. Currently at the 41-43 PSI, they do feel like a 35" tire, but I am not sold on this as a factor of how harsh these tires are. 41 PSI is simply too much, and was only the starting point to dial these in. I suspect these will love to ride at the 30-35 PSI range. This will be updated as I spend the upcoming weeks dropping the PSI in 5 lb. increments to dial this in.
Steering and Braking.
This is the area I expected to sacrifice in. Not because these tires are aggressive, but because the comparison tires on this specific vehicle are the OEM 285x70R17 tires. I was pleasantly surprised at the handling and steering of the JLU on these 35x12.5 tires. They do not wonder and the Jeep still drives remarkably straight for a Wrangler. The brakes hold up exceptionally well, at least on the Rubicon. These truly were made to run 35's directly from the factory. At 71 lbs. per tire, these are a 38% increase in weight over stock, but at over 5,250 pounds I do not notice it.
Tread and Design.
The tread and design of these tires admittedly took some time to grow on me. The pictures truly do not do them any justice. In fact, I was dead set on picking up an entirely different set of tires until I saw these in person. The tread and design are just aggressive enough to scratch that MT itch, while still including multiple design aspects of a true AT tire that add to some important road characteristics like sound, handling in water and snow. The addition of sipping was also a large selling point.
Off-Road Performance
Airing Down.
One of the most important factors for me personally was having the ability to confidently air down to the 12 PSI threshold with a durable, yet soft enough sidewall to give me the additional traction needed to off-road. In the few test runs I have done so far, these have held a bead and do an amazing job of actually using that aggressive sidewall. While I can't speak on durability yet, these initially at least, have done exactly what I needed them to do.
Traction.
This is one area I am going to save for later. These have performed exactly how anyone would expect them to on dirt, mud, water and while climbing unimproved trails. What I have not done is any extensive rock-crawling. My initial impression, these are that sweet spot between a MT and an AT, but I want to see how these hold up when you truly need them, during that vertical pitch on unforgiving rocks.
Overall.
If it seems like I just wrote a review only speaking positively about these tires, it's because I did. It took a lot, I would argue over a 100 of hours, of research to get me to actually consider running these tires. Kenda isn't widely known as a top tier vehicle tire company, and I am not rolling in money to be able to buy multiple sets of tires. I had my doubts, even after I picked these up. I was mentally prepared to be just "OK" with these, but happy that I saved a ton of money. The overall initial impression however is that I honestly like these better than both the KOs and STT Pros in the same size.
Update 1 - 22 May 2021
32 PSI on-road testing. I immediately noticed a difference. Not a surprised considering I reduced the pressure by nearly 20%. I wanted to establish just what "soft" feels like with these tires and I managed to do just that. At 32 PSI they feel and ride soft. They are still extremely enjoyable to drive, and ride softer than I expected. I have zero wandering issues, but did notice the slightly less responsive steering, which was to be expected. The tires gained a slight hum, but again with no top or doors it is still barely audible.
The good old fashion "boot to tire" test did show me just how soft these sidewalls are. Now to me, this is a win as I want a soft but durable sidewall when I air down. My concern is at 32 PSI, it doesn't take much effort for me to get some noticeable sidewall movement. Part of this can be attributes to my narrower than manufacturer required rims (7.5"). While I love the ride at 32, I'll be bumping up to 36 or so in the near future to see if I can find some middle ground.
Update 2 - 08 September 2021
It took me a little longer than expected to hit the 1000 mile mark with these tires. Nothing negative to report, but some changes to my PSI and some confirmation on my contact patch 'issue'.
PSI: I settled at 34 PSI for these tires on my 7.5 inch rims. The rim width is important to highlight. I am running these on stock narrow wheels, and it's causing me to not get the perfect contact patch I want. Not a major issue, but it took me a lot longer to really dial in the on-road PSI because of it. To recap, at 28 PSI I still had about 3/4 inch of no contact. The tire however felt very soft and road like a tire that was underinflated. At 32 PSI the tire rides perfect, but due to the amount of tire bulge I have (again on 7.5" rims) they bounce a little more than I am comfortable with for excessive highway driving. 34 PSI was the sweet spot. Minimal tire movement, they still run soft, and I have no concerns of tire wear issues at this time.
Initial Tire Rotation: While unnecessary, I am about to drive 1500 miles and wanted to get my first tire rotation out of the way to get the spare broken in. Worth noting, I do plan on rotating these tires every 1500-2000 miles. While I am sold on these as a solid, reliable, budget friendly off-road tire, I absolutely acknowledge that I am most likely looking at a 30-35k tire. The 5 tire rotation schedule will hopefully get me some extra life while reducing my chances of seeing some common issues with "cheap" tires.
I am seeing these tires on some more mainstream social media posts lately. DonutMedia featured them on their latest installment of HiLow, where they are building 2 Toyota Tacoma's, one with cheap, one with expensive parts (worth watching, good series for the most part). These are similar to the Milestar Pats a few years ago. Time will tell if they take off like those did. I also am confident these will wear considerably more even that the Milestar's, which wear in the middle by design and are known to be a 30k or less tire for most.
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