BFG KO3 review

Alright, so my goal here is to update this thread as more miles and terrain gets covered on these tires. It usually bugs me when people do a review on tires they just put on but I think there’s an exception here because there’s essentially no information out on these tires. They aren’t even in BFGs website yet. There also seems to be some speculation and dislike of these tires based off what’s known so far so I wanted to clarify some of that.

So I’ve been looking at getting new shoes for a while and wanted to get them on before hunting camp and the colder seasons. I was doing my research and was concidering the MT Baja boss and general grabber atx as my top picks. I had kinda took out the KO2s because I felt they are over hyped and flashy. I basically went with the KO3s because there was no information out on them yet. I was starting to drive myself crazy reading forums and reviews and couldn’t decide one way or another because tires are so expensive now I wanted to make the right choices. I must have snapped and made the complete opposite decision of that

The KO3s are only available on tire rack, as far as I know, and only two sizes. LT285/70/R17 load C is what I was looking for and that’s one of the two available. So I sent it, felt like a sign to get them

They cost $1,250 for a set of 4. The recommended max wheel width is 9” and I have a 9.5” width wheel, don’t think that’s a big enough difference to cause wear problems but maybe someone has some thoughts on that? The shop said they fit on no problem. Shop also said they balanced well and didn’t take much weight. Forgot the exact amount, I can look if anyone’s that curious.

My old tires were a hankook dynapro ATM 285/70/R17 load E. One of the tires I could never get to balance, tires multiple shops. They still managed to wear evenly and last an insanely long time. No unbalanced/shaking with the KO3 install.

Okay onto the KO3s…
From the couple YouTube videos showing them and discussion online, the KO3s look like a step in the wrong direction for BFG. Lots of worry about the tread design and how it looks more on-road oriented and made for stock vehicles. I was worried about this when I orders them too. I do a lottt of commuting on road so worst case they would still fit 90% of my needs. I spend a lot of time off road during hunting season. Also needed a hood snow tire for snowboarding and confidence when it snows down low. They do have the 3 peak rating so that was a plus. Anyway, I don’t know why online the pictures of the tread look way less aggressive than the KO2. In real life, they are very comparable. The KO2 has a little more space between lugs in SOME spots but the KO3 is basically the same spacing. I’ve got to see both side by side in person. I actually like the KO3 design more than the KO2 in person. I definitely feels like the successor tire and made the KO2 feel outdated. I believe KO2 fanboys will not be disappointed. Sidewalls are still overly aggressive for an AT tire . Another point is this is still an AT tires, not a hybrid or MT. I think for an AT tire this falls right in line.

I’ve only got like 200 miles on this tire as of now so here’s the limited things I can say. As expected, they pick up rocks pretty good. Keeps people from tailgating
The road noise is actually a little worse than I anticipated. Nothing unbearable but there’s definitely a humm that picks up at 30mph and changes to a rhythmic around 55mph.
They are smooth on road tho, no more shake from the unbalanced ATM.
Going from a load E to C, these feel lighter and I got a litttlllle more pep from my 4.0L
Looks wise, I think they were a visual upgrade and will make any vehicle an excellent mall crawler.
they seem to take bumps and imperfections in the road very well to.

Overall, I’m happy with this purchase so far. I wanted an all terrain and that’s what I got. Im happy the tread is more aggressive then they looked in pictures. Happy they balanced well and no more shake.

I’ll add in some pictures. Again, for some reason pictures don’t really do justice for the tread design. I’ll do my best here to show it. I’m also fairly new to TW so forgive me if this wasn’t the best overview. Feel free to give some feed back and I’ll do my best to answer questions. Also, I’ll be going to hunting camp mid October and I’ll have a lottt of time off road so I can hopefully get a better update on these tires.

thanks!

November Update-

Alright just wrote up this whole update and it didn't save so I'm re-writing and may be lower quality...

So as I mentioned before, I had a hunting trip planned and would come back with a better off-road update. We've also got some rain since they were installed so I'll have some updates on that. Again, I'm not doing any crazy rock crawling/mudding/overlanding stuff. My point of view will be from a utility off-road use.

Wet performance

Hydroplane-
Living in Washington, we get quite a bit of rain. I also have a weird impulse to drive through puddles so I've got a good feel for the wet performance. Highway speeds, these tires have held up very well. Haven't got that oh sh*t water ski/hydroplane feeling and they feel more in control through the long highway puddles.

Lateral traction-
I'll rally the back roads pretty fast and was familiar with the speed/turn it took to break traction on my dynapros. Haven't been able to break these yet and don't wanna try going any faster so I'll leave it at that and call them good. I was worried about the lateral traction bc of the tread design but they held up well. I'll be curious how it holds in the snow...

Off-road

Context-
So the area I was hunting in NE Washington is pretty remote. Our property is about 1 hour and 45 min from the nearest town. An hour of that is dirt road. Our property is surrounded by national forest so there a lot of access roads surrounding the area we hunt. The "road" is 2 mile undeveloped trail behind a locked gate and another mile hike into the property. The main road to the area is a 20 mile stretch of more maintained access road with spur roads off of it. This was the worst washout year I've ever seen up there due to a heavy winter and wet spring so the spur roads were torn up bad. I put at least 100 miles of dirt road driving on these tires this trip. It rained for a few days there, dry for the most part, and had my tires aired down to 25psi.

Baja?
The main gravel road in is a 20 mile stretch, better maintained, I usually rally it pretty fast (30 to 50MPH). First thing I noticed, even before airing down, was the shock absorption. The KO3s did a great job soaking up the washboard, rocks, and potholes and felt well planted on the corners. Felt like I could drive that road with more confidence. Con, they pick up peddles like crazy. especially when getting back onto the pavement, felt like they were throwing rocks forever.

Washouts-
The spur/access roads to hunting land were the worst I've ever seen. Due to a heavy winter and sudden/heavy spring rainfall, it left gnarly washouts on all the access roads. Additionally, it's steep rugged country so it was a good test for the tires. You need a lifted vehicle to access most of these roads. These tires didn't skip a beat. I didn't notice them skip or slip on any of the toughest sections.

Unfair comparison-
My buddy has a GMC 1500 with 255/70/R17 KO2s. Driving the same roads, we both noticed his tires were skipping and struggling up some of the rougher roads that my KO3s went up. Probably unfair bc of the tire size difference but its the best I got. He's gonna get a set of MT Baja boss AT soon so that may be a fun future comparison.

Summary-
Overall, these tires have treated me well. I religously calculate my MPG every fill up and that hasn't changed at all. They do what I need them to do off-road thus far and they feel like a good match with my taco. Again, im not doing any crazy off-roading but definitely some challenging access roads and many miles on gravel, so far so good. Next updates will be mud and snow so it may be a few months before the next update unless something happens.

Hope this is still helpful!

 

Awesome write up! I hope you do come back and update this regularly. I think you’re the first one to review them here so far, so maybe this will become the K03 mega thread.

 

Hopefully BFG will do a 285/75/17 "C" load and not just an "E". Toyo, Falken and I think there is one or two others that do. I would also consider a 35/11.5/17 in a "C".

 

Apparently, when BFG/Michelin were developing the KO3 the road noise had been almost eliminated, and almost all the users were frustrated it didn't have the "all terrain" tire noise. Funny to think that they had to engineer noise back into a tire.
I just put new Ko2s on my Tacoma and was bummed I couldn't get the kO3s in my size yet. Seem like a sweet tire for snow, let us know how they continue to perform.

 

that was one of my issues with the Baja boss and atx. Load C seems to be a good balance for the Tacoma. Lucky these KO3s where available in load range C

 

Hey OP. These pics are of the KO3s? Is this uneven wear already or just pic angle?

 

Sorry didn’t clarify on the original post. The worn ones are my buddies KO2s for side by side comparison.

 

I just snapped a quick picture, didn’t see if they are wearing unevenly. He just got his pickup and it came with the KO2s on it.

 

@Cbeery you are now considered one of the lucky ones. Congrats on picking up the new KO3. The most common complaint in the forum was wet traction with the KO2's. Did you have any experience with heavy rain yet?

 

x2….Wet traction complaints were the only reason I didn’t seriously consider h K02 last time I was tire shopping.

Also, are the K03’s 3PMS rated?

 

I’ve had zero issues in the rain with my KO2s in 10 years. I think some people are running way to much air pressure, Tacomas are super light in the back, 30 or 32 is fine if you’re not hauling/towing.

 

Everything is in the details. Even when it comes to traction in the rain. I have more concerns of wet weather driving in SoCal than I do in the PNW. The PNW sees more rain but that just means the roads are cleaner/less dust and oil on them. The opinion of a tire's performance varies as much as where the tire gets used.

 

Thanks, cool to see you guys on the thread! No rain since I’ve put them on. There’s a stoplight/hill in town when wet and to much throttle it’s easy to break traction. That will be my first test. I’ll get back to ya once I get some miles on in the rain.

 

Yea they still maintain the 3PMS

 

Thanks!

 

Also,
Since I’m a new TW member. Do any experienced users know what the best way to update this thread would be as I put on more miles? Just post a reply or edit into the original post? Thanks.

 

I would post a reply. If you just update the first post, those of us who are “watching” the thread won’t get notifications.

 

Same for me.

I run 33 lbs normally (when not towing) and these tires hold fine in the rain.

 

Where on earth did you even find these? I need a new set of 35s for my new 17s and the KO3 seems totally unobtanium despite reviews a year old on some forums.

Even the BFG website doesn't list them yet.

 

@cowfootball Tire Rack has inventory of the LT285/70R17 and LT275/65R20 because they are the factory tires on the full size GMC. Limited sizes at this point.