BFG-- KO3 or KM3

[davids240]

it's time for me to get new tires. Well kinda. I have he 40: Toyo MT and they've been fine, but they are wearing down a lot faster than I expected. I have a longer than normal trip coming up so even though they have 40% tread, I want to take some weight off the rig. These 40" Toyos look cool, but hot damn they are heavy.

I want to go to a 39" and the only brand that works for me is the BFG K03 (all terrain) and the KM3 (mud terrain). I have watched videos, read reviews, etc., and I'm simply not sure which route to take. My Braptor is my daily so there's that, but I do like to go camp and shoot as much as I can.

The weight comparison is marginal compared to the weight I'm going to lose getting rid of the Toyo. I'm not concerned about the balancing that I've heard people talk about. I'll be using a road force balancer and the shop is a friend's so he better make it right. lol.

Do you think the KO3 is too road-ish, not aggressive enough and would struggle on AZ Trails
OR
Do you think the KM3 is too much tire for what I need?

Thank you in advance for any insight.

Sponsored

 

[davids240]

Oh, and if you're in AZ and wanna good deal on FIVE 40" Toyos ( spare unused) let me know.

 

[SierraBronco]

If you’re wheeling aggressively on super sharp rocks you may prefer the KM3. The KO3 is still an awesome tire though. I’m actually having the same debate between the two.

Ran a ton of KO2’s and always liked them. Bonus points for whitewalls.

 

[DefNotBuddyLee]

How much off-road vs on-road? Do you encounter a lot of mud where you are going?
My buddy put the KO3s on his Wrangler as soon as they came out. Been to Moab, Colorado, Texas, and Ozarks for off-roading with no issues yet. In other words, plenty good for off-roading.
If you are crawling regularly over sharp objects like pointy rocks and tree branches poking out of the ground, the KM3 might fit the bill.
Haven't run the KM3 myself, but mud tires typically get more droning road noise if that plays into your decision.

 

[crenca]

A guy in my club, who granted is on a pretty light two-door JK, runs his 37" KM3s on the street at 18psi, and on the trail at about 7psi (bead locked)... Could he do that with KO3s? Don't know ....Just throwing that out there.

 

[Charley]

1. How many miles driven daily?
2. How is your hearing?

my experience using KM3 on a 2019 Ranger - Battled the mud and clay infested trails in Kentucky very well, the KO2 (I know, not KO3) not near as well.
KM3 to me were definitely louder. Drove nearly all surfaces between North Carolina and Oregon, about 12,000 miles. They also seemed to wear much faster on hard pavement as well as gravel. KM3 also seemed to be able to throw rocks much farther and harder than the KO2.

As for shooting, The KM3 have stronger sidewalls, so depending on what caliber you are using, will probably hold up better and take more rounds to shred.

 

[Nc211]

The K03’s I had were E rated and relatively short sidewall at 285/65/18 on OBX rims. Too much for my needs, and think (1) the 65 series profile matched by the (2) E load rating likely played a role in my struggles with balancing them. That being said, they were not bad surface tires in terms of ride and noise. Not bad at all. Personal opinion only, since it’s your daily as well, I’d probably shy away from the MT for noise. You can always take a different line when off-roading, but you can’t change the pavement for the commute to work….

 

[davids240]

This is all great insight. Thank you. Leaning towards the KO3 for sure after this.

 

[grant4514b]

We tried 10 different 39” ko3s and could only get 2 of them to ride half way decent. They were way out of round and took a ton of weight to balance. Went with ko2 instead and couldn’t be happier. Came from the 38” falken rt01 and these are much quieter and softer.

 

[Nc211]

I would have definitely kept mine if they could balance. BFG has an issue with these K03’s it seems, a bit of a crap shoot on what you get. Mine went four times on the Hunter road force. Never could get them to balance past 65mph, unsafe to drive 70+. I will say, my BFG trail terrains at SL rating, were also a bit of a hassle to get to balance. Two things I did that got them right - (1) scrape off all weights from previous attempts and try again, instead of adding more and more to counter the previous, and (2) PSI setting. Even now at 18k, they will shake at PSI over 34. Bit at 30, there great. But again, I’m at a relatively thin sidewall profile (275/65/18) for the TTerains. I think the PSI is a major factor, and time to wear them down properly. The older they get, the smoother they seem to becoming. I suspect it has something to do with what you found as well - out of round. I’ll also note that I gave up on the Hunter road force machine with the TTerrains and took it to my indi who is old school. First thing they did was to scrape off the tons of weights put on there from the previous attempts. Turned out they didn’t need a lot of weight in general,
Less-than 1 ounce per wheel. Been great ever since. Quite honesty, I am surprised BFG has such a random reputation for this now considering Michelin owns them…

In my opinion only - BFG is a toss up in terms of balancing. You may be fine. You may not. To quote the great himself - they’re like a box of chocolates….

 

[Scoop]

I debated KM3 vs KO3 and just went with the KO3's (stock SAS size). My wheeling is in Colorado, Moab and Texas - I tend to stay away from mud and usually we drive to destination. Being quiet on the road was high on my list of criteria.

 

[MJ12]

it's time for me to get new tires. Well kinda. I have he 40: Toyo MT and they've been fine, but they are wearing down a lot faster than I expected. I have a longer than normal trip coming up so even though they have 40% tread, I want to take some weight off the rig. These 40" Toyos look cool, but hot damn they are heavy.

I want to go to a 39" and the only brand that works for me is the BFG K03 (all terrain) and the KM3 (mud terrain). I have watched videos, read reviews, etc., and I'm simply not sure which route to take. My Braptor is my daily so there's that, but I do like to go camp and shoot as much as I can.

The weight comparison is marginal compared to the weight I'm going to lose getting rid of the Toyo. I'm not concerned about the balancing that I've heard people talk about. I'll be using a road force balancer and the shop is a friend's so he better make it right. lol.

Do you think the KO3 is too road-ish, not aggressive enough and would struggle on AZ Trails
OR
Do you think the KM3 is too much tire for what I need?

Thank you in advance for any insight.

I have the KO3s on my Ranger Raptor and I have been REALLY impressed with their performance offroad. They are excellent offroad when getting on the accelerator and brakes aggressively, they really dig in and grab that traction. I plan to replace my squatch MTs on the Bronco when it is time with a set of them. I live in the desert and don't use the Ranger as my daily driver so I haven't really driven them in the rain on pavement. I know from experience the KO2s weren't the best on wet pavement. The KO3s aren't bad on road noise and dry pavement traction is good, off-road traction in the dirt is excellent.

 

[Hummell]

I love my KM3s. I’ll buy another set when these are toast. I personally don’t think the road noise is loud at all and aired down to 12 or so, they are fantastic on the trails here in the southeast where rocks are jagged.

 

[crenca]

@Hummell , Nice wide track treatment with the addition of a hidden winch... Your warranty has gone to s*** though

 

[SierraBronco]

@Hummell , Nice wide track treatment with the addition of a hidden winch... Your warranty has gone to s*** though

If you air down to three psi so your tires bulge significantly, is that a wider track? Asking for a friend.

Sponsored