Tall, skinny KM2s- any experience?

[ILuvtheMountains]

I recently bought some 255/85/16 km2 mud terrains. I got a great deal on some barely used ones. I had read good things about them online, both about that specific tire and the tall, skinny profile. But when I dropped my truck off yesterday to get the locker installed ( :D ) the shop owner said he hated them. I find that guys like that can be pretty opinionated so I thought I would try for a wider spectrum of experiences. Specifically those of people who live and drive where I do. So, let me know what you think, or what you've heard.

[Java]

Awesome!! Heather runs 33x10.50s, you can ask her. There is an old thread on here about them, they are a great choice in everything but soft sand.

[Chris]

"Pizza cutters" are horrible Travis. Save yourself a lot of aggravation by swapping for my tires...





Yeah, j/k as I'll be going with something like that when I get new tires. Brad/Dirt Claude runs some on his 4Runner.

[ColoJeeper]

I personally like the look and performance of a wider tire, but had no problems when I ran the narrower tires on my JK before upgrading. For the most part it is just a matter of personal preference and differences are minor.

[Brad]

Very common on Land rovers. My personal experience has been good but I am planning on switching wheels and tires for something a bit wider due to my vehicle height.

[ILuvtheMountains]

"Pizza cutters" are horrible Travis. Save yourself a lot of aggravation by swapping for my tires...





Yeah, j/k as I'll be going with something like that when I get new tires. Brad/Dirt Claude runs some on his 4Runner.
I'll be keeping my eye on you! What are you using, anyway?

Very common on Land rovers. My personal experience has been good but I am planning on switching wheels and tires for something a bit wider due to my vehicle height.
Yeah, I am curious to see what differences I find with these.

[4Runninfun]

I have had 35x12.50 BFG AT's, 33x12.50 MT/R's, and 255-85 Trxus MT's on my 4Runner and I will never go back to a wide tire! I have been so impressed with the tall skinny setup, especially in the snow. I routinely push snow around with the bumper (~3') with out concern about getting stuck. Last Winter I came across some jeeps having all kinds of trouble in the snow they were on 35 and 33 x12.50's and they couldn't make it up the hill, and couldn't believe that I could #1 stop as quickly as I did and then #2 throw it in reverse and without spinning reverse back up the hill. It was a good day for the ol' mule.

I feel I should also note my wheeling style is geared towards overlanding and pass storming. If I was more crawling orientated my opinion might be different.

[Java]

this guy has them, and a pretty awesome suspension too:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJrGnVonGG4

[Tom]

I don't have those but mine are 33.3 x 11.5 (285/70R17). Kind of a cross between the narrower and the 12.5. I've not used them much but the one time I was out in the snow they really chewed it up. I think I'm going to really like em. Got these instead of wider cause I couldn't afford new rims. These fit my stock rims.

[Chris]

I'll be keeping my eye on you! What are you using, anyway?

Yeah, I am curious to see what differences I find with these.

I have 285/70/17 GYSA so they're wide and heavy. Seriously, I like them but we'll be doing more highway miles this year and I'm pretty sure they significantly hurt my MPG's which are about 16 now. Add my trailer and it'll be ugly.

[Tom]

I've been watching my MPG closely. It looks like it went down 1 MPG from the 255 stock tires. I also know I need a new air filter which may push the MPG back up.


I can hope can't I?

[ColoJeeper]

Check your mileage with a GPS and then compare it to your odometer. You will probably find that your odometer and trip computer are wrong. Figure your MPG oldschool and you may be surprised at the difference.

[Tom]

Check your mileage with a GPS and then compare it to your odometer. You will probably find that your odometer and trip computer are wrong. Figure your MPG oldschool and you may be surprised at the difference.I did it old school. I figured out the circumference of the old tires vs the new tires. Then figured out the percentage larger the new tires were. (3.6 percent). Added 3.6 percent to the miles from my last fill. Filled the tank and calclulated it. 1 MPG less.

Old tires 32.1 diameter new tires 33.3.

[xaza]

My brother runs the 33 x 10.5 km2 on his truck. Got them fairly worn but great tire. Had them on my truck for snow run to Central City recently and they did awesome. I am planning on staying with a more narrow tire for my truck also

[Talus]

Over the last 12 years, I have been running the 33 x 10.5 KM1s on my Jeep- wore them out at ~55,000 miles and now am running the KM2s on it (~15,000 miles or so). I won't go with a wider tire- these work great for me. I get 19-20 mpg year round on the Jeep and they work decent in most situations (rock, mud, snow, highway). Probably not hard- core enough for some, but they work well for me! :D

[Rob]

Brad/Dirt Claude runs some on his 4Runner.

I was going to mention that. I think Brad really likes them. They sure seem to perform well. That'll likely be the size I go with next on the FJC.

[The StRanger]

Iv found Wide tires realy fallow road crown
And youre less likely to get Deathwobble from a skiner tire

[sunk]

Ive seen those tall skinny tires go right by me on the trail in the snow, I had such a hard time with those wide tires and ended up blowing up my steering box. So it all depends on what you are doing, for the smaller rigs skinny tires work great, less wear and tear.
Me, I love the way those 12.50s look and my truck is so big that anything smaller looks ridiculous.

[Starkman]

I like the narrow tires for the snow too. What load range do the 255s have. It appears they are rated for higher weight than the 33x10.50s. That might be what the issue is. I think that size was made to replace old school pizza cutters on 3/4 ton pick-ups of old. They will ride pretty ruff. I think I read that guys like them on expedition type vehicles because they handle the added weight of all the gear.

[4Runninfun]

my 255's are C rated.

[Fordguy77]

Have always been a fan of 33x10.5s and have run them on a few rigs with no issues, have noticed the wider tires feel more stable at speeds, but not so much that it would change my mind about running them.

[otisdog]

I've been running 33 x 10.50's since 1995 and see no reason to change. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y158/otisdog4/Chinamans%20Gulch/a101.jpg

[glacierpaul]

Tall and skinny, that was the tire on the WW2 Willys Jeeps and we all know what and how they did, best in snow for sure.

[Dirt Claude]

Travis - I run 255/85/16 BFG KM2s on my 98' Runner with a 3" lift and love them. I also had mine siped which I'm still up in the air about. I ran the older style 33x12.50.15 BFG mud and those were down right scary on slick roads, which is why I choose to have the news one siped. These newer ones seem to do well on slick roads, but we'll see how they do later with any chuncking of the lugs. I've got about 20k miles on them right now and they seem to be holding up well, probably 2/3 tread left.

I choose this size for several reasons:
- Can still run stock wheels, no rubbing when fully flexed
- Skinny tires track much better going down the road compared to wider ones
- Less rolling resistance and overall weight
- Cuts through deep snow amazingly - I busted trail on a Rock Creek snow where larger rigs with 35"/37" tires struggled
- They tuck in the wheel well nicely when fully stuffed

Stability with my small 3" lift feels very good. If I were running a bigger lift, I would seriously consider a wider tire for more stability.

As far as the BFG KM2, I'll probably buy another set of them when I finish building my FJ40. The side walls seem pretty durable, although I put a hole in one when I was on a snow run. I was aired down to 15psi going in reverse and flung the front end of the truck around. I forgot how aired down I was and ended up putting a gash in the sidewall from a rock. Learned my lesson the hard way on that one.

A little pricey, but I'd certainly buy them again.

[ILuvtheMountains]

Awesome info, thanks. I had them in the snow up in red feather this weekend and they did great. Only about 8" deep at the deepest. Still, I was impressed.
Where is that first picture taken?

[Dirt Claude]

That's the top of the rock quarry at Moody Hill.

[Flyer]

I have c-rated 32 KMs on my Jeep. I am switching to 35s and am moving to MTR Kevlars. I love the KMs off-road. I have not encountered a place where they do not do well. However, I do not like them ni the snow/packed snow. They have zero siping and just a very blocky design. I find the braking is terrible, and 4wd does not help with braking. They do well on fresh snow, especially snow on dirt. If you're driving really carefully and slowly in the city when it snows, it's no big deal. Off pavement though...they have been fantastic so far.

[ExplorerTom]

I just bought a set of 33x12.5r15 BFG ATs this summer. They've been fine for me, but I've been seeing a lot of talk lately about the skinnier version. I would have to give them a serious consideration if I were at the point to buy new tires. And with as much as I drive mine, my tires will last forever.

[ILuvtheMountains]

I decided to keep my 32" BFG ATs for winters, and I will use the KM2s for all other seasons.

[Jim]

35" 12.5 KM's on the jeep.

I generally love them for 3-season use. In snow, they slip-n-slide all over. For snow I'd welcome tall-n-skinny (in general) and a different tread than the KM's (in specific).

As the jeep is mainly for trail (and to-n-from) use (generally little to no snow need) I'll stay with, and enjoy, the 12.5 wide KM's as-is.

[ExplorerTom]

From my fairly limited snow wheeling experience, it seems wide is better. They do exactly what you don't want on the street- float up on the snow. On the street, you want skinny to increase the contact pressure and therefore increase the traction. On the trail, where the snow could be deeper than your floorboards (ie to the point where you'd be stuck), floating on the snow is better. A skinny tire in deep snow will tend to dig due to that increased contact pressure.

That's the theory anyway. But 2" of extra width per tire may not actually make that much difference.

My Explorer never saw any snow on the street this winter so I can't really comment on the 33x12.5r15 performance. Last winter, when I had the 30x9.5r15 (even skinnier) BFG ATs, they'd take off through a snow covered intersection like a scalded dog but didn't turn or stop all that well. Compared to actual winter tires, I thought the BFG ATs weren't worthy of their "mountain snowflake" symbol. My old Mazda Protege ES lowered on Mazdaspeed Protege suspension with 195/x/15 Hankook iPikes was a little mountain goat.

[Rick]

On the trail, where the snow could be deeper than your floorboards (ie to the point where you'd be stuck), floating on the snow is better. A skinny tire in deep snow will tend to dig due to that increased contact pressure.Just from my experience in snow, fat or skinny, when you are up to your doors in snow we all get stuck.

[ExplorerTom]

Just from my experience in snow, fat or skinny, when you are up to your doors in snow we all get stuck.

The point I was trying to make was that with fatter tires, you would potentially float above that deep snow and not get stuck..... as quickly.

[Rick]

ok!

[glacierpaul]

stuck is stuck, but I figure skinny stops me before I get too stuck, and fatter allows me to float to a deeper stuck if that makes sense :) been my experience, but I get stuck with any tire when I try :) as Rick points out. That is where the winch thread comes in to play....

[Java]

Are there any other tires that come in 33x10.50 aside from BFG?

[4Runninfun]

there are a bunch of tires in 255-85r16 which measure out to be ~33x10. Mine are Interco Trxus MT's.

[ILuvtheMountains]

I wouldn't say a bunch but there are 3 or 4. The BFG is probably the most common.

[4Runninfun]

BFG, Hancock, Cooper, Interco, Toyo, Maxis are the big ones I can think of right now.