Tire recomendations

harrellv10 said:

There are two versions of them. One is a little more aggressive than the other, if you are looking for that. Mine are the more street friendly version, and they still kick ass off road.

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What is this sorcery you speak of? Are you referring to the worthless difference in sidewall?

I've run Duratrac's, STT Pro's, and the Mastercraft Courser MXT (currently on my '08 Super Duty).

I love the Duratrac's but they have a tendency to cup too easily if you forget a tire rotation but are otherwise awesome in the winters we have up here (used them on a company assigned F-150, 2500 Ram 4x4, and a personal F-250 while living in NE OH). They can also get louder than some of the M/T's I've used but the road noise doesn't bother me.

The STT Pro's were never too loud as far as an M/T goes and wore extremely well. I ran them on a Ram 1500 4x4 when I lived in WV with lots of off-road use in all kinds of conditions.

I have been running the Courser MXT's on my '08 6.4L Super Duty SCLB 4x4 for nearly 3 years and just over 20k miles. They're not loud, zero cupping, lots of tread left, and have performed extremely well in the winters up here in Ohio, NWPA, and UPNY.

As for the stock KO2's they're not terrible and are wearing fine thus far with nearly 6k miles in the two months I've owned the truck but I will definitely be looking for something different when they wear out, if not sooner.

bp299 said:

For those who have had their OEM KO2's cup and wear out early, I was able to contact BFG and receive a credit voucher due to premature wear. Contact them thru their site and get a case #, they will then give you some local dealers for an inspection. Once I did that, my local America's Tire called in verifying the wear and they gave nearly a 50% credit towards a new set. I was at 27k miles and wish I done it sooner when I first noticed the cupping! I was just about to get new tires but thought what the hell, worst they can say is no. Glad I did. Now, hopefully this set lasts longer.

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I just picked my 2018 up from the second oil change/the works package 9870 miles. Tech pointed out both rear ko2's shwoing wear both down the middle of the tires.
I got the truck in April 2018. I dont drive it as much as I would like I work a lot of hours and have only been off road on the Jersey beach one time.
I am taking the truck back next week they had to order fasteners for the tailgate the rear trim panel is coming off at the bottom corner, they said they will look further into the tire issue

@chefsam I started a claim online with BFG on my OEM tires since they were worn in the middle as well (22K miles). Brought them to a dealer that sold BFG's (Discount tire), had the tech call with the claim #, I was offered 50% off new tires without any hassle. Might be worth a phone call to see if they will do same?

Had the bfg's and hated them. Hummed and no traction. Toyo open country 2 T/A a little hum, great traction, looks amazing! 35x12.5 -18

The only other tires I'd put on the Raptor would be Nokian Hakka LT2 studded snows in stock size. The KO2's on the Raptor are "RAPTOR K02s" - different compound & weight than the standard BFG K02 - ANY other tire you mount around the stock size is going to be significantly heavier & probably provide more rolling resistance both contributing to lower MPGs- these Raptor BFG's are a big part of Ford's "trick" that allows this truck to deliver relatively decent gas mileage despite what it is.

If you want single digit MPG's I guess thats what the 37"s are for, my guess is you lose 2-3mpg right off the top automatically going w/ any other make in a 35" though

HOLESHOT said:

Had the bfg's and hated them. Hummed and no traction. Toyo open country 2 T/A a little hum, great traction, looks amazing! 35x12.5 -18View attachment 124346

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What wheels are you running?

Badgertits said:

The only other tires I'd put on the Raptor would be Nokian Hakka LT2 studded snows in stock size. The KO2's on the Raptor are "RAPTOR K02s" - different compound & weight than the standard BFG K02 - ANY other tire you mount around the stock size is going to be significantly heavier & probably provide more rolling resistance both contributing to lower MPGs- these Raptor BFG's are a big part of Ford's "trick" that allows this truck to deliver relatively decent gas mileage despite what it is.

If you want single digit MPG's I guess thats what the 37"s are for, my guess is you lose 2-3mpg right off the top automatically going w/ any other make in a 35" though

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I've never found anyone, including the instructors at Raptor Assault, who know exactly what makes the Raptor K02 special. Some say it is for dirt traction (if so, HAH!), some say for winter weather, and some claim for road manners. In practice, what it appears to be is cost savings for Ford, as the tires wear out very quickly on average.

You are right that most popular substitutes for the KO2 are very heavy, excessively so. But there are a few competitors that are around the same weight, or negligibly less heavy, and perform better in different areas. The one main advantage the KO2 has is the speed rating.

rtmozingo said:

I've never found anyone, including the instructors at Raptor Assault, who know exactly what makes the Raptor K02 special. Some say it is for dirt traction (if so, HAH!), some say for winter weather, and some claim for road manners. In practice, what it appears to be is cost savings for Ford, as the tires wear out very quickly on average.

You are right that most popular substitutes for the KO2 are very heavy, excessively so. But there are a few competitors that are around the same weight, or negligibly less heavy, and perform better in different areas. The one main advantage the KO2 has is the speed rating.

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Last I heard, they were like 6 or so pounds per tire lighter than the closest competitor and I forget which one but another commonly seen tire is like 20 pounds heavier. That’s a lot of rotating mass. I think the K02 c load rating is a bunch more compliant and sacrifices some load capacity for that. It’s a good all around, but of course there are going to be tires out there which better suit some needs; the KM3 which I’m sure is better in mud, but will positively suck in the rain on pavement. and so on.

rtmozingo said:

I've never found anyone, including the instructors at Raptor Assault, who know exactly what makes the Raptor K02 special. Some say it is for dirt traction (if so, HAH!), some say for winter weather, and some claim for road manners. In practice, what it appears to be is cost savings for Ford, as the tires wear out very quickly on average.

You are right that most popular substitutes for the KO2 are very heavy, excessively so. But there are a few competitors that are around the same weight, or negligibly less heavy, and perform better in different areas. The one main advantage the KO2 has is the speed rating.

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well, it is a c-rated tire for one...