Need new tires

[Regcabguy]

I have had great luck over the years with BFG K0 and K02s but on my last 3500 they only went about 40k.. I had good tire wear on the Nitto Ridge Grapplers and sold the truck so who knows how far those went. Been looking into the Nitto Recon Grappler (65k warranty), Id like a little more off pavement traction on the next set of tires if Im going to lighten my wallet 2k.

Tires sure went up after Xi's Virus and the election.

 

[Regcabguy]

I’m also in the market for new tires and looking to go a bit bigger. I have the 20’s. Do you have the 285/65/20 on your truck and have a picture?

I'd find some factory 18's. They are cheaper and will yield a softer ride. Marketplace and Craigslist have them all the time.

 

[AH64ID]

I’m also in the market for new tires and looking to go a bit bigger. I have the 20’s. Do you have the 285/65/20 on your truck and have a picture?

Not yet, I'm still on the OE Trashforce tires.

I'd find some factory 18's. They are cheaper and will yield a softer ride. Marketplace and Craigslist have them all the time.

Meh, I've run both 18's and 20's on my 4th gens and there isn't a noticable difference empty with the tires at the proper pressure. The 20's do have the full RAWR better thou, not enough better to warrant changing out if you have 18's and don't want to.

I run 18's for hunting and 20's the rest of the year.

 

[MichaelD86]

I'd find some factory 18's. They are cheaper and will yield a softer ride. Marketplace and Craigslist have them all the time.

I have factory air and feel the ride is fine empty or loaded. I also like the look of my limited black wheels. Have no desire to get anything different.

 

[Killer223]

My last set of ko2's were 285's i got 68K out of them, they are hands down the best snow tire i've ever used.
my current tire 275 Michelin ltx at2, they are smoooooth and quiet. no complaints, i haven't had them in the winter yet. but so far i really like them.
If i were shopping for tires today, i'd have to really think what my 90% of the time would be. highway, tow pig, i'll be giving the geolander's a good look, and the cooper at3 lt, general grabber at. we use these at work and have great service from them.
i also wouldn't shy away from the ko2's, if you can find round ones. they always seem hard to balance.

 

[Herman8r]

My last set of ko2's were 285's i got 68K out of them, they are hands down the best snow tire i've ever used.
my current tire 275 Michelin ltx at2, they are smoooooth and quiet. no complaints, i haven't had them in the winter yet. but so far i really like them.
If i were shopping for tires today, i'd have to really think what my 90% of the time would be. highway, tow pig, i'll be giving the geolander's a good look, and the cooper at3 lt, general grabber at. we use these at work and have great service from them.
i also wouldn't shy away from the ko2's, if you can find round ones. they always seem hard to balance.

I had really good luck in the snow with KO2's also. Mountain driving in snow storms. Like your results, I also had 60k plus on them...but like you mentioned....hard to keep balanced.
I am taking a hard look at Centramatics.

 

[Topzide]

Call Centramatics for a November special only by phone! @Herman8r, I think you'd be surprised in the ride they'll offer you in keeping things balanced, plus less wear and tear for vibrations in the front end.

Edit: no association with them, just was checking website and saw they were offering a special and wanted to pass along to others that may be on the fence.

 

[Herman8r]

Call Centramatics for a November special only by phone! @Herman8r, I think you'd be surprised in the ride they'll offer you in keeping things balanced, plus less wear and tear for vibrations in the front end.

Edit: no association with them, just was checking website and saw they were offering a special and wanted to pass along to others that may be on the fence.

Very generous of you to provide this info!
I will call them!

 

[Regcabguy]

I had really good luck in the snow with KO2's also. Mountain driving in snow storms. Like your results, I also had 60k plus on them...but like you mentioned....hard to keep balanced.
I am taking a hard look at Centramatics.

The KO sidewalls aren't the strongest.

 

[AH64ID]

KO’s have long had a death wobble reputation on these trucks. Is that no longer an issue?

I haven’t ran them in years but really didn’t like the 33x10.50’s I had on my 95 4Runner. They didn’t excel at anything.

 

[endoscott]

"The KO sidewalls aren't the strongest."
How so? Evidence? I run them on my truck and on my 3rd gen 4runner in the desert and they seem great. Supposed to have an "extra" belt in the sidewall. No idea, never cut one apart, but we deflate them to 20 or 25 psi in the sand and they give great traction, never blew out a sidewall yet.

 

[Herman8r]

Call Centramatics for a November special only by phone! @Herman8r, I think you'd be surprised in the ride they'll offer you in keeping things balanced, plus less wear and tear for vibrations in the front end.

Edit: no association with them, just was checking website and saw they were offering a special and wanted to pass along to others that may be on the fence.

@Topzide---Just ordered the Centramatics. Great deal!! $45 off. $25 shipping. Thanks again for the "verbal coupon" Topzide!
This is why this forum is so awesome!!

 

[Tuesdak]

How so? Evidence?

It doesn't matter. You hit anything with the sidewall the only difference, on the now likely damaged and ruined tire, is going to be if the tire keeps air in it or not.

Cooper's I run got a nasty cut on one sidewall that scrapped the tire while holding air, a screw in the sidewall by the tread that held air, a Michelin LTX AT2 that took a 1/2" branch in the side wall and held air, and my first ever tire puncture failure at speed was a Cooper with a hole through the tread.

Yeah the surprises I get during pre-trip inspections, even though I no longer run commercial, including the inside sidewall where junk could be hanging in the sidewall and is not easy to spot. The 1/2" wooden "tire plug" tree branch in the inside sidewall is the best so far.

Stopped in time and NO Damage to the truck. Luck. Or maybe best review ever.

 

[Killer223]

KO’s have long had a death wobble reputation on these trucks. Is that no longer an issue?

I haven’t ran them in years but really didn’t like the 33x10.50’s I had on my 95 4Runner. They didn’t excel at anything.

I had some 285's on my 04, my 08. i have some 265's on my 12v, so far they are hands down the best all terrain tire i've run. I would consistently get over 60K out of a set. loader 5er headed to glamis, zero issue towing.
I had a set of coopers at3's on my 95 4 runner and they performed good. never had them on my trucks though.
So i'm a fan of the ko2's but finding a round one was my last issue, and having a roadforce number of 45, i purchased the Michelins, and so far i'm very pleased. but again it's a 98% road tire and i rarely take that tuck offroad.

I never had death wobble issue from the ko2 on my 08, it was always the lift, took the leveling kit off and death wobble gone.

 

[Herman8r]

The Centramatics arrived and I installed them Sunday. After driving 200 miles yesterday, I have to say they are worth the money. The ride is, for lack of better words, smoother. Thanks to everyone for the recommendation.
Now the task of finding tires.
It is one of the following:
Coopers....in stock
Michelin....in stock
Falken....out of stock until the first week of December.
Any of the above will be a Hugh improvement over the Transforce tires.
Job search after retirement!! Back to work to afford $2000 set of tires!!!! Holy cr$p!!
Maybe a Black Friday sale!!
Also looking at the Alpha device to adjust for larger tire size. I miss my Smarty!!!

 

[bcbender]

I think Im going to order a set... If they truly make that big a difference

 

[Topzide]

@bcbender, Call them up and take advantage of their November special! They made me a believer! I've got the truck vibration free now above 80! That's plenty fast enough to get out of the way for the other knuckle heads that want to drive faster!

@Herman8r, Glad to hear that they've made a difference for you! Tire prices come with serious sticker shock!!!!!!!!! Once you find the tires, just a good machine balance with the Centramatics is all you'll need. When I did mine, was withing 1/2 -3/4 oz and the ride was night and day. Had vibrations just before 50 and settled then another at 66 - 68 that settled out at 70. Looking forward to less wear and tear from vibrations in the front end. If I get some extra tire life, bonus!

I didn't know about Centramatics before reading on TDR. Sure glad I did now and thinking about a set for the trailer.

 

[Cummins2014]

KO’s have long had a death wobble reputation on these trucks. Is that no longer an issue?

I haven’t ran them in years but really didn’t like the 33x10.50’s I had on my 95 4Runner. They didn’t excel at anything.

I was going to say the same , been years since I’ve ran KO’s . The one thing they did excel in was picking up rocks .

 

[nukegm]

I was going to say the same , been years since I’ve ran KO’s . The one thing they did excel in was picking up rocks .

x2 on the picking up rocks thing!
also have a bad reputation of being difficult to balance...
cheers!

 

[Cummins2014]

x2 on the picking up rocks thing!
also have a bad reputation of being difficult to balance...
cheers!

If the tread pattern is the same , then they will probably be the same on picking up rocks .