Off-road fuel economy? Getting barely 5mpg

Yeah, mud like that, 4Lo might be best. Mud terrain tires would probably help more than anything.

 

Definitely no more than a gravel road on a dry day with those.

 

I would say eh on the mud for the ko2.

 

I would expect them to do about that same as most aggressive AT tires in mud, maybe a little better from talking with guys that have run them. Clay is a different animal, in my limited experience. It can pack the tread on boggers if you find the right patch, so getting any traction with any AT is admirable. Clean them out with a little wheel speed like you’ve been doing and you can keep going. MT’s would prolly do better, but not much IME. On a scale of 1 to 10, boggers being a 10 and racing slicks a 0, I put most AT’s between 5 and 6. MT’s are only a 7. Maybe they’ve improved in the last 10 years since I’ve run them, but nothing like the AT has improved. IMO, that is…

 

@blenton pretty well covered that it overheats the transmission. 2019-2021 Tundras had a few examples of overheating the transmission in 4Hi crawling uphill without any mud involved. If you're going slow 4Lo.

 

Same with my 2002. The transmission gets hot really fast if I'm crawling in 4HI. If I switch to 4LO the temps drop quickly.

 

Yup. It's a universal concept as far as I know.

 

From my experience, 4LO likes to shift at like 3000 rpm no matter what, whereas 4HI keeps RPMs kind of lowish. That could be one reason why the fuel efficiency is so bad. If you’re going slow, like 15 mph, 4LO is the only way to go because of what others explained about overheating the transmission. Just curious, did you shut off traction control in 4HI?

 

They are very mediocre in the mud. Tread is not nearly open enough for mud.

 

I've always gotten poor mileage off roading. Is that 40 miles including all the wheelspin? 5mpg with all 4 wheels spinning at 90mph sounds about right to me...

 

So do the gators act as speed bumps? Or traction boards? Like a speed boost in Mario Kart…

 

This is a great picture of what I have always hated about KO2s.

They are TERRIBLE at clearing mud, especially thick mud like this. The tread pattern is way too tight. I have been extremely happy with Duratracs in conditions like this. I go through some stuff like this where I hunt. I don't know if I would make it if I had KO2s.

 

Shit, I stay out of 4X4 until I need it. Airing down helps to stay out of 4X4 in many situations.

 

Yes. It is a judgement call on when to air down and how much air to release. The tradeoff is better mpg, softer ride, and less wear on 4X4 hardware. I’m too cheap to install onboard air. I have a Makita handheld air compressor. They are good items to put on your birthday/Xmas wishlist.