Issue with BFG KO2's on a 3rd Gen Tacoma?

So I had my heart set on getting BFG KO2's on my 2016 TRD Sport (Automatic, 4WD, SB). I was getting an oil change at the dealer and asked the guy at the desk for an estimate to do the work. He told me they were "too heavy" and that the weight of the tires would be too much for the drive-train. And for a Tacoma and recommended something else.

I told the story to a friend, who happens to have been a mechanic earlier in his career, and also owns a Tacoma, and he told me it was BS and that the dealer probably just wanted to sell me something else.

So then I go to my normal neighborhood mechanic. I ask for an estimate for the whole deal, and he calls me back and tells me he can't find P-metric KO2's for a Tacoma and that the LT-metric KO2's would be "overkill" for my truck. (I'm assuming there are no P-metric KO2's, but I've only heard of P-metric or LT-metric for the first time today.)

I ask him if this is a safety issue or if this will put strain on the truck. He hems and haws and only commits to telling me the KO2's are "overkill" for a truck my size. I tell him I don't really care about the cost, I just want the tires, and he repeats the tires really should go on an F-350 or something, and I needed something P-metric.

I should note, I do highway driving once in a while -- usually to go camping somewhere. Not a day to day highway driver. I do some city stop-and-go driving, and I have plans to do some surf fishing/drive on the beach in the coming months. And I generally camp several times per year and drive in snow. I bought the truck for light off-road use, the sort of road you'd see in state parks in Pennsylvania -- nothing too crazy. So when it comes to worrying about noise or cost, I don't care. But I should note, if it is a safety issue or will damage the car, I do care about that.

So, basically, I had my heart (and budget) set on KO2's and I'm getting a lot of static right now.

Any thoughts? Is my mechanic just trying to save me money? Is the guy at the dealer just trying to sell me something else? Is my buddy and all of YouTube, who approves of KO's on a Tacoma, right?

What's going on here?

 

I started with this as my initial install at ToyTec here in Denver, CO. 285/75/16's. The only problem they pointed out was the difficulty to balance them. Required a ridiculous way too many wheel weights on the wheels to balance them even after playing with rotating install positions the wheels. So they got another set hoping it was a bad batch and they tried again and the same problem. So for some reason the weight of the tires that is out of balance. So if you get them, verify the wheel didn't need massive amounts of wheel weights when installed. But no problem with the driveline being able to handle them. I then went with Discovery SST's and haven't looked back. Actually glad it worked out that way. Love these tires. Not once did you mention the size of the tire you going with, but people here are running up 37"'s no problems but getting the gearing switch to a higher ratio to regain the power.

 

Lol the people you talked to are 50/50 on it.

P metric tires are standard on the Tacoma. LT rated tires are “overkill” in a sense that they’re heavier and stronger than stock. But in no way too much for a Tacoma.

Get your tires and be happy

 

Try changing size slightly. For example, a 245/75/16 has long been a heavy duty truck size, so most tires in that size are LT, load range D or E. But like 255/70/16 would open up soccer mom suburban sizes with more choices in P-metric. Have no idea your tire size, just saying try slightly diff sizes will open up more options.

But an LT is not going to "hurt' the truck at all, except at the gas pump.

 

I'm looking at going with 265/65/17

 

2nd gen on 285 75 16 3 inch lift and cut up to work and bfg ko2 work just fine for me, truck is slow though

 

99% of people don't get past black and round when it comes to tires.. Do your own research and choose what you want. Tell your nice helpful mechanic to put on the tires you pick and be happy with them.

ps LT265/70R17 K02 work nice.

 

From BFG website...

LT255/75R17/C 111/108S
11450

LT265/65R17/E 120/117S
16681

LT265/70R17/C 112/109S
10892

Pick one on either side of that if you dont want load range E. The others are LR C.

 

LT and "E" rated tires might be an overkill for our trucks. That being said, a lot of us drive on "E" rated oversized tires, not necessarily KO2 (for whatever reason they're not very popular in NE threads)

 

I had 265/75/16 E rated KO2s on my '17 off road & they were great. Better on the highway than I expected them to be. Small hit to mpg but I wanted the look without lifting the truck. Folks either love or hate KO2s so you just need to do what you want. Literally thousands of Tacoma owners across multiple gens have driven KO2s so anyone who tells you the tire is going to make your truck explode has an agenda.

 

I have KO2s on my 2016 Sport 4x4 SB, put them on a couple years ago. I went with one size taller than stock aka 265/70/17. I started off with E-load which were very heavy indeed, and a huge drag on the truck. Man it took a lot of energy to get the truck moving. A few weeks later I went back to Discount Tire where I bought them and luckily they changed them out to C-load, no cost. These are not as heavy, but are still a drag on the truck. That being said there's definitely a trade-off.

Good: The truck looks way better and there's much better traction off-road.
Bad: Less traction in the rain, stiff ride (truck rode like a dream on the road before these), and since I went with a taller tires the speedo/odometer is off and adding miles. However a couple weeks ago I installed a speedo calibrator from Rough Country and that fixed that, plus it adjusted the ECM shift points which helped a lot too.

I'm still happy with my decision but since I don't off-road THAT much I might get something a little less aggressive when these wear out. If they ever do. Still looking great.

P.S. I also have OVTune and I run the tune for 35" tires so that helps quite a bit as well (on top of the RC Speedo Calibration). Still getting about 17/20mpg too.

 

Haha! What a load of BS.

Even if you get KO2s in E load you will be perfectly fine. You will notice a slight mpg hit and a rougher ride. Most guys run E loads because they are 10 ply and the need protection when airing down.

Ko2 is one of the best AT tire, its silent on hwy yet does excellent offroad. I would recommend getting C load if you have 17" rims, avoid e load unless you rock crawl.

A lot of guys running heavy mud terrains in e load and no issues. I had both, e load and c load, both are fine but c load is a better ride.

I have 265/70/17 ko2 in C load and its an amazing tire, i wouldnt think twice about getting them again.

Edit: i always had no issues balancing ko2s.

 

You do realize how many people run E KO2s on this forum? You're good. Your MPG will reflect it.

My thoughts: E is overkill, I won't use the benefits for E, so the downsides aren't worth it - I'll stick to C.

 

Buy a set of Toyo A2s or AT3s. They are awesome tires, lightest on the market, easy to balance and are known to take very little weight. They can be had in a SL rated tire even in 285/70/17s. They are super quiet, 55k mile tread warranty, 500 mile trial run I think is still active, Toyos and Nittos are the same company, great in the rain and highway, cannot say in the snow but I have heard they are better than bfgs in rain and snow. I ran BFGs for years and the Toyos put the BFGs to shame in my opinion. I ran them for 35 years but no more!

 

I for got to say every BFG I had always was a bitch to balance and keep balanced, they are a high maintenance tire but they do last a long time.

 

I have E rated Nitto Trail Grapplers size 285/70R17 that are pretty darn heavy. They were also picked out and installed for a Tacoma build by the Toyota dealer. I hope they would not have put them on if heavy E rated tires would harm the drivetrain......now I am courious.

 

yeah E rated tires are heavy but I've yet to have a puncture where I had about 9 plugs in my p rated toyos sooooo

 

The op said in a summary he is not doing any hard off roading. Rock crawling maybe so, I can see an e rated tires. But for his needs an SL rated tire is just fine.

 

too be fair I only read the first paragraph

 

Been running LT285/75r16 E rated, they are heavier, so mpgs and ride quality will suffer. Heavier tires mean more work on your wheel bearings, so they may wear faster than an SL tire.