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Joined: Nov 2009
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OP
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Joel/AK, I have a good set of 20" wheels but have only run 35"s on them, when I aired them down they looked like Band-Aids, and had almost no side wall, not a good tire for here.
thumbcocker, Narrow tires are like pizza cutters in this dry deep sugar sand, they just don't work very well.
Rio7
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 6,907
Campfire Tracker
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Joel/AK, I have a good set of 20" wheels but have only run 35"s on them, when I aired them down they looked like Band-Aids, and had almost no side wall, not a good tire for here.
thumbcocker, Narrow tires are like pizza cutters in this dry deep sugar sand, they just don't work very well.
Rio7
Trust me I was hesitant also running 20's aired down to 12 psi. My wife tried her damnedest to break the bead. They held up.
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 11,735 Likes: 7
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 11,735 Likes: 7 |
BFG KO2's for me. Have about 20K on them and really appreciate them so far. They handle gravel roads, rough rock trails, muddy woods roads and snow very well. I used to have the old style BFG KO and thought they were good on everything but deep snow. And they didn't last. How do the new ones handle deep snow and how is their durability? I will need to get something for our Suburban this fall. I crawled around some steep rough country this past winter in 10" of snow coyote calling. I broke trail all the way and felt the KO2's did a good job.
Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
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Joined: Jan 2020
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Campfire Tracker
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I think you made a great tire choice. Keep your windows when the going gets tough, the KO2 will throw plenty of mud once the tires start spinning.
Life is good live it while you can.
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Joined: Mar 2005
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Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Mar 2005
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Yep, they throw mud and snow pretty dang high. My only complaint about the KO2 is that rocks get caught in the tread and once you hit pavement it takes several miles before you throw them all out. I'll hear little *ping sounds for miles when I hit the blacktop and get to highway speeds.
Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 31,038 Likes: 30
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 31,038 Likes: 30 |
Last set of KO2's on my 2500HD only went 37K rotated miles------dissapointing
Had to try the Falkin WP3's to see what all the fuss was about.....
so far so good
T R U M P W O N !
U L T R A M A G A !
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Joined: Nov 2009
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OP
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If i get 35000 miles on a set of tires here, i would be thrilled, this country and our ranch roads eats tires, and i lose at least 1 tire out of every set to sheds in the tall grass. sheds cost us about $ 5000.00 a year in tractor and truck tires. Rio7
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,460
Campfire Tracker
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Switched from BFG AT to Falken Wildpeak AT. I like the Falkens better, quieter and better ride. Only 3500 miles so far so will have to see how they wear. I got 40,000 on the BFGs
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Joined: May 2021
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New Member
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New Member
Joined: May 2021
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Like previously posted, the bfg ats hold rocks something fierce. We have always had good luck with Toyo open country's. Michelins are always a safe bet too.
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Joined: Nov 2009
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duckster, Have never seen the Falken tire any where around here, I will look them up.
gooseisland, Welcome to this Forum, I have tried the Michelins, with no luck. Have never tried the Toyo,
Thanks for your input, gives me something to look into and try. Rio7
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Joined: Jan 2008
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Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
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I have an Excursion with Cooper ST Max, 295/70-18, 10 ply. I'm on my second set and got about 70K miles on the first. Great in regular ranch road/field mud but not much sand travel around here. My friends in the oil field service world suggested them and so far they have worked well. Now that GY has acquired Cooper I am REALLY unsure about the future quality.
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Joined: Jan 2008
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Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jan 2008
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I have an Excursion with Cooper ST Max, 295/70-18, 10 ply. I'm on my second set and got about 70K miles on the first. Great in regular ranch road/field mud but not much sand travel around here. My friends in the oil field service world suggested them and so far they have worked well. Now that GY has acquired Cooper I am REALLY unsure about the future quality.
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 6,048 Likes: 6
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
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duckster, Have never seen the Falken tire any where around here, I will look them up.
gooseisland, Welcome to this Forum, I have tried the Michelins, with no luck. Have never tried the Toyo,
Thanks for your input, gives me something to look into and try. Rio7
Take a close look at those Falkens if you care where your tires are made. If you are lucky, they will come from Thailand, but there are quite a bit on the market here made in China. It will say on the sidewall. The Coopers and Toyos are made here in the US, if that matters.
Don't just be a survivor, be a competitor.
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Joined: Mar 2011
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Take a close look at those Falkens if you care where your tires are made. If you are lucky, they will come from Thailand, but there are quite a bit on the market here made in China. It will say on the sidewall.
The Coopers and Toyos are made here in the US, if that matters. I bought a set of Falken Wildpeak several months ago from Discount Tire. They couldn't tell me where they were made, when I placed the order. When they arrived it showed made in China so I returned them and bought Toyo AT3 which are made in the US. And yes, it does matter to me A professional driver who is also a consultant for various tire companies has posted publicly that the Falken quality has slipped. Cost reduced? He said it was one of his favorite tires, but sometime last year (or year before that?) the design was changed. If anyone is interested, I'll look for his posts. I have been using Toyo and Nitto here for several sets of tires but thought I'd give the Falkens a try. Mud and sand aren't much of a concern for me. Rock punctures and stone drilling are. Nittos seems to do just as well as the Toyos here for that. Sister companies, and I've heard that the casing/carcass is similar. I wanted to try the BFG KO2 and STT Maxx, but when I talked to the tire shops they said that they have seen punctures on those tires and suggested I stick with Toyo. If it weren't for the sharp volcanic rock, and even obsidian here, I wouldn't worry about the punctures. Most likely not an issue for many people so no need to use a stiff heavy tire like the Toyos and Nittos. The sidewalls are so stiff on some of them that they don't air down well. So by no means am I saying that they are the best tire for all conditions.
Last edited by 4th_point; 05/07/21.
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Joined: Nov 2008
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
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I've ran the ST Maxx on several trucks since they replaced the ST. No punctures, and 70k on half tons. Majority pavement, but plenty of gravel road and unimproved road. I'm not saying there's not better out there, and if there's one cheaper I'd like to know. Going to put new tires on 2 vehicles here in the next couple weeks. Haven't priced them for the other truck yet, but on my PW they're $340 apiece.
MAGA
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I've ran the ST Maxx on several trucks since they replaced the ST. No punctures, and 70k on half tons. Majority pavement, but plenty of gravel road and unimproved road. I'm not saying there's not better out there, and if there's one cheaper I'd like to know. Going to put new tires on 2 vehicles here in the next couple weeks. Haven't priced them for the other truck yet, but on my PW they're $340 apiece.
I think it depends on the type of rock in your locale. In some places out West, there's a lot of sedimentary rock. Think Utah and Arizona? Or basalt. I don't think punctures are a problem so much there. Other regions may have volcanic. Or a mix. I don't know about Montana but hear you have some gumbo mud out there In OR, the western part of the state isn't bad for punctures but my buddy has seen a few. The central and eastern parts are more prone. The road crews dig and crush the local rocks and spread them on the roads. One of my buds likes the Duratrac. He says that the rock that stone drilled his Duratrac looked like an arrowhead. I've seen obsidian down to northern Cali. I was shooting rats with some buds for the first time, and I asked them if they ever get flats there. They said that they had one the prior season and told me there's obsidian everywhere. One said, "Look, right at our feet!". Sure enough, where we were standing on the ranch road were pieces of sharp obsidian .
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Campfire Tracker
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If I were dealing with red clay mud in the SE part of the country, I'd not be using the same tires that I choose for volcanic rock in the PNW. My point being that there's no "best" tire for the entire US. Choice needs to be based on conditions encountered, and many times suggestions in forums don't seem to take that into account.
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4th point, What you say is true, but I am learning a lot about tires, and that's the whole point of O.P. Rio7
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Yeah, I get it. Good to get different opinions. And consider the tradeoffs.
My buddy loves the Duratrac even though the carcass doesn't seem that great against stone drilling, and the sidewalls seem flimsy but they air down great with good flex. A coworker slid into a ditch and a stick the size and shape of a pencil punctured his Duratrac sidewall. I can't see that happening with a Toyo M55, M/T, or Nitto EXO but my M55 would chunk really bad, and I actually got cracks in the sidewalls from using tight chains. I suspect, but can't prove, that it's because the rubber is really hard and the sidewalls are so dang stiff. The R/T and EXO seemed a bit softer.
Anyway, the Duratrac seems to work really well on snow and ice for an AT. That's why he uses it. He has to go up a steep hill to get to his house and doesn't want to bother with chains or snow tires, so he is willing to put up with the possibility of a puncture a few weeks out of the year while hunting. I've gotten so many flats on gravel, that I don't want to deal with it anymore.
Another friend switched from KO2 to Falkens and he said that the new tires seem better on snow and ice. I think that's what the pro driver said, but I'd have to look at his posts. Probably not a common concern for TX though, most years.
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Campfire Outfitter
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Joel/AK, I have a good set of 20" wheels but have only run 35"s on them, when I aired them down they looked like Band-Aids, and had almost no side wall, not a good tire for here.
thumbcocker, Narrow tires are like pizza cutters in this dry deep sugar sand, they just don't work very well.
Rio7
Ditch the 20" and run 17", everything will get better, aired up or aired down, ride!
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