My review of BFG KO3's after 2500 miles

[RHINO79]

Seems like they are all good for a few thousand miles, I ran a set of General grabber atx and I have to say they were still nice at 40,000 miles.

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[Jefe1018]

If BFG’s didn’t run small I’d consider them. Right now, it looks like within the 18 next months, Mickey Thompson will be getting my money for the Baja Boss All Terrains.

 

[Jefe1018]

Seems like they are all good for a few thousand miles, I ran a set of General grabber atx and I have to say they were still nice at 40,000 miles.

Interestingly enough, I have a set of 37’s right now at roughly 30,000 miles. They are still good, but I can tell they’re starting to wear. I’d say another 10-12k at most before I need to start price shopping.

 

[RHINO79]

Good luck with your next choice

 

[Maximus Gladius]

Anybody know if the KO3’s come in a 35 skinny?

 

[Moose95]

It’s funny how subjective this sort of thing seems to be. I hope KO3s are really good. I felt like KO2s were worse in wet/snow than the Falken A/T3W. Had both vehicles at same time.
They were quiet. I think they prioritize quiet and low weight over toughness and off-road performance.
Personally I don’t see a reason not to get the Mickey Thompson BB A/T unless you just get a highway tire. Literally no one has a bad review of them. People I wheel with go up same terrain I do with my STT Pros. Pretty much no excuse not to run the Baja Boss at this point. My STT Pros are loud af

Prior to purchasing, I watched several videos outlining the differences in the tread pattern between the KO2 and KO3, and the promise of better wet traction. Based on my experience with highway driving in extremely heavy rain, I believe that they accomplished their goal - the KO3's felt very stable even when going through big puddles at highway speeds, with not a hint of hydroplaning. However, the tires did have full tread, so that may change with more wear. I will be curious to see if the snow performance is good, but here in Virginia we haven't had much snow in the last few years. Fingers crossed for this winter.

There's a lot of passion with tires, which is why I posted my "use case" - the Gladiator is my daily driver and I use the pickup bed a lot for hauling mulch and brush, but I don't go offroad much - just dirt roads. It is my first jeep after 20 years of pickups. Hopefully some other KO3 users can add their impressions of the new design as well. Thanks for all the comments!

 

[Bjeepz]

I’ve consistently gotten 50 to 65 thousand miles out of K02’s on wranglers and gladiators. I have never gotten more than 40K out of the Wildpeaks. My previous Gladiator Mojave wore through a set of Falkens at 20K miles. That was with rotation!

I have to call fan boy ‘Fluff’ on this. The BFG’s start with less tread then a Falken’s and my personal experience with the AT3W’s with significant off pavement use has been fantastic. The SL series doesn’t last the same as the LT series is also my experience with these…. Had the SL’s on a Tacoma..

 

[Sweetums]

I have to call fan boy ‘Fluff’ on this. The BFG’s start with less tread then a Falken’s and my personal experience with the AT3W’s with significant off pavement use has been fantastic. The SL series doesn’t last the same as the LT series is also my experience with these…. Had the SL’s on a Tacoma..

That reasoning would make sense if rubber compounds were all the same, and they aren't. The Wrangler Duratrac, for example, had 2/32 more tread than the KO2 but never got close to the BFG in longevity due to the softer compound.

 

[YYCSahara]

Anyone driving in actual winter conditions shouldn't be surprised when their MTs or ATs underperform. 3peak rating is very easy to achieve and means little aside from legal implications in places where winter rated tires are mantatory. Proper winter tires are a must, but obviously don't look good on these trucks and few are willing to swap 2 sets of tires/wheels.

 

[Bowser-II]

Anyone driving in actual winter conditions shouldn't be surprised when their MTs or ATs underperform. 3peak rating is very easy to achieve and means little aside from legal implications in places where winter rated tires are mantatory. Proper winter tires are a must, but obviously don't look good on these trucks and few are willing to swap 2 sets of tires/wheels.

The 3peak might not mean much where true winter tires are mandatory, but for folks that only get a few snow storms a year, that extra few percents may be all that is needed to stay safer (safer being better than not safe ).

And yeah, MT’s really are not optimized for rain or snow, hence the mud terrain name!

 

[Gladiatorx2]

I have to call fan boy ‘Fluff’ on this. The BFG’s start with less tread then a Falken’s and my personal experience with the AT3W’s with significant off pavement use has been fantastic. The SL series doesn’t last the same as the LT series is also my experience with these…. Had the SL’s on a Tacoma..

I took had Wild Peak AT3's in LT37/12.50r17. After 27,000 miles they still had 13/32nds to 14/32nds. In my use with proper pressure and rotation they have been the longest lasting AT's that I have ever had.

 

[RockTrixWheels]

Nice write up! Definitely gonna be looking into the KO3's now!

 

[DanW]

I purchased a set of KO3 tires (size 285/70-17) about six weeks ago and wanted to give my initial opinion after about 2500 miles. The “TL/DR” is that these are awesome tires, and I wholeheartedly recommend them.

Background: I have a 2020 Overland that I use primarily as a commuter and suburban pickup (lots of trips to Lowes or Home Depot for landscaping stuff and hauling junk & brush to the dump). I have done a few offroad trails, but nothing major (Peter’s Mill Run BOH trial, some farm trails). I originally had the stock Overland wheels & tires (Bridgestone Dueler 255/70-18) , then swapped them for a set of Mojave wheel/tire take-offs (Falken Wildpeak A/T3W T285/70-17) after 25k miles. The Falkens were MUCH heavier than the Bridgestones, and significantly louder on the highway. Over time, the Falkens became even louder, to the point that it was uncomfortable on long trips. After about 40k miles on the Falkens, I purchased the KO3’s, so I had significant experience with both sets of tires.

My impression of the KO3’s:
They are quiet! I had forgotten how much wind noise there is with the Gladiator, because the Falkens were so loud that you could not hear it over the tire howl. It felt like the KO3’s were about as loud as the original Overland Bridgestone’s, and dramatically quieter than the Falkens.

They are also much, much smoother riding than the Falkens on-road, and feeling almost like they are aired-down when driving on dirt or gravel roads (I even double-checked the tire pressure because they felt so soft). The handling in dry weather is very good, tracking well on the highway and seeming to have good grip – I’m not slaloming with it, but it seems fine. I took a 1500-mile round trip from Virginia to Maine, and the ride was great – and quiet – the whole way. On the way home, we ran into about 200 miles of rain, sometimes torrential, and it was EXCELLENT in wet weather, cutting through large puddles on the interstate without a hint of hydroplaning. I have not taken these offroad, except for some dirt roads in Maine and gravel roads here in VA, but they handled that really well.

Overall, these are the best tires I have had on the Jeep, combining the quiet, smooth riding nature of the Bridgestones with the aggressive tread of the Falkens. Time will tell about the lifespan of these tires, but I would recommend them to anyone looking for new tires if your use case is similar to mine. I can't speak to someone looking for hard-core off-roading tires. I hope this helps people who were wondering about the KO3’s.

I had KO2's in both 285's and 315's and they were great....except they were terrible in rain. They didn't hydroplane so much as they just had no grip. Otherwise, I loved them.

Sounds like BFG has addressed that and made a significant improvement!

I look forward to hearing more reports as the miles rack up! Thanks!

I had the Wildpeaks for a bit, with about 42k on them. I loved the traction in all conditions but like you, I found them to be terribly noisy for an AT. Almost as noisy as the mud tires on my JLUR.

 

[Chunky White]

I just too advantage of the low prices on the K02 in a 315/70-17 and I am happy. For $240 per tire I could not justify getting another tire. I could have waited on the KO3 and paid $377 but decided to save money. After one off road trip which had some gravel leading to the trail I have about 50 gravel stuck in the tread and I hope the Ko3 isn't as bad because its comical how many I still have in the tires after about 50 miles of driving

 

[Willpower1]

I just too advantage of the low prices on the K02 in a 315/70-17 and I am happy. For $240 per tire I could not justify getting another tire. I could have waited on the KO3 and paid $377 but decided to save money. After one off road trip which had some gravel leading to the trail I have about 50 gravel stuck in the tread and I hope the Ko3 isn't as bad because its comical how many I still have in the tires after about 50 miles of driving

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