Looking at replacement tires for Cybertruck (BFG KO3 & Michelin Defender), pros and cons

[CyberTally]

I have them. ??‍

Did you get a notice that they were available?
Did Tesla ship or deliver them to you, or did you have to pick the up at the Service Center?
Thanks!

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[Balthezor]

Did you get a notice that they were available?
Did Tesla ship or deliver them to you, or did you have to pick the up at the Service Center?
Thanks!

It came with my Cyberbeast I picked up beginning of September. Installed wrong, but glad to have it. The other CTs there waiting to be picked up didn't have it. So not sure how they picked me. Or maybe they had them on the bed but not installed? But they were all washed and park for pick up, so I doubt it.

P.S. It's really easy to take off and install back on. Don't listen to those people with Youtube videos saying its so hard. Click bait. I take them off and on all the time because I've been playing around my truck, adjusting it, washing it etc. When you get them lined up, it just pop off and on, no more adjustments needed. Taking the two parts apart and making them line up properly is so simple, a monkey can do it. When doing a fine adjustment for lining them up, you pop the middle part in and you can still move the wheel apart around to line up properly. I have OCD, so it has to line up properly lol.

At delivery:

Now:

 

[Speedr]

I went with the winter tire package from Tesla with the Goodyear Duratrac's. $3300 out the door installed with tax here in Washington State which was not bad as it comes with a stock set of Cybertruck rims and the TPD sensors as well. They look beefy on the truck but do have some extra road noise vs the stock tires. The KO3 would have been my first choice but the value with the winter tire package could not be passed up. Quote for wheels and TPS by them selves was $3600

@Du Fly , can you post a picture of the whole truck (side and 1/4 front)? Really interested in how this looks.

Also, what is your range hit going with these? Thanks!

 

[Du Fly]

@Du Fly , can you post a picture of the whole truck (side and 1/4 front)? Really interested in how this looks.

Also, what is your range hit going with these? Thanks!

 

[Du Fly]

How much louder would you say the Duratracs are compared to stock?

It is a low humming noise. Was able to tell right away as I drove away from the dealer. Can still cover it with the radio

 

[Balthezor]

Looks great. Thanks for follow up pics. If you have the wheel covers, would love to see it on there and see how they fit/look.

 

[smg]

Any changes in wattt hours per mile?

 

[Du Fly]

Looks great. Thanks for follow up pics. If you have the wheel covers, would love to see it on there and see how they fit/look.

Sadly not yet. Waiting for my email to pick them up

 

[Du Fly]

Any changes in wattt hours per mile?

Not yet but have been busy this week. Will try to get some miles this weekend

 

[pricedm]

I have BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO3 on my ICEmobile (Nissan Titan 4WD). So far, so good. One 400 mile one-way road trip. Some towing 5,000 pound water trailer on gravel roads. Interstate at mid-70 mph.

They make some noise at <25 mph (like velco slowly being pulled apart) but on highway nothing negative. Fuel consumption is actually better than the cheap A/T tires which I previously had.

I deliberately put these tires on my ICEmobile so I could make a decision about using them on my (future) Cybertruck. I think the K03 is a solid option for someone driving the Cybertruck on dirt/gravel roads and light snow. Certainly will require more energy than the purpose-built stock A/T tires.

 

[smg]

Which hub cover option did you go with? These look good.

 

[Du Fly]

Which hub cover option did you go with? These look good.

Bought off of etsy but I know some others have been selling as well. Here is the link to etsy. Tesla Cybertruck Center Hub Covers OEM Look 4PCS, New Design - Etsy

 

[smg]

Thanks. I ordered some much cheaper ones on Amazon that look like the same exact product. If it turns out they aren't I will be returning them and paying the extra for these as the color match looks factory.

@Du Fly One more question:

Do you notice any difference in grip with these tires? When I went to KO2's on my F-150 I noticed them slipping all over the place... Especially after a few thousand miles. What happens when you drive aggressively?

 

[Scribbious]

I'm in Florida with the Michelin Defender LTX Platinums with about 6.3k miles including a round trip between FL and VT over the summer. They replaced my OEM Goodyears at about 1.8k.

I don't have official sound meter data to compare but both my wife and I feel that the Defenders are both quieter and smoother than the OEMs.

Based on my observations when new, the height of the tires were the same and the profiles very similar.

When new, the Defenders had about 14/32 tread. They currently average about 12.5/32. Frankly I don't know if that's great or bad.

Oddly, the efficiency seems to be an inconsistent factor of speed. The following charts via TeslaFi represent %efficiency and Wh/mile efficiency.

 

[HaulingAss]

Looks great. Thanks for follow up pics. If you have the wheel covers, would love to see it on there and see how they fit/look.

Here's one of mine without wheel covers (I get my covers in two weeks but probably won't run them unless I'm hitting the open road):

They look very similar to the OEM AT tires unless you get close and see the tread pattern is deeper and with bigger independent blocks.

I would definitely not recommend this tire unless you really need the bigger blocks or the softer rubber compound for winter conditions. Don't ever chose a tire for its rugged looks (or any "look" for that matter), because tires are your only contact with the driving surface and the primary wear item on your truck. They are too important to let looks enter into the equation unless you only use your truck as a show vehicle/rolling art, and don't actually use it as intended. Making it do both tasks doesn't work well.

These are good tires but, being a deeper lug design, they have limited benefits and numerous drawbacks. The primary one is they will wear into an undesirable wear pattern if driven hard on pavement regularly. I haven't worn mine like that yet, and I probably won't because I'll use them within their design capabilities, I just know that the lug design cannot handle high cornering/braking/acceleration forces on a regular basis without wearing into a stepped pattern that can make them louder and perform worse on pavement. And the Cybertruck has the handling/cornering/acceleration performance to do exactly that unless you don't use that performance.

The deep lug design also displaces loose material easier than the flatter tread of the OEM AT tires (which tend to pack down and roll over). On packed gravel with no binder, they feel quite loose in the corners because they start displacing gravel much sooner as speeds increase.

On pavement, they have a narrow psi range that works well. Too high of psi can increase rolling resistance (and probably wear rates) because the air pressure firms up the support of the lugs and doesn't allow them to easily conform to flat pavement as they roll. In other words, the lugs fight themselves as they roll on pavement. I noticed that when I experimented with their rolling resistance at 56 psi and a light load. If the pressure is too low, the lugs don't have enough support and steering/braking acceleration response suffers. I noticed that when I drove a few miles on pavement aired down to 38 psi. It was dramatic. The OEM tires are just so much more versatile for most things.

Their best pressure for pavement and light loads is somewhere close to 52 psi.

I bought them to hopefully get good performance in sloppy winter conditions and acceptable performance in icy conditions. Also, for wet clay and mud in the winter/spring. For 80% of the surfaces that I drive on they are noticeably worse. That is not to say they are not good tires, all deep lug tires will make considerable compromise to get the benefits mentioned, and that is truer on a performance truck like the Cybertruck vs. a legacy ICE truck.

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