DT contacting BFG to return 1 Year Old KO2s

So long story short replaced rotors and pads (powerstop kit) on my 2017 Platinum 275/65/20 KO2s and afterwards noticed a little shake at 65ish figured it was cause I was due for a balance so went to America’s Tires for my 5000 mile rotation. Got the truck back and the shake was even worse. Took it to a different location I’ve had better luck with and told them how ever since I owned these tires they have been very hard to keep from shaking at the higher speeds. Told them that one mechanic shop mentioned it could be that they are tall and narrow which is not usual for a lifted application. They evaluate them and say there’s no chop, cupping or visual deformities. So they throw the front two tires on the road force hunter and one tire was way out of balance and the second was calling for a 180 rotation of the tire on the rim. Off I go..... today drove the truck and there is still a vibration not shake at 65 so I called back and said there’s gotta be something up with these tires it shouldn’t be this difficult. They told me they are going to contact BFG to give me a credit on the tires towards some new ones. He said they offer different percentages of return like 80%, 75% sometimes full return but didn’t know what they would say cause they are one year old. He told me one good thing on my side is they have very little wear and I was pretty diligent about rotation. Praying they give me good news next week. Possibly looking into 35x12.50x20 Cooper AT3 Xlt figuring more rubber under the truck would help keep things smooth and I’ve heard good things about those tires. You guys ever hear of situations like this ?

 

I’ve heard some people have trouble balancing the KO2’s but most people seem to have no issue. I wish they would bring back the original BFG KO. That was a damn fine tire.

 

I mentioned to the guy I’m working with that I’ve heard some KO2s can be a problem when it comes to balancing and he said “no way these tires aren’t labeled the best for no reason”. I know they are a great tire I had 35 KO2s on my 13 and we’re smooth as butter. These tires have been difficult since day one but I had found a sweet spot until recently and now I am tired of battling them. Not sure if it’s the fact I’m a 20 wheel and don’t have a lot of rubber around them making the steering tell me every little shake and bump.

 

BFG KO2 are notorious for wobbles and being tough to balance. I just pulled some off and installed Toyo AT3 and they took so much less weight to balance.

 

I battled mine non stop. It was a complete mess. But, even with the wobbles and balancing issues they are not a good wet tire at all and only fair in the snow. They have always been tough as nails for me though. I’ve had multiple sets. I probably will not buy them again unless other brands really let me down.

 

I have them on my work Tahoe. Difficult to balance, and way too loud.

In their defense, they have held up remarkably so for 60k miles (can easily go another 20k), and coupled with the auto 4x4 they perform great on snow / ice.

 

I upsized my previous truck (F150) to 275/70 R18 BFG A/T KOs. They looked great, were very quiet and had great wet and snow traction. But they couldn't hold a balance for more than a few thousand miles at best. Sometimes not even that long.

Funny the random stuff you remember throughout your life. When I was researching tires, I distinctly remember the Discount Tire salesman saying "Yes, those are great tires. We'll get them perfectly balanced too". Guess I should have challenged him on that statement.

I really wish I could go with them again when it comes time to get new shoes on the Tundra...but nope, will pick something else.

 

After 3 attempts @ balancing the KO2s on my brand new Tundra, I had the tires swapped out for something different. No more vibration problem. Not impressed with BFG, but very pleased with the customer support @ Discount Tires.

 

Have not had that experience with KO2s. 3 sets over 2 trucks for me, FLAWLESS each time. I've put over 175k miles on KO2s. Sorry you had a bad tire.

 

I'm with Gravity. KO2s on both trucks in Colorado and I'm not changing.

 

My 2013 had a set of 35inch KO2s and they were the absolute best tire. It’s actually what made me pick them again just figured they were a bad set. Super impressed with America’s tire for helping me out even though they are a year old. Crossing my fingers BFG comes back with a sizable return so it helps on my next set.

 

I love K02s but yeah they are a pain to balance. DT had to go through six 275/70/18 tires to find four they could get in range. They still aren't perfect but pretty close. I might go Toyo AT3 on next set.

 

I am looking at the Toyo AT3 also and the Cooper Discover AT3 Xlt

 

Just a quick FYI that might help you..
When the tire shop contacts Michelin (who owns BFG), Michelin will give them an authorization number and also a percentage that the customer will pay. Michelin reps are allowed 10% leeway in their matrix for customer adjustments. Tell the tire dealer you’re not happy and then you want more credit, you don’t feel it’s fair etc.. When they call back in, and complain to Michelin, Michelin should up the offer by 10% of the tires price.

Also, another quick reference point for adjustments on any tires sold by Michelin corporation. If You have ever had a set of tires adjusted by their customer service department before under your phone number, use a different phone number for the second adjustment. The only way to track it is by phone number, they don’t like doing second and third adjustments for the same person, even if it is on a different vehicle... I am not taking about mileage warranties - strictly defects and goodwill

 

I have the KO2’s on my work Tahoe from my post above, but have the Cooper XLT’s on my Tundra...

Pros - I love the XLT’s. They are stock quiet, look fantastic, light, easy to balance, are wearing extremely well, and beyond smooth.

Cons - Do develop flat spots randomly (which go away in a mile or so) if I don’t drive the truck for a number of days. Good, but not great on snow / ice (am such much to do with how poor our Tundras are in 2wd on ice/snow, and being wide 33” tire).

I got mine over a year and a half ago, so it was a very tough choice between them and the Toyo AT2’s. Now that the Toyo AT3’s are out, if I had to do it over again, I would probably go with the Toyo AT3’s for the better snow/ice performance (Alaska problems).

 

I’ve had several sets of KO2s on different vehicles and no issues. I was going back to them next again on my tundra.

 

I’ve had the opposite of others with the BFG in regard to wet traction and plenty of snow in CO. I find they are below average wet tires and only OK in the snow. Again, my right front BFG took over 9 oz while the Toyo At3 has 1/2. That’s insane.

 

With balance issues, there's something to be said about wheels as well. Wheels themselves may or may not be completely balanced and how the tire ends up being clocked on the wheel will make a difference. I'm not saying this accounts for all balancing issues, but it can affect it.

 

No doubt. In my case, the wheels were the same.

 

That's been my case too, I've always repaced factory tires with BFG KOs and they've performed great, they do need a lot of weight to get them balanced though, but gave me at least 60K mi every time.

 

They do wear well if you rotate them. I will give them that.

 

Yup, that's crucial.

I rotated mine every 5K mi and after 60K was still able to sell them as spares (two times, meaning 8 tires). This were KOs, no KO2s though.

 

If you don't rotate them, you'll have issues.

 

I rotated every 5k actually one of the 3 rotations must have been a good combo on what tires need up on the front. For 5k miles they rode great then I got another rotation and it’s been vibrating and shaking ever since. I would think that possibly 2/4 tires are bad and the other two are actually okay. At this point though DT said best way to deal with it is to return the whole set.

 

I would do that. I actually just stopped going in and looking for the wobble. When they moved the front to the rear the shake in my steering wheel went away so I stopped rotating and looked for different tires.
Get them to swap the whole set like mentioned. You’ll be much happier.

 

It’s not that some people have troubles balancing the tires. It’s that the tires have issues. There are known quality control issues in the BFG KO2’s

 

do you mean there ARE quality control issues?

 

Correction made. Thank you.

 

I agree. Way to many issues with balancing. People want to say it’s because it’s an aggressive AT tire. I disagree. I’ve had other AT tires that didn’t have near the balancing issues.