BF Goodrich KO2 / KO3 Tires Upgrade - Review & Range Efficiency Results

[Jim Waller]

Executive summary: Do it if you off-road at all for better grip and confidence/ruggedness.
Upgraded my tires to the more off-road capable BF Goodrich k02 (k03 nearly identical). I imagine people might be interested in cybertruck specific results. Although I haven't done apples to apples comparison to the original goodyears, I can tell you the impressions I have of making this change as well as carrying a spare tire on a roof rack between positions two and three. Road noise at lower speed is more significant as you might guess but not obtrusive and basically no difference at highway speed. Carrying the spare on the roof has a huge impact at high speed, again not surprising. At lower speed and mixed driving the combination of tire and spare is maybe 5% range loss. I think most of this is aero and not the tire. The Goodrich tire is about 9 lb heavier but makes a worthwhile difference in traction and ruggedness if you are off-roading.

420 Whr/mi mixed driving w spare.
405 Whr/mi w/o spare
620-650 Whr/mi at 80 mph.
Rough numbers, uncontrolled conditions

By the way the foam treatment in the Goodyear is unimpressive, just a thin strip glued to the back of the tread, hard to believe it makes any real difference.

I drove extensively at Logandale trails near Las Vegas which included deep very fine sand loose gravel sand mix and rocks. I think the good years would have struggled and the sand and loose mix. I aired down to 25 psi for off-road and back up to 50 for the highway.

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[M0unt41nm4n]

Awesome. I have KO2s on my F150. I love them. I will be getting KO3s on my CT in 6k miles. Have you put on the aero covers and do they rub? Discount tire said they wouldn’t, but I was wondering real world experience.

 

[Jim Waller]

I will probably never install my wheel covers, I think they say to remove off-road anyway. Sorry, can't tell you about interference. I like the look of my cheap plastic center hub and lug nut covers.

 

[L3it3R]

I will probably never install my wheel covers, I think they say to remove off-road anyway. Sorry, can't tell you about interference. I like the look of my cheap plastic center hub and lug nut covers.

I kept them on for about 2 weeks and now run with the covers they sent us a couple months back

 

[dalton108]

Any particular reason that you got KO2s over KO3s? I know some people have a affirmative preference. I run KO2s on my FJ but am planning to eventually get KO3s for the CB when the DuraTracs need to be replaced.

 

[Jim Waller]

Any particular reason that you got KO2s over KO3s? I know some people have a affirmative preference. I run KO2s on my FJ but am planning to eventually get KO3s for the CB when the DuraTracs need to be replaced.

I got a good 25% off deal on them from America's Tire. Last year's models sometimes get good discounts. I usually check Simple Tire, Tire Rack, and America's Tire when I need rubber. Read they were nearly identical.

 

[dalton108]

I got a good 25% off deal on them from America's Tire. Last year's models sometimes get good discounts. I usually check Simple Tire, Tire Rack, and America's Tire when I need rubber. Read they were nearly identical.

Did a fair amount of research on them and it seems to me that the main differences are KO3s have better siping and water grip, and some people think the KO2s are quieter. I’ve been running KOs for about a decade and a half so I’m VERY familiar with and love them!

Thanks for the response and the write up! Great work!!

*KO2s have always been a little bit weak when it’s wet. Especially around Vegas when water on the roads = oily slip and slide!

 

[Cyber DJ]

I put those on 3 months ago. The Goodyear got 22,000. I called and they gave me $800 credit to any tire. I put the ko3 and love them. 22,000 on these and still look like brand new!!

 

[MyFirstElectricTesla]

I put those on 3 months ago. The Goodyear got 22,000. I called and they gave me $800 credit to any tire. I put the ko3 and love them. 22,000 on these and still look like brand new!!

Wow, you drove 22,000 in 3 months ...

 

[RoboTaxi]

Big fan of K02’s. Bought a set in Cabo for my Tacoma and they lasted 70k miles! Will be interesting to see the longevity with the CT.

 

[dalton108]

I put those on 3 months ago. The Goodyear got 22,000. I called and they gave me $800 credit to any tire. I put the ko3 and love them. 22,000 on these and still look like brand new!!

Yeah, those OEMs are trash (IMO)! I’ve never seen a tire wear out so quickly!! They are super quiet, and I like the way that they look - but, since I will never put those hubcaps on and they don’t look good with any other tire, it’s no loss.

I think the thin tire depth is about keeping the unsprung weight of the tire lower and helps with the aero, but the trade-offs are just too steep for me.

I have found the DuraTracs to be acceptable, but I want to get BFGs on LEO as soon as possible.

 

[btcrealm]

Any thoughts on launches and the KO2/KO3s? The primary reason I will probably end up getting the stock tires again. The H rating I think is what makes the launches possible without a lot of intermittent smoke. LoL

 

[Jim Waller]

Any thoughts on launches and the KO2/KO3s? The primary reason I will probably end up getting the stock tires again. The H rating I think is what makes the launches possible without a lot of intermittent smoke. LoL

I am also a racecar driver so I might offer that more off-road tailored tires are not the best for canyon carving or launching a tri-motor. Your pavement contact patch is smaller and stiffer sidewalls who will make this not good. A more open tread block will lead to feathering and other problems such as heating and rapid wear with spirited on road driving. And this is probably more important than any speed rating. I don't drive my cyber truck at or near the limits of adhesion turning on the street, but I do feel these stiffer side walls and less grip on the pavement, but again not the focus of this tire type. But if occasional off-roading in unchallenging or high grip slick rock conditions is all you do, the stock tires or ones like them should be up to the task.

 

[btcrealm]

I am also a racecar driver so I might offer that more off-road tailored tires are not the best for canyon carving or launching a tri-motor. Your pavement contact patch is smaller and stiffer sidewalls who will make this not good. A more open tread block will lead to feathering and other problems such as heating and rapid wear with spirited on road driving. And this is probably more important than any speed rating. I don't drive my cyber truck at or near the limits of adhesion turning on the street, but I do feel these stiffer side walls and less grip on the pavement, but again not the focus of this tire type. But if occasional off-roading in unchallenging or high grip slick rock conditions is all you do, the stock tires or ones like them should be up to the task.

Yeah, kinda what I figured as well.
I'm looking at Kenda Klever MT2s on 18" wheels for actual offroading. I just don't want to go full street tire on the truck so I'll probably stick with the stock ATs : (

 

[Urander]

Here’s a quick look at another setup I’m really I’m really digging!

Carrying a spare when taking challenging off-road trips is important in case of a major tire failure and having to call for recovery assuming a recovery service is available. My solution for carrying a spare has evolved over the past year from carrying it in the vault to strapping it to a rack on the truck.

Both methods had disadvantages. The spare tire is heavy and huge. It takes up a lot of space in the vault. Strapping it to the top of the truck negatively impacts aerodynamics and driving range, and is vulnerable to being stolen.

When I chose to install the @Urander bed rack and Inspired Overland Carbonlite tent, how to carry the spare again presented itself.

The Urander rack expands the cargo carrying capacity of the Cybertruck along with improving the look of the vehicle (I've received more positive remarks about the look of the truck since I installed the rack).

After watching YouTube videos from Bearded Tesla Guy and Teslatino, adding the compact Carbonlite tent became an obvious enhancement for my overland vehicle.

Carrying the spare on top of the truck became impractical, and going back to putting it in the vault was a non-starter. My solution was to mount it inside the Urander rack leaving the vault available for carrying camping gear.

The tire is raised up tight to the underside of the rack using a Lippert winch mounted to two Urander crossbars.

I put the spare face down in the bed (or on top of the closed tonneau), and attach the hoist cable to the inside surface of the wheel.

I used a couple of leftover mounting brackets that came with the Carbonlite tent to capture the cable end piece instead of the usual practice of inserting it through the center hole in the wheel.

I use a Makita driver and 3/4" 6-point socket to raise and lower the tire either from the bed or from the closed tonneau. It's effortless (except for lifting the spare into and out of the bed).

Here's what it looks like with the tonneau closed.

Urander advised me to support the winch on two crossbars for a 100 lb tire. The winch capacity is 150 lbs.

I'm very pleased with how this worked out. Once I get the spare into the bed (with help if I can get it), raising and lowering the spare is super easy. There's no noticeable loss of range by carrying the spare this way.

Note: Putting the hoist cable end piece through the 2" diameter hole of the center of the wheel didn't work well. The tire was impossible to keep balanced horizontally, making the raising and lowering of the tire an awkward chore.

With the spare in place, loading and unloading the bed is somewhat more difficult, but not overly so.

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