What do people have for tires these days. Need new tires! 285s.

Replaced KO2s with KO3s, not because of wear or dislike but age. Stock size, Load C. I've now driven in all kinds of conditions except snow and like them. A little softer ride than KO2 and quiet.

Hopefully those who hate another tire thread have stopped reading this one and went to have a beer.

 

^^^
How did your KO3's balance out? Contemplating 285 load C in KO3's or 285 Load SL in MT Baja Boss for next set. Running 285 KO2's currently. Almost 70K on them.

 

I love, love my nitto ridge grapplers 285/75/17. They are the bees knees!

 

No issues.

 

I’ve got about 20k miles on my Toyo RT Trails and so far they’ve worn-in evenly with regular rotations. They’ve also were easier to balance and are quieter than the KO2s I had previously. And only a couple lbs. heavier. Definitely staying with Toyos on the next set.

 

It’s hard to justify moving away from a known quantity, especially with the cost of nice tires. My K02s have proven themselves over two sets, so it’s gonna take some effort to consider other brands…even though I actually want to consider the options.

It’s nice to hear opinions on what other people are thinking of other tires. Especially as they put more miles on some of the newer tire options get more mileage.

 

Ran Cooper AT3's for years, 1 yr. ago tried a set of Hankook Dynapro AT2 Extreme, good in the winter/wet, pretty quiet, easy to get balanced.

 

This is why a tire discussion from an year or 2 is not very useful now. Tires change. For example I was a customer for Load C 285 BFG KO2 and SL 285 Falken WP AT3W. Not any more. New KO3 & AT4 are too heavy.

I'm closely looking at standard load 285/70R17 tires like Yokohama geolander AT4, Nokian outpost NAT, MT baja boss, Nitto G3. Or get another Toyo AT3 since I'm very happy with them.

Yokohama AT4 is tempting been very light weight and for been the taller side 33in.

Nokian NAT might be good in snow and ice on pavement but no one has good review on YouTube to prove it.

MT baja boss has slightly better thread depth 16/32 vs most SL tires have 14/32.

 

I am wondering if they are quieter due to being newer and the rubber isnt old and hard

 

I guarantee they get a lot louder with miles/age

....just like the KO2's before them

....and the KO's before that

....and back when they were just called BFG A/T's before that.

 

Don't know. I didn't think the KO2s were that loud.

 

Thank you, it's a discussion forum!

 

Yeah, just about all new tires this large are nice and quiet when new. My K02s are as loud as mud-tires right now. After a long drive, the vibrations on the steering wheel make my hands feel like I’ve been on a motorcycle for 200 miles lol. Even though I think it’s kinda fun to have obnoxious tires, I’m sure any new tire will feel magically luxurious and quiet to me.

I think it’s hard to judge how quiet one tire is to another, unless you test it back to back (for example, driving two otherwise exact 4runners, each with different sets of new tires).

 

Now, there is one thing we probably all can agree on, and that is how insanely the prices of tires have gone up. .

You try to price a set on discount or tire rack or any of the special retailers and you can't find a 285 size for less than 300 bucks a piece . I am talking Toyo, BFG, MT, and FK. Maybe there are other brands with cheaper prices...but I don't see them.

 

I bought my current set of K02s right when the K03s released. I figured K02s were being discontinued. Does anyone know if they actually are discontinued?

They still seem like they are available wherever I look (at least in the 285/70 size load c).

 

A set of tires now costs about the same as a nice set of wheels!

 

Is actually even more on tires than a set of new wheels. You can buy a set of wheels from Method or RRW even Rhino for 1200 or so. Tires forget it.

 

So basically, you’re saying I should just get the forged set I was drooling over, instead of the “cheaper than tires” cast or flow-formed wheels. Right????

 

ooo rock warriors or other manufacturer?

 

Wait until 4WD Parts has a sale and get a set of new wheels and tires delivered to your door already mounted and balanced.

 

Truth be told, I’m liking the forged aluminum options from RRW. Even the machined ones kinda call my name.

 

I though you were joking at first, but now I understand that you’re trying to be helpful lol. Darn you… darn you to heck.

 

I’ll happily help you spend your money.

 

The General Grabber ATx tires have not changed much in price over the past 10 years. They used to be kinda high, now they are honestly cheaper than most all of the rest. They are right at the same price over the past 6 years for sure.

The BFG are not hard to balance, they are hard to KEEP balanced and require frequent balancing. I bought two sets of BFG AT KO2 in 2012 and 2013 one for my Tacoma and one for the wifes 2012 4R. That was my 4th or 5th set of BFGs and those were my last. They look great, they do great in almost everything EXCEPT the balancing and lasting. I was rebalancing them about every 15,000 miles to keep them smooth. As the tires wear and the belts move, the tires get out of balance. They require much more frequent balancing if you dont want the steering wheel shaking and seats wobbling.

The Firestone are cheap and i think thats one of the major reasons they are so popular here. Sure they do the job of being a tire and getting you places too so thats a plus.

The Mickey Thompsons have always been great tires, i have owned two sets and absolutely loved them, this was late 90s early 2000s era so thats been a long time ago. I vaguely remember them not balancing the best but boy they looked cool and i would buy them again in a heart beat if i was building the same project i had them on back then.

Since 2014 i have been running the General tires and i dont think there is another tire on the market that
(1) lasts as long
(2) rides as good for as long as it does
(3) requires minimal to no rebalancing
(4) does freaking amazing in wet, snow, ice, heat, ect. My daily driver has a shade over 126,000 miles on a set of General Grabber ATx and yes they are almost wore out but i am jokingly and laughingly going to wear them a little more before i get rid of them. They still do amazing in the rain, it was absolutely flooding on my way to work, standing water in the roads and water running off the roads and i drove highway speeds without a worry and drove thru standing puddles and splashed the whole vehicle with water and dont hydroplane.
(5) they ride so insanely weird, the rubber has properties that are unlike other brands of tires and you can read up on it. The rubber is designed to be soft and squishy so they have great traction but also wear like iron. When you get your first set and mount them up and drive out of the parking lot of the tire store you will swear they are as soft as ABC chewing gum. They are squishy and weird feeling like a water bed but its something you get used to over the life of the tire. They are soft, have crazy grip, but last absolutely forever.
(6) they are VERY quiet for an aggressive tire. I took my daily in around 90,000 to have them balanced and rotated for the second time [yes, balanced and rotated for the second time at 90,000] and i had been noticing they were getting slightly louder over the past few thousand miles. I asked the owner of the tire shop to look at them and see if he could figure out why they were getting louder. He came back and said "those tires are hard as a rock, you may never wear them out" Apparently the squishy nature of the rubber had hardened up or dried up so the tires rubber was getting harder. And he is right, they have barely worn anymore since the 90,000 rebalance and rotate. I poked fun at them a few days ago with a buddy, they still have so much tread its silly for a tire with 126,000 miles and they still ride excellent. I just got back from a trip to georgia two weeks ago (8.5 hours one way) and they rode smooth all the way there and back.
(7) they are as tough as nails, literally tough as nails. My spare has only been on the ground twice in 126,000 miles. I went on a race trip in my truck one weekend and i had her 4R in my shop doing a full detail and polish on it so she couldnt drive it. I left her my 4R for the weekend so she drove it. She called me Sunday afternoon after she walked out of church and said "i gotta flat tire" and luckily i was not terribly far from being back so i rolled up and the left rear was flat flat, on the ground. As i got out she quickly jumped up and said "it must have went flat while i was in church" but the tale-tell black marks from the sidewall of the tire on the concrete where she backed up into the parking spot told me she was flat flat, nearly on the rim when she parked. I said "did you drive the interstate to church like always? Were you going 80mph like always" and she said yes.... Meaning she likely jumped in my 4R without looking, and had a flat tire when she left the house, and rode 16 miles to church and 8 of them on the interstate at 80mph on a flat flat tire. I swapped the spare on and took the tire to get fixed. It had a sizable nail in it but after getting it fixed i put that tire back on. That was 2+ years ago and that tire is still holding up fine.

There are plenty of stories i could tell you in the past 11 years of owning General Grabber AT2 and ATx tires on my vehicles. I have bought 8 sets in the past 11 years and currently have 4 sets mounted and driving on my vehicles today. Between all of those vehicles, and tires, i would speculate i have about 415,000 miles combined on these General tires if the numbers add up about right. I can tell you i dont plan on buying or owning anything else, these tires do amazing for me in every single situation and circumstance. They look good doing it too.

 

Believe me, your reviews of the Generals have been on my mind a while now. And every time I look at them again wondering why I haven’t decided on those, I’m reminded that the 285/70-17s are only available in load E, and they are much heavier than the K02 load C I have now.

I didn’t think I was a vain person until I saw my 4runner on 285/70s. But I think I am, because I can’t go back to stock tire size anymore lol. I’m not saying I’m proud of that

 

my 285s on my daily are LRE because I used to spend a bunch of time in Mexico. The roads are terrible the farther south you go past Ensenada. I’ve driven that vehicle to La Paz and once you get past El Rosario you better have LRE tires or a bunch of spares. I am currently getting 21-22mpg on my LRE 285s so don’t be scared or the weight. Everyone gets hung up on a tire weighing more than another and hurting fuel mileage. Yes it can but it’s negligible if you drive appropriately.
I have LRD on everything else only because they don’t make LRE in every size.
I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure they make the 285/70-17 in more than an E rated. I’ll look at the charts.

 

Good to know your experience on load E. My issue is not so much the fuel mileage and rotational inertia. To me, I’m trying to keep the unsprung weight down. It does so much for suspension feel of a vehicle. Even though it seems weird, I really love how the 4runner moves/feels over the surface of old country roads. If they made them in a lighter standard load or load C range, I may bite.

 

On the 4R it can be a nightmare. I bought a set of KO2s in stock size and had balancing issues and later installed them on my Tundra. I'm now running KO3s in 285/70r17 on my 4R and had one hell of a time getting them balanced. Everything is good now, but I had to road force balance....I lost count...4 or 5 times, and warranty 1 tire to get them balanced.

I'm now on my second set of KO2s on my 1st gen Tundra and they're great, no issues with balancing at all. Great tires.

 

Something to consider; Experience may (maybe not) depend on factors like region, installer, personal taste, financials, other related components, etc..

For example I had BFK KO2 2 sets of 265s, 1 set of 275s, 1 set of 285s. Since Discount Tire near my house did an excellent RoadForce balance I didn't have issues. I also used factory SR5 wheels & TRD Offroad wheels, so the wheels may have better quality helping to have better wheel balance.

When I comes to personal taste, I used 275/70R17 in Load E on stock suspension and didn't like the firm ride even at 32psi. Initially had 40psi from tire shop, when reduced till 32psi. But didn't work. Especially with Mrs. Had to sell them and get softer Load C. But many seem to run Load E tires and not have complaints.

As for regions here in CO we get some serious snow storms and even easy trails get so much snow accumulated even when city is fully sunny and dry a 3PMSF rated A/T tire is a must imo. A dedicated winter tire is not practical as we get warmer days in city even in winter season. My garage don't have space to store and I'm a small body guy, swapping tires not my thing. I think TPMS will also complain when you swap wheels.

 

Dang, you are right, the 285/70-17 is only available in LRE
I guess its the 265/70-17 i looked up for someone else a while back, they have every load rating available in the 265
Dont worry about the LRE riding bad, a lot of people are scared to death of riding on LRE but most folks run way too much air and thats what makes them so stiff on a light vehicle. I chalk my tires by riding on a limestone gravel road to get the tires painted white and then ride on pavement for about 1/4 mile straight, no turns, and stop to see how the tread is touching the ground. This is one of the easiest ways to also check front end camber if you question your alignment. I start out high and air down until the entire face of the tread is on the ground.
My daily driver with 285 LRE has been at 28psi front and 24psi rear for 6 years. I swap the air pressures when i rotate the tires (which isnt often) and the tires wear perfectly evenly and the sidewalls are not crazy stiff. Yes, i tow and ride highway like this no problem. I would venture to say about 25,000-30,000 miles of the driving on these tires was towing a trailer and i would venture to say 10,000+ of the miles have been with the rear loaded heavy heavy. There is more weight bias on the front tires, but i pull a tongue heavy trailer and put so much junk in the back all the time that the tires wear almost perfectly evenly. This is one of the main reasons i have not and dont rotate them, they wear almost even front to back.