Replacing OEM tires with BFG KO2s — a load index question

Quick question — I hope.

I have a 2014 Trail Premium with the original tires. At 65k they need to be replaced. I drive the thing on dirt/gravel backroads in places like the Eastern Sierra Nevada, Death Valley, Utah, etc. I don't want to replace with the original tires which have been OK but far from ideal for that kind of driving, so I'm looking at the BFG KO2s at the recommendation of a friend who spends a lot of time in similar places.

My local Costco has the BFG tires on sale. My OEM tires are P265/70R17 113S. The KO2s come in two load indexes: 112 and 121. So the question is whether the 112 KO2 tires are going to be an OK replacement for the 113S rated OEM times, or whether there is a good reason to go with the heavier 121 load index K02s?

Thanks.

 

This is about to be a shit storm of a thread...

Off Road Bro Answer: Get the 121 to keep from blowing tires on the tires bro!

Pavement Pounder Bro: Get the 112's to save weight and get more MPGeeee's

My answer: Either tire will be just fine as you're still well within your GVWR

 

I have experience with KO2 265 Load C (112), 275 Load E (121) & 285 Load C (116).

265 & 285 Load C are very nice balance between offroad performance and road comfort.

Without a doubt Load E will give you most confident on offroad and the 275 Load E I got had 3 ply side wall vs most A/T got 2 ply side wall. Sadly my wife hated them when it comes to on-road comfort.

 

I wouldn't worry about going LT unless you're going to be in the rocks a lot. But, like @kmeeg , LT/C is a decent compromise between comfort and durability. Treadwear was excellent for me with 5K rotations.

 

More about where I tend to drive the thing. Yes, there's a lot of pavement driving since I have to get to the places where there isn't pavement. I end up on backroads in places like DEVA, eastern California mountains, Utah backroads, and so forth quite a bit. A typical week in DEVA might include the route out to Eureka Dunes and out to Owens Valley, various stuff off pavement in the Panamints and so forth. The first month I owned the thing I took it to Utah for weeks and went places like Cottonwood Canyon, Burr Trail, Hole in the Rock Road, putting a few hundred miles on the thing in gravel.

I'm not a hard-core 4WD person, so while I do get into some "interesting" stuff, I'm not pushing the 4Runner to its maximum potential on rocks, etc. At least not usually...

 

I’ve always run E rated BFGs.

 

Preach it!!!

 

You're braver than I am. I was going to post this question too (I must suck at searching because I couldn't find the answer) but I suspected this has been a hot topic. I, too, am getting KO2s for my 4R installed on Oct 4th and I wasn't sure which to choose. Since I'm more on-road than off, I'm going with load C.

 

This forum seems to be more laid back than others. I don't see people getting much flack for asking a repeat question. It's easy enough to just not click on a thread or not reply.

 

I'll be adding those BFG K02 - C to my 21' ORP this winter. This same tire came with my 2010 FJ Cruiser (with the off-road package). Went through 3 sets before trade-in. As mentioned above, a great combination on/off road tire, with good mileage if kept rotated. And the bonus is....they look good.

 

It's been a lot of years since I had a set of BFG KO tires, but my vote would be for the C load. I may give those a try next time around. As was stated above, those seem like a good middle ground between off road and on.

 

Load E is my choice. But it depends what you do with your runner. I have extra weight and beat my tires up. However, if your only traveling on pavement a lesser rating is for you.

 

I just put C-load K02's on my 2021 TRD OR. I've had both C and E load tires on Jeeps, driving all over the eastern Sierras, DV, the Mojave and parts of Oregon. I've sliced a few tires of all kinds on volcanic rock around St Helens in WA and in central OR. I can say Discount Tire does honor their warranty when that happens.

Other than that, I have nothing useful to say about which is better!

 

PVT Pablo's post way up at the top was helpful, in particular the point that either will work with the GVW of this vehicle.

At this point I'm inclined to go with the 112 load index C tires. They seem sufficient for all but the crazier stuff and seem like a better fit for the highway miles that I'll inevitably drive to get to my destinations.

I'm relieved to see pretty civil and helpful replies after his warning though! ;-)

 

Not that it matters one hoot what I think but the C load sounds like a perfect match for your wants and needs.