Time for new shoes. Current 35x12.50R17 Grabber ATx vs 37x12.50R17 BFG K02

[mtudb24]

I probably have about 2K miles or so left on current Grabber 35 ATx's. Setting at 52K+ miles currently. Been a fantastic tire and not 1 single complaint. Rides great. Wear has been awesome. Wet / snowy / slushy on road drivability is fantastic. Off-roading very good but they do load up in the mud which is to be expected. Sand / Traill riding / offroad was very very good as well. Again no complaints at all.

General tire still hasn't released a date for bringing back this tire in a 37. They said spring 2025 but when I called them yesterday, they still said they don't have a release date. Which means its more likely a summer or fall date. I probably can't wait that long sadly.

Outline white letter is my number 1 priority due to the retro theme build I have. I'm moving up to 37x12.50R17 this time around. This is limiting me to the BFG All Terrain KO2's (the KO3's won't be around til spring of 2026).
The differences in the tires are as follows

Current Grabber's in 35x12.50R17's are:
35" Height over all (yes a bit smaller once mounted). Need to measure them mounted now with 52K+ miles but when new they were about 34.50" overall if memory serves me correct.
Load range E
Weight 65lbs
Tread depth 16/32"
Max pressure 65lbs
50K mile warranty

BFG All Terrain KO2's in 37x12.50R17's are:
36.5" height overall (don't know what they'll be mounted). Maybe 36" if they shrink the same as the Grabbers
Load range D
Weight 69lbs
Tread depth 15/32"
Max pressure 50lbs
50K mile warranty

I had the dealer do the tire calibration when i bought the vehicle to go with the 35's and since since bought a Tazer mini so I should be able to calibrate them to the 37" size myself.
Truck is a max tow with 4:10's and most likely at some point I will move to 4:88's but that is not my concern that this time.

I've never had BFG AT's. My only experience with BFG's was a set of 33x9.50x15 Mud Terrain tires on a 1996 S10 ZR2 back in the day. They were just ok. Took a lot of weight to balance, loud (not as loud as my super my swamper thornbirds or SSR's) but pretty close and tracked poorly.

I don't mind giving up a load E Grabber tire to a Load D BFG as I only tow the boat a few times a year and the 4lb tire weight difference and 1" or so difference in height shouldn't put a bunch of extra strain of the drivetrain (in my mind and maybe I'm wrong?).

So for the guys running 37's BFG AT's in load range D, what are your thoughts and opinions on them? They seem to get decent reviews. I'm more worried about on road behavior as its my daily driver then a true dedicated off road truck.

I could goto the Grabber X3's which is a D2 rated and more likely closer to a true 37" but they are 80lbs each and when I had a set of 35's on a ram 1500, they didn't really perform well in the wet / snowy / slushy pavement category at all. They rode very well on the 1500 but they were really noisy too.

Thanks for your input.

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[MudderNuker]

Do you tow anything? 35 inch is about as big as you want with 4.10s.

 

[KevinC]

I am currently running 37x12.50x17 BFG KO2 in Load Range D. 23 Mojave with 4.10's. The only reason for the D is I got two of them for free, so I only had to buy two. Currently 14K miles.

I pull a light boat (2K lb) sometimes
I pull a very light camper (1600 lb) sometimes
I off road on mostly soft sand, hard packed clay, dirt roads and sandy hills.
On road wet weather traction has been adequate compared to internet reviews from others.

I have averaged 18.5 mpg over the last year.
I run 33 psi on the road and 20 psi off road.

I have been pleasantly surprised.

 

[ArmyMP]

I love my KO2s. No issues at all.

 

[mtudb24]

Do you tow anything? 35 inch is about as big as you want with 4.10s.

Pull a boat 2x a year. About 15 miles each time. If I had to tow it farther and on the 37's, I'd borrow my family's fullsize pickup.

 

[mtudb24]

I am currently running 37x12.50x17 BFG KO2 in Load Range D. 23 Mojave with 4.10's. The only reason for the D is I got two of them for free, so I only had to buy two. Currently 14K miles.

I pull a light boat (2K lb) sometimes
I pull a very light camper (1600 lb) sometimes
I off road on mostly soft sand, hard packed clay, dirt roads and sandy hills.
On road wet weather traction has been adequate compared to internet reviews from others.

I have averaged 18.5 mpg over the last year.
I run 33 psi on the road and 20 psi off road.

I have been pleasantly surprised.

Looks fantastic!

 

[Bjeepz]

I run the Cooper AT3 XLT in 37x12.5r17, they have the white letters! Mine are turned in but just tossing this out there as another option. I had BFG KO2's on my last Jeep JLUXR, I feel like the wet and winter performance is very comparable, neither as good as the Falken AT3W's I had previously. Anyway Cooper specs them to 36.5 with a weight of 69lbs. I have a full size spare under the bed with the stock rear track bar. I def notice the difference in performance from 35 to 37's with the stock 4.10's. I will never re-gear but probably should reprogram the shift points.

 

[mtudb24]

I run the Cooper AT3 XLT in 37x12.5r17, they have the white letters! Mine are turned in but just tossing this out there as another option. I had BFG KO2's on my last Jeep JLUXR, I feel like the wet and winter performance is very comparable, neither as good as the Falken AT3W's I had previously. Anyway Cooper specs them to 36.5 with a weight of 69lbs. I have a full size spare under the bed with the stock rear track bar. I def notice the difference in performance from 35 to 37's with the stock 4.10's. I will never re-gear but probably should reprogram the shift points.

Good looking rig. I looked at Cooper tires as I ran them on a old 2016 rebel in 315/70R17 and liked them but I found nothing in OWL. I will look again.
Thank you!

 

[mtudb24]

I run the Cooper AT3 XLT in 37x12.5r17, they have the white letters! Mine are turned in but just tossing this out there as another option. I had BFG KO2's on my last Jeep JLUXR, I feel like the wet and winter performance is very comparable, neither as good as the Falken AT3W's I had previously. Anyway Cooper specs them to 36.5 with a weight of 69lbs. I have a full size spare under the bed with the stock rear track bar. I def notice the difference in performance from 35 to 37's with the stock 4.10's. I will never re-gear but probably should reprogram the shift points.

I see the OWL letters are only available in a E2 or a C2 load rating. Which ones do you have?
The C1 and E1 load ratings are discontinued.

Thanks again

 

[Bjeepz]

I see the OWL letters are only available in a E2 or a C2 load rating. Which ones do you have?
The C1 and E1 load ratings are discontinued.

Thanks again

Just had a look, mine are load range D. Maybe different availability because I am in Canada. The Cooper site shows them on my end.

 

[professorkx]

I’m not a fan of the BFG tires anymore if you are going to do any kind of serious rock crawling without bead lock wheels. BFG was all I used until I did the Rubicon Trail with them. The sidewall would flex so much that it would cause the bead to twist and lose air. i kept hearing the air bleed and finally figured out the noise when I only had 3 pounds of air in one tire. I had to run the Rubicon Trail with 29 pounds in all the tires to keep the bead from bleeding air, so I no longer use them. Fine for the highway, but not for rock crawling without bead lock wheels…IMHO.

My last three sets have been Mikey Thompson Baja Boss, and I run them in Moab several weeks each year down to 8 pounds (once in Moab, I drive trail pressure the entire time, on and off asphalt) and never had the bead leak air. I don’t run bead locks on the Jeep because we tow the jeep behind our Adventure motorhome through a lot of states, and I don’t want a visit from LEO in some small town because I am running bead locks.

I should also note that we live pretty remote in the mountains, and the dirt road back to our place is 4 inches of ice most of the winter. A few years ago, I winched a new E-jeep from going off the edge of the road on a steep uphill. Once I had him back on the road, I helped him to the bottom of the hill, then turned around and crawled up the icy hill. He’s a neighbor, and asked why his jeep couldn’t crawl up the hill, I said tires…he had stock tires. The point is that not only is the Baja Boss a great rock crawling tire, it’s an amazing winter tire, so now that’s all I use and my son has them on his Gladiator as well.

Good luck in your quest.

 

[KevinC]

My last three sets have been Mikey Thompson Baja Boss,

The Baja Boss is a great tire.

If I lived out west and/or ran more rocky trails, I would not be running BFG KO's. They work well in my demographic and I keep buying them so I guess I like them.

 

[AustyPosty]

I have a set of 37x12.5r17 C load bfg KO2s. They weigh the same 68 pounds as the 33" Falken Wildpeak at3ws did. Not a huge loss in power, MPG is maybe down 1 overall, on stock 4.10 gears. They are more like 35.8-36" tall on the weight of the vehicle.

I don't know of any 37" tires that are actually 37", if they were they wouldn't fit in the spare tire location as the frame rails the spare tire mounts between are 36.5" wide. And pretty much every brands 37" tire that I'm aware of fits under the bed so(even brands that people claim run true to size like Nitto and Toyo), just shows how almost no tire will ever be a "true" size.

The Ko2's ride better than the stock falken AT's. However, I'm currently going back in to Americas tire a third time because they haven't been able to balance them properly. So there's a minor vibration at highway speeds.

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

I have a set of 37x12.5r17 C load bfg KO2s. They weigh the same 68 pounds as the 33" Falken Wildpeak at3ws did. Not a huge loss in power, MPG is maybe down 1 overall, on stock 4.10 gears. They are more like 35.8-36" tall on the weight of the vehicle.

I don't know of any 37" tires that are actually 37", if they were they wouldn't fit in the spare tire location as the frame rails the spare tire mounts between are 36.5" wide. And pretty much every brands 37" tire that I'm aware of fits under the bed so(even brands that people claim run true to size like Nitto and Toyo), just shows how no tire will ever be a "true" size.

The Ko2's ride better than the stock falken AT's. However, I'm currently going back in to Americas tire a third time because they haven't been able to balance them properly. So there's a minor vibration at highway speeds.

Interco is the only one I know of that has some tires that are the sidewall height when mounted with weight on them.

 

[JeepinPete]

Not a JT but a JLU. Been running the exact KO2's for the last 40k miles, and 10k miles on my old FJ80 before that. They have been excellent tires, measured in around 35.75" when swapped onto my Jeep. Find a shop that can road force balance them, it is well worth the money. Mine have about 5k miles left on the fronts. The rears are going on my M1102 trailer. Another set are sitting in the barn to take their place.

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