Are K02's still the go to tire?

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WallyWest

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For mixed driving that is. Mostly on road, my off road stuff will be fairly mild.

Trying to decide between 33x12.5 and 33x10.5. I like the looks of a wide tire on a Wrangler, but that's really the only reason I can think of to go 12.5. I have ravine wheels, so the 10.5 should be fine, while the 12.5 would require spacers or new wheels.

Also, will a 33x10.5 fit as a spare with no modifications to the mount?

And finally, best place to buy? Haven't found any deals online, but that may be the way it is.
 
Good prices on tires are difficult right now. You may have the best luck with a local shop since everyone can and does look online and I guess there's a rubber shortage right now.

For the road I'd stick with 10.5. Less rolling resistance, less hydroplaning, and less costly (no spacers needed).

The KO2 is still great. Another one that comes to mind which is very similar to the KO2 in terms of wear, design use, and user reviews is the Falken Wildpeak A/T. Last I looked they were usually less expensive also. Not sure if they come in 33x10.5 size though.
 
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Mobusaki said:
Good prices on tires are difficult right now. You may have the best luck with a local shop since everyone can and does look online and I guess there's a rubber shortage right now.

For the road I'd stick with 10.5. Less rolling resistance, less hydroplaning, and less costly (no spacers needed).

The KO2 is still great. Another one that comes to mind which is very similar to the KO2 in terms of wear, design use, and user reviews is the Falken Wildpeak A/T. Last I looked they were usually less expensive also. Not sure if they come in 33x10.5 size though.
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KO2 is hard to come by right now. Check online retailers for the hard to get sizes. They typically have a larger network to pull from. BFG Black Friday rebate is coming up $70 off.
 
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Mobusaki said:
The KO2 is still great. Another one that comes to mind which is very similar to the KO2 in terms of wear, design use, and user reviews is the Falken Wildpeak A/T. Last I looked they were usually less expensive also. Not sure if they come in 33x10.5 size though.
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In my experience of 1, the Falkens didn't work out. I tried a set of Falken Wildpeak AT3Ws on my diesel pickup (load range E) because KO2s in 325/65r18 (metric 35x13.0) haven't been available for the last several months. I exchanged them because 3 of 4 were out of round enough to prevent a good balance. My old KO2s were the smoothest, quietest, easiest to balance LT tire I've ever had and were outstanding in snow.
 
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I really liked my KO2s for normal driving, but they did wear a bit when rock crawling so I moved to MTRs. However for what you're doing I think you'll be happy with the KO2s.
 
I just bought tires and most are on back order. Call around and ask what they actually have in the size you want. Then go from there.

The 10.5 is going to handle much better on the street, but not as good off road.
 
You don't need much tire to do what you describe, you also probably don't have options with a 10.5, it's going to be KO2 when you can find it or a mud which is a bad idea. If you want to go with an 12.5 a General ATX, Durtrac (way more than you need) or even more mild like the Destination X/T will get the job done easily. The popular tire is popular because of how it looks, find one you like and you'll be fine. The lighter the tire is the better your road manners will be.

As far as shop I'd go with a trusted local place you can support or America's Tire.
 
Ive always shopped at Discount tire. They can price match anything you find on the internet. As mentioned, stock is weird at the moment. I ordered a set of duratracs for my pickup and it took 10 days to get to CO from UT. So plan accordingly.

As to K02s--I ran a set around 2008 and I thought they were just ok, I didnt like them on the snow and ice but Ive read theyre much better these days.
 
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I can think of probably 4 brands with better AT's right now than K02's. BFG got complacent, those have been the same design for like 14-15 years. They don't last as long as others and don't perform as well as others. But they sure carry the price tag.
IMO.
 
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Mobusaki said:
Good prices on tires are difficult right now. You may have the best luck with a local shop since everyone can and does look online and I guess there's a rubber shortage right now.

For the road I'd stick with 10.5. Less rolling resistance, less hydroplaning, and less costly (no spacers needed).

The KO2 is still great. Another one that comes to mind which is very similar to the KO2 in terms of wear, design use, and user reviews is the Falken Wildpeak A/T. Last I looked they were usually less expensive also. Not sure if they come in 33x10.5 size though.
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‘Just 12.50. I wanted the 10.50, but they don’t make it in that size. I do really like the Falkens.
 
Camdenst said:
I've have enjoyed my General Grabber ATX tires, very similar to the KO2 tread as well.
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A buddy tried those on his Ram 2500 instead of the KO’s he used to run. He didn’t make it half way through the Winter before he switched back the the BFG’s due to how poor the Generals were
 
As mentioned you will have a lot more options if you are ok with 12.50s. There are a lot of good all terrain style tires these days. I am on my second set of Ko2s and I am happy with them. Also, I can confirm that a 33x10.50 will fit in the stock location if you trim back the rubber bumps and raise the tail light with some spacers.

4B853E29-202D-480E-876E-7485FA466081.jpeg
 
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My TJ had Cooper Discoverer AT3s on it when I got it. I didn't keep them long (went up in size) but I remember them doing well. Terrible in thick mud, but most AT's are. The new Discoverer AT3 XLT looks really cool. But I think the price tag is higher than the old style.
 
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tworley said:
As to K02s--I ran a set around 2008 and I thought they were just ok,
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Whatever you were running in 2008 was not a K02. They hit the market in 2015. This is according to BFG.

Before that, BFG had a very similar A/T tire that preceded the K02. I don't know exactly what was different but the K02 was supposedly a better tire with tons of rave reviews.
 
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Mobusaki said:
I think it was BFG T/A KO. The sidewall was/is different, not sure about the rest of it.
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tread pattern looked identical to me. Either way, BFG is entirely too proud of an AT tire that really you never see folks run on anything but mall crawlers.
 
Fuck KO2, stupid fucking tire, what motherfuck makes a tire that manages to find a nail 3 minutes after getting mounted?
But not simply finding a nail, noooo, that would be too simple for a new $260 tire, they had to step it up a notch further above competition, and get nail fucked right in the corner where no tire shop would patch it.
Fuck it :D

Have no idea when they got crowned as "go to" tire, but it is a good thread pattern for all sorts of conditions.
I was on General AT2 before KO2, same pattern. Snow, sand, dirt, water, terrible in mud - i had nothing to complain about. One thing to note, KO2 are much stiffer than AT2. That is all, go for them!
 
I have falken AT’s on my tundra and they have been great. No out of round issues here. Maxxis just came out with a new AT tire and they have been better about having tires in stock than most other companies. The nitto AT is another good tire. Can’t speak for the Mickey Thompson Baja AT but I bet it’s also better than a KO2. I’ve never been a BFG AT fan personally. I would get anything BUT them.
 
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