Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Toyo open country RT. Vs. bfg. AT. KOII

I'm going to put new tires on the truck this winter.

Need a 36-37" x 12.50- 17. Tire I run 37x13.50 toyo mud terrains now, fuel consumption was brutal dropping my mpg by 3-4 mpg over the prior BFG AT's. I have 4:11 axles which need taller tires to get my highway rpm in the economical range.

Not sure which of the two I have to choose from is a better fuel and life span tire.

I looked at the KO2 and people claimed a mileage drop of about 2 mpg. Again, that is what I read searching the tires. I picked one up at Sams club and they were really heavy. I assume that leads to durability, and these were rated very highly by tire rack. I don't know anything about the Toyo. I opted for Michelin C plies for mileage, ride, lifetime, and noise. If I did not care about mileage, I would have bought the KO2s. I don't think my secondary roads and trails that I hunt need all the KO2s have to offer.

Well they are 71 lbs in the 37" diameter

My toyos are 96lbs at 37" diameter!

25lbs more has to be a diesel guzzling difference

I am guessing that you are not comparing precisely the same tire (ply, etc...) tire for tire? If mileage matters most it appears you have demonstrated to yourself that the BFG's are the answer. Myself, I prefer the Toyo's and have been running them for many years with zero issue. These being 34" diameter tires so no clue on anything larger.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=ORAT

I recently spent hours deciding what trade offs were best for my use. Anyway I looked at truck forums, and made the final decision using information from the tirerack. Walmart and Sans club had the best price and warranty. I thought ordering online would be best, but after shipping and mounting it was better to go local.

Every time I ordered tires online it has been a mistake. Local shops are usually close enough on price, aren't pissed you are bringing in someone else's product, and are there for you if you have an issue. Tire rack is a good place to get reviews and a rough idea on pricing.

I run the KO2's and I am pretty happy with them. Compared to my last set of tires (P265/75/16 4 ply) I lost maybe 1 mpg and KO2s are LT265/75/26 10 ply. Not sure I would consider the Open Country RT in the same league as it's considerably more aggressive.

I recently went with the E rated KO2's and after about 5000 miles I am very impressed with them. I could not find a bad review on them and every tire shop I talked to highly recommended them. I can't speak to the Toyo's as I have never run them. Truth be told you prolly can't go wrong with either of them.

Cooper ST Maxx in 37x12.50x17 is 79 lbs. Hell of a stout tire

Prices look good on the tire rack, but shipping is always over 100+ bucks on 4 tires. A year ago I could not find Blizzaks locally for my Subaru. I ordered from the tirerack, and they arrived the next day. I took them to the big tire shop in town, and like you said they were kinda pissed, and zinged me with mounting. Then a week later I was getting gas at another tire shop/gas station and they would have beat my "deal" by over 100 bucks. So that was a lesson.

Those coopers are the right size and tread design. I wonder if the tire shop here ( les schwab) carries them

Order them from Discount Tire Direct and have them shipped to your door. I avoid Uncle Les at all costs.

I'm currently running the ST Maxx. They're a great tire.

Toyo MTs are a stout tire with a bunch of material to them. The 33s I had on my Ram were 89lbs a piece IIRC.

They're always considerably heavier than the same spec tire of a different brand.

The 2mpg drop is on the money.

Well after further investigation there seems to be two better choices.

Nitro terra grappler 2, and the cooper discover MAXX

Similar price similar warranty, comes down to which is a smoother more fuel efficient design. Leaning towards Nitto, but the coopers sound pretty good too.

For what it's worth I don't think the Nittos have a treadlife warranty

I was less than impressed with the Nitto's on my Ram. Granted, they were the 1st Gen Terra Grapplers, but they were noisy, hard to keep in balance, and were worn out in 35k miles. I'm now running Michelins and I'm happy with them, although they are not by any stretch an all terrain tire. I no longer use my truck in muddy conditions, so they're fine for my type of driving. You may want to look at the Hankook Dynapro ATM's. Pretty decent off road, quiet and held up well (50k plus) on my previous Ram. Both are diesels.

They need to be 36-37" tires.

The Nitto terra grappler 2, the cooper Maxx, and the BFG at KO 2 are all in the 36.5-37" diameter. The Nitto has a 50k mile warranty. I have had the BFG AT's on this truck before and got 50,000 miles before switching to the giant Toyo's 37X13.50 96b tires. Although the BFG's at about 40-45 were difficult to keep balanced and hydroplaned too much.

I looked at my mileage log and see that the BFG's were getting me 16-17mpg, these toyos dropped it to 12-13. I've recently redone my front wheel bearing with Spyntec and warn lockout hubs. That alone will be 1.5-2mpg so going back to the far lighter less aggressive tires should put me back into the 17-19 range and a bit better for highway road trips.

Just on the fence between the Terra Grappler 2 and the Cooper Maxx

A 4 mpg increase pays for the entire set of tires in fuel savings somewhere between 25-40 thousand miles.

That's why I invested in the new free spinning hubs and bearings. Not a practical investment when new but after 100k they should be serviced/ replaced so for another 600 bucks I get free wheeling front axle now just like back in the 70's