Photo of the rig at Yosemite last year

 

Hi all, new member here. I posted this in the campervans forum as well, but it looks like this might be a more appropriate place for it.

We are getting close to needing new tires for our 2015 Transit LWB HR. It weighs just under 9,900 lbs with all fluids topped off and us in it. We bought the van used and it came with Nitto Ridge Grapplers. Overall, I have been quite happy with these tires, except the road noise (they have gotten especially loud as they have worn).

Our local campervan conversion company recommended the BF Goodrich K02 as an alternative, but I have read conflicting things about them with reported issues on sidewall cracking and difficulty balancing. The Nittos are great in this sense; they have been durable (will end up getting just over 50,000 miles out of them) and vibration free.

Anyone here have experience with the K02s? We have aftermarket 17" wheels so these would be 265/70R17. We have the lift kit and the previous Nittos fit fine without any rubbing except when reversing at full lock.

I have also came across Michelin LTX A/T 2 tires which looks interesting. To be honest, we rarely go off-road in our van so having a smooth highway ride is more important than off-road traction.

Here is a photo of the rig at Yosemite last year:

Thanks in advance!

 

You should consider Cooper Discoverer AT3 XLT - I have them on one of our rigs and I love them. Whatever you do , do not use Grabbers they are HORRIBLE tires. Of course like everthing else in this wonderful blue economy, the cost of those tires have doubled in 2 years. They are awesome tires that look good, handle good in weather, vibration free and so far, quite durable.

 

I have the KO2s on my 2020. They have ~50k miles on them and I have been pleased with them. Zero issues. No flats despite hundreds of miles of rock, gravel, and dirt roads including Death Valley, Alvord Desert etc. They are about worn out now and have gotten noticeably louder.

Hard to say if my thoughts would apply to your situation. I have a pretty light build at ~6700lbs loaded for a two week trip and a bit over 7000 lbs if I’m taking my motorcycle on a trip. When I first got the KO2s they were really squirmy. The tire store had inflated them to max pressure. After setting them to a pressure reflecting my load and getting a few hundred miles on them they settled in well. I am running 255/70-16 no lift and no rubbing.

 

Do those Cooper tires come in 265/70R17 and E load rating? Can't seem to find them in that size.

 

Hi all, new member here. It is getting close to needing new tires for our 2015 Transit LWB. It weighs just under 9,900 lbs with all fluids topped off and us in it.

We bought the van used and it came with Nitto Ridge Grapplers. Overall, I have been quite happy with these tires, except the noise (they have gotten especially loud as they have worn).

Our local campervan conversion company recommended the BF Goodrich K02 as an alternative, but I have read conflicting things about them with reported issues on sidewall cracking and difficulty balancing. The Nittos are great in this sense; they have been durable and vibration free.

Anyone here have experience with the K02s? We have aftermarket 17" wheels so these would be 265/70R17.

Thanks in advance!

There are lots of threads and great recommendations for KO2s on this forum. IMHO, they are the "go to" off road option.
I put a set on our van 2hrs after it was delivered in April 2019, and they have never let us down.
IMHO sidewall cracking is a myth. Ours certainly haven't cracked even when we abused them for miles and miles in the hot desert at 20psi by accident. They balance just fine. They work on ruts, rocks, sand and snow.
They are not so good in mud/wet clay, but nothing short of a mud tire works in that stuff.

 

17 is going to be a stretch for the E load rating, that is why I always stick to 16. That tire is only rated as a C for 17". If I had the choice to stick with Ridge Grapplers I would, that is a very good tire. If they made them for my van I would have chosen them first. I honeslty don't think the rating system means much these days and I tend to ignore it. If the tire is rated for 75PSI, its plenty strong enough.

I was a huge KO2 fan, maybe I still am , without question they are the best looking tire on these vehicles, but I've had issues. Perhaps I just got a couple of lemons. My favorite overall tire is a Falken but Discount Tire did not have my size in stock or even close when I needed tires so I went with the Coopers.

I am running the Discoverer LT 245/75 R16 and they are E-rated. I find the 16" rim size much better for off road use more rubber and a better track. They also work better with the VanCompass lift and required less fender seam trimming.

I went through KO2, and General Grabber ATX both caused SEVERE vibration issues and both brands are notorious for producting out of round tires. I am not the only who has experienced it. TireRack did not stand by the generals even though Discount Tire bought them out - so I ended up eating the cost of them - I will never own another one of that brand nor buy anything from Tire Rack again. I exclusively buy my tires from Discount or BigO now, they are both good and they usually stand by their product.

If I were you I'd either stick to the Ridge Grappler or go with KO2 for that wheel size, but make sure you buy it from a place that you can rely in if you do get an out-of-round tire.

 

17 is going to be a stretch for the E load rating, that is why I always stick to 16. That tire is only rated as a C for 17". If I had the choice to stick with Ridge Grapplers I would, that is a very good tire. If they made them for my van I would have chosen them first.

Stock tires are C rated E and C mean nothing it's the load index that meets specs. E rated tires usually have a lower load index.

 

i ran the nitto terra grappler g2 on a truck and liked them. if you liked the ridge grapplers but want to reduce the noise, thenck them out as they are a little more "road friendly". they are in the same class as the KO

dont think nitto makes anything in the right load range though if that is important

 

Thanks. I would want to stay in the right load range since our van is really heavy and I would prefer not to take any chances

I also just came across Michelin LTX A/T 2 as a more "road friendly" option... These are available in our size and 121/118 load rating (3195 lbs @ 80 psi). Anyone have experience with these?

 

Thanks. I would want to stay in the right load range since our van is really heavy and I would prefer not to take any chances

I also just came across Michelin LTX A/T 2 as a more "road friendly" option... These are available in our size and 121/118 load rating (3195 lbs @ 80 psi). Anyone have experience with these?

My recommendation - https://www.tirerack.com/tires/michelin-agilis-crossclimate

Very quiet.

 

If you go off-road and drive in snow, Falken Wildpeak AT3W or Nokian Outpost AT /nAT are great tires and generally get better traction reviews than KO2 in bad road conditions. Both are reasonably quiet for an AT tire

I had a set of cooper discoverer AT3 on our pickup a while back and thought they were atrocious in snow.

 

Falken AT3's or the new AT4's are great and also have 3 snowflake rating - I've driven here in Bend, OR snow around town and they did great and are very quiet considering somewhat aggressive tread

 

Over the years, I’ve had the MIchelin LTX AT2 on several of my Ford Trucks including one with a truck camper mounted and another for towing a trailer. I put quite a bit of miles on gravel and NFS dirt roads on both trucks and never flatted. They stood up to the gravel roads very well. Having said that, their traction is not as good as some of the other tires mentioned that have a bit more aggresive tread. If you rarely go off pavement, or only on very moderate unpaved roads, I think they are a good choice. Earlier someone mentioned the Cooper Discoverer LT AT3 XLT, I’ve heard good things about them. However, while the standard Discoverer LT AT3 is available in 245/75/16 tire size, the XLT variation with more aggressive tread is not.

For my 2023 AWD T350 MR Transit, I recently chose to mount the Nokian Outpost nAT tires after reading reviews that they are a good all around tire for pavement and off pavement. So far, I’ve been very pleased with the ride and handling on my Transit on pavement. As they were only recently mounted, I have not had them off pavement. If you go on YouTube and search for Nokian Outpost nAT tires you should find a good review by a fellow from Adventure Journal. I also posted a link to this video on this forum a few weeks back. The reviewer claimed 75% of his mileage is off pavement and he has been extremely happy with the Nokians on dirt, gravel and in the snow . Nokian also generally has an excellent reputation for snow performance.

 

Appreciate the responses.

We live in Georgia and do most of our extended traveling during the Summer / Fall months; snow is not an issue We also hardly ever go off-road.

I will check out the Nokian tires; looks like there is a local dealer near me that carries them as well which is a plus.

 

In that case, I probably would get a much more on-road oriented A/T tire that will get you better mpg and be quieter than the high traction tires (KO2, Falken AT3W, Nokian Outpost, etc). They’re great tires, but you pay a price for the traction they offer offroad and in snow/ice.

Firestone destination x/t, continental terrain contact, Michelin LTX AT2, Firestone transforce AT2 would be at the top of my list for on-road protected AT tires to look at.

You could honestly could go to an all season tire instead of All Terrain if you’re almost exclusive on the highway in the south.

 

I just replaced my KO2 with Falken Wildpeak AT3W and they are noticeably quieter on the highway. I was happy with my KO2's and got 50k out of them but the road noise was an issue for me as they aged (or I did).
I am 6k miles on the new tires and they seemed to work fine in snow and mud but no sand yet.

They have just come out with the Falken Wildpeak AT4 but they are heavier with stronger sidewalls which might be useful for hardcore offroad guys but it seemed more than I need.

 

you’ve driven the AT4W or the AT3W in snow? Objectively the changes to the AT4W should make it worse in snow than it’s predecessor

 

Interesting review / comparison of the two. New tire better on snow; old tire better on ice (and wet). New better on all off-road and on-road performance. Old better on road-noise (softer sidewalls).

I didn't find the AT3Ws superior to the stock VanContacts for ice or snow (or on-road at all). But the AT3Ws seem better than the stockers on dirt and rocks.

 

The KO2 and the Ridge Grappler are each a different category of tire. The K02 is an A/T and the Grappler is a more aggressive hybrid. If I was wanting a hybrid I'd go with the Cooper S/T Maxx. But you say you really don't go off road much so, you'd be better off with a less aggressive tire. I'm currently running the Falken Wildpeaks and so far I've been happy with them both on and off pavement.

 

As @avenge said, it’s really the Load Index (3 digit number, at least for our vans) and the associated lbs per tire, that matter. If you don’t go off road, I wouldn’t bother with KO2’s unless you care about the looks. although I’ve had good luck with wear and smoothness on my truck (almost 50k miles and lots of tread, never needed balancing and only rotated once), I didn’t seriously consider them for our Transit. I went with Cooper Discoverer AT3’s in a 245/70-16 size, and they’re working out great. Honestly, you’ll get lots of opinions but it sounds like a mild AT like Michelin, Yokohama Geolandar etc are best for your use. I’d shoot for Load Range 120 minimum.

 

The C on the stock tires is for Commercial, a European designation, it’s nothing to do with the US load rating. They are Load Index 121 which is close enough to domestic LR E. Ford should go ahead and redesign the fenders to clear 245/75-16 and make that size, historically used on F250’s and Sprinters, as OEM standard. That would eliminate a lot of confusion.

 

I read somewhere that the C/E/F/etc ratings are a relative marker that was based on the old bias-ply tires where E was "10-ply" and C was "3-ply" or something like that. So E ratings are /something/... but they're not the load index.

 

Number of plies is what used to determine load range on bias and radial tires, my C tires are 6 ply vs a 10 ply E. Tire plies are constructed differently today so they can get the equivalent load range with less and different types of plies.

E rated tires are more for off-road with a stiffer sidewall, more plies resulting in a harsher ride on-road in my opinion.

 

I changed to the Falken Rubitrek after the Agilis recall. It is and LT and AT tire but not as aggressive as the Wildpeak or the KO2. Very quiet on the dry road and handles off road jeep trails as well as snow nicely.

 

I contacted Falken because I was concerned of the extra weight of the new ATW4. The 245/75/16 doesn't have the 3 ply sidewall so it is closer in weight to the ATW3. I've had mine on for 1k miles now with zero complaints.

 

No love for the Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac? I live in the mountains of Colorado and have been running them for years on my Tacomas. Great in the snow, much better than KO2s in my opinion. They were redesigned this year and designated the Duratrac RT. We’re super interested in these for our build. The redesign looks like it will perform better on road and even better than the originals in the snow.

 

What size and load index are you looking at?

 

The max rear axle weight rating on a SRW van is 6000 lbs. Most vans rear axle’s are closer to 5000-5500 lbs loaded. 3200lb and 3042lb rated tires both exceed the allowable max load per tire based off GAWR. Hence why the trail can have LT245/75r16 tires with the same GVWR and GAWR ratings as a non trail.

If the tire load rating meets the actual load, it can safely carry it…

the whole nonsense about LT245/75r16 tires not meeting ford specs is just that, nonsense

beyond that, as has been discussed in this forum before, you should know your actual axle weight son your loaded van, and look up tire load inflating charts for your tire size, and run that psi (or above).

 

I'm talking Ford specs, if I go to my tire dealer they will not install 245/75 because it doesn't meet spec on my van as others have experienced if it's safe or not has nothing to do with it. I know nothing about the Trail other than the tires don't fit. I don't know anything on my van other than payload at 4092 lbs and recommended PSI 52/71.

 

You've probably already decided, as you haven't chimed in since posting, but FWIW Yokohama Geolander A/T G015 (with 4 season snow symbol rating) scores a little better in rain and snow than the KO2 according to testing by Tire Rack. If you're more interested in something with a bit better sidewall rock protection then go KO2. The G015 is available in the 16" or 17", 30.5" tall versions in the appropriate load rating. I'm running the 17".

 

FYI, this tire unfortunately seems to be rated 110, well below the spec. There's another one, X-A/T, but that one isn't snow-rated.

 

I'll be honest and confess to not reading every post. With most (infrequent) off-road excursions for us limited to fairly flat fire roads and similar, it came down to the Falken Wildpeak and the Yokahama Geolander. We're still running stock 16" rims, so I can comment on size availability, but we went with the Geolander because of better reported on-road handling. The Wildpeaks rated slightly better for off-road, but using the 80/20 rule, it made more sense to buy for the 80 (on-road). If you want a great snowflake off-road tire, the KO2 are great. I ran those for years on our old Expedition EL.