BF Goodrich KO2 or KO3

[180ls1]

The 3's sound promising; I've loved the performance 2's and they wear like iron (which is good as they are spendy as hell!).

Mine have always been 10 plys too and looks like the 3 is offered in 10 ply in 275/70/17

I hunted with a guy who went back to the 2 for that reason (wear).

My dad went from the 2 to the 3 and is happy with the change.

 

[CorbLand]

What tire you use really is dictated by location and use. Chewing through a foot of snow in the North compared to what the dudes playing in Southern Arizona need are completely different. That includes tread, compound, size, and ply.

 

[WeiserBucks]

What size pickups and what are you hauling/towing? You definitely don't want 6-ply on 1 ton crummys, but if you're running a small pickup like a Tacoma and you weight #5k on a heavy day, you're better off with the 6-ply.

All sorts and sizes. On my personal Taco commuter I'd get a flat every two weeks on 6's, going on 40k and zero flats on 10's. Some conditions simply call for a tougher tire, efficiency be damned.

 

[JohnnyB]

My KO2s are about 70% worn at 61k. My KO3s were done at around 40k. That being said, the KO3s performed better on and off the road. The KO2s don't feel great on wet or icy pavement.

 

[Marble]

I've run KO2's on my previous vehicle (92 Chevy) and current vehicle (2012 Tacoma) for about 20 years straight (swap in studded winter tires when the snow starts flying). Now they have the KO3 and wondering if anyone has made the switch and what their thoughts are?

Thanks

I switched on my last set. Haven't noticed any difference at all. I got 50k+ miles on my last set. That's on a 2020 F350. Lots of highway miles towing and hauling the majority of it. A lot of my miles are on two-lane twisty roads...and I don't drive slow. I was impressed they lasted as long as they did. This fall I'll be off-road hunting. I imagine they will perform the same. I've never been disappointed with these tires.

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

 

[Davyalabama]

I’m in Bama, gumbo mud, I’ll take these new Ko3’s any day over the 2’s, I was never a fan of the 2’s. There just wasn’t enough outer grip space for real mud. The 3’s have a lot more aggressive tread for my stuff.
I run mud grips year round.

 

[BRTreedogs]

FYI tires are not built as a 6/8/10 ply any more.
It’s not a ply rating.
It is an equivalent called a weight rating now.
I’m not saying it should or shouldn’t have any effect on your decision making.

Just google it and read.

Basically the difference in weight rating now is the difference in wire size and strength used in building the tire.

It’s not added plys

So a c & e rated tire have the same plys but the E has stronger/larger wires.

 

[BRTreedogs]

I’m in Bama, gumbo mud, I’ll take these new Ko3’s any day over the 2’s, I was never a fan of the 2’s. There just wasn’t enough outer grip space for real mud. The 3’s have a lot more aggressive tread for my stuff.
I run mud grips year round.

Are you talking km3?

They offer 2 AT models now ko 2 & ko 3

The ko3 is a righted tread at

Km3 is the mudder

 

[IdahoBeav]

FYI tires are not built as a 6/8/10 ply any more.
It’s not a ply rating.
It is an equivalent called a weight rating now.
I’m not saying it should or shouldn’t have any effect on your decision making.

Just google it and read.

Basically the difference in weight rating now is the difference in wire size and strength used in building the tire.

It’s not added plys

So a c & e rated tire have the same plys but the E has stronger/larger wires.

We're just using the old language. The difference between the "6 and 10" now would be the 116 vs 123 load ratings or numbers close to this.

The difference in the physical weight of the tires is still there. It's usually about 5-10lb per tire.

 

[wind gypsy]

Our company has 500+ pickups operating on various dirt roads throughout the west and 6's simply don't cut it. 10's on everything is SOP.

My experience mirrors yours. Weekly tire plugs on many construction project locations until tires on company trucks are upgraded to 10 plys.. Arid areas with lots of mowed mesquite or similar were the worst. I've had 2 or 3 rental trucks get flats on western hunting/scouting trips too with their standard soft HT tires.

 

[FuddRucker]

I've been steered away from ko2s due to reports about traction on wet pavement. Looking at ko3s a bit, but biased towards falken wild peaks. Anyone have experience with both?

 

[30338]

FYI tires are not built as a 6/8/10 ply any more.
It’s not a ply rating.
It is an equivalent called a weight rating now.
I’m not saying it should or shouldn’t have any effect on your decision making.

Just google it and read.

Basically the difference in weight rating now is the difference in wire size and strength used in building the tire.

It’s not added plys

So a c & e rated tire have the same plys but the E has stronger/larger wires.

Interesting. What I thought was a 10 ply was E rated. So sounds like a heavier duty 6 ply basically. It's what I'll be using.

 

[TSAMP]

Ko3 seem louder to me and also throw rocks compared to my last two sets of ko2.

We will see how they wear. I got nearly 70k miles on both my last sets of ko2s.

 

[chizelhead]

I found this video helpful when understanding what they did to upgrade the KO2. That being said, I am running Duratrac RTs that replaced my KO2s. I liked the KO2s except for mud. Last fall, I had a poor experience where my vehicle acted like it was on ice in the mud with KO2s. Otherwise, I thought they performed well in all other conditions except ice. I had Duratracs in the past and they've upgraded them recently so I went back. They are E ply (3 ply sidewall upgraded from 2 ply) but would be preferred C or D due to weight savings relative to the performance I was looking for.

 

[mtwarden]

My KO2's always did good in the snow; but terrifying on ice—not enough tread meeting the road. One winter on them and it was studded tires every winter after that.

Several years ago I wrote BFG on the 6 ply vs 10 ply (C vs E) and they said in the tread area they (the KO2's) were pretty similar as far construction, but that the E's had more protection in the sidewall evidently a byproduct of stiffening the sidewall for higher loads.

Looks like in 275/70/17 the KO3's are only available in E rating, so not much choice in the matter for me.

 

[Tmac]

I've been steered away from ko2s due to reports about traction on wet pavement. Looking at ko3s a bit, but biased towards falken wild peaks. Anyone have experience with both?

Wildpeak at3w’s on a Tundra, KO2’s on a Sequoia. Both wear very well, both 10 ply rated. The Wildpeak is better off road. KO2 a little quieter on the road. Did not notice wet pavement issues. My brothers have the Wildpeak at4w and ko3’s, both love them. Not sure there is a bad choice.

My next set will be Mickey Thompson Baja Bosses as I have a number of severe off-road hunts coming up and I want to 3 ply sidewall rating along with 10 ply rated tread.

 

[30338]

Discount Tire is running a sale on the KO2 265 70 17 E rated. $245 each vs $295 for the KO3. Just ordered 4 more of those KO2s. Can install after I get the rest of the wear out of these.

 

[wind gypsy]

I've been steered away from ko2s due to reports about traction on wet pavement. Looking at ko3s a bit, but biased towards falken wild peaks. Anyone have experience with both?

I'd also be interested to hear feedback on this. I had KO2s a while back and they were pretty bad with rain and ice which is more important to me than how well they do in mud or off road. Falken wild peak AT3s were a big upgrade in on road performance, especially when wet or icy where i'm magnitudes more likely to get in a bad wreck.

 

[TheDoublR]

I'm in AZ with 2 taco's a 17' KO2's and a 23' KO3's. The 3s are much quieter and softer than the 2's. With that said I prefer the 2's over the 3's. With dry rocky trails the 2's have been bullet proof.

 

[BRTreedogs]

I had a set of falken at3w

And they road like absolute garbage.

1 was definitely out of round.
I shouldn’t have to go back multiple times and still feel like I’m driving a 70s truck with bias plys