Tire Opinions

[ChevyChad]

I have nitto ridge grapplers and they are just as smooth and quiet on road as the KO2's were. From the limited offroading I have done, they do very well there also. I can notice a difference in weight, but that's comparing apples vs oranges since I went to a 37" nitto from the stock 34.4" BFG. But the ride itself is amazing. The place I purchased my wheels and tires from said that I should be able to get 50k miles from the Nitto's. I'm skeptical about that, but so far I don't see any tire wear after about 3k miles.

 

[NC Raptor]

37 Ridge Grapplers FTW!!!

Only 2 weeks into them, so I haven't been able to play off the beaten path yet, but very happy with their road manners so far. Coming from not even half worn stock KOs on my gen1 it was an all around improvement in wet and dry traction, ride comfort, steering feel, and noise.

Had no idea what I was missing, will only ever buy another set of BFGs if I get a Jennay, and even then they'll probably be gone a couple days after delivery.

And yes I did religious rotations and alignment checks, they (KOs) just seemed to go to shit after like 10k miles.

 

[Jayrod]

37 Ridge Grapplers FTW!!!

Only 2 weeks into them, so I haven't been able to play off the beaten path yet, but very happy with their road manners so far. Coming from not even half worn stock KOs on my gen1 it was an all around improvement in wet and dry traction, ride comfort, steering feel, and noise.

Had no idea what I was missing, will only ever buy another set of BFGs if I get a Jennay, and even then they'll probably be gone a couple days after delivery.

And yes I did religious rotations and alignment checks, they (KOs) just seemed to go to shit after like 10k miles.

Ok so both you and chevy, do you both agree the ridge grappler is better than the K02? I do
A lot of daily on road driving for reference. Thanks!


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[Guy]

Ok...

So far I've been digging through Jeep forums... because the Jeep WRANGLER guys all mod their trucks, F150 forum... A chevy forum...

I've watched as many YouTube videos as I could find....

The general consensus is that the Nitto Ridge Grappler is as nice on the road as it is in the dirt and it outperforms the BFG KO2 off-road and possibly in wear.

Toyo who makes the rubber for Nitto.... well... people either like them or otherwise have nothing bad to say but not a lot of specific feedback.

Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac start out stellar with good on road manners, excellent winter manners, and good off road manners and may be the tire that most challenges BFG for best all around.

The problem with Nitto and Toyo and General and Cooper.... they don't have a snowflake rating.
How significant is this? Well... I don't know.... I know I had an SUV with a pair of "all season Pirelli" on it and once the temperature dropped they turned to stone. It didn't matter how great the tread was.

How many of these other tires are going to get hard and slippery in the snow???

 

[Frank N]

You won't find snowflakes at FRF...

As for your question on winter traction, I'd suggest pouring over the reviews at the big online tires sites. There is no treadwear ratings required for LT tires so compound is a bit of mystery.

 

[Guy]

You won't find snowflakes at FRF...

As for your question on winter traction, I'd suggest pouring over the reviews at the big online tires sites. There is no treadwear ratings required for LT tires so compound is a bit of mystery.

Snow traction is very important where I live. And... not just forward traction.... but handling in snow and snowpack. It's one thing to be able to drive forward... it's another to stay straight, not fishtail, and also have decent stopping power.

There is nothing worse than driving down the interstate at 40mph in the snow only to end up in the median, a ditch, or worse.... simply because the tires are ice skating...

For me priority is... on road manners, followed by winter traction, followed by off-road worthiness.
Now can I achieve this with a cool looking tire Lille a Nitto Ridge Grappler? I'm not sure I've fully answered that question yet.

 

[NC Raptor]

Ok so both you and chevy, do you both agree the ridge grappler is better than the K02? I do
A lot of daily on road driving for reference. Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No clue man, I'm gen1 so I was coming from KOs, not KO2s, I've heard the KO2s are better than the originals, but regardless, I can tell you the ridge grapplers definitely still feel good

 

[Pacific Wheel]

Snow traction is very important where I live. And... not just forward traction.... but handling in snow and snowpack. It's one thing to be able to drive forward... it's another to stay straight, not fishtail, and also have decent stopping power.

There is nothing worse than driving down the interstate at 40mph in the snow only to end up in the median, a ditch, or worse.... simply because the tires are ice skating...

For me priority is... on road manners, followed by winter traction, followed by off-road worthiness.
Now can I achieve this with a cool looking tire Lille a Nitto Ridge Grappler? I'm not sure I've fully answered that question yet.

A lot of the snowflake rating has to do with the DOT. If you're traveling on a monitored highway where "chains or snow tires required" you'll be turned around without the snowflake. Aside from that I'd say Ridge Grapplers are a good compromise. They may not perform quite as well on ice but what really performs that well on ice other than studs? The Nitto's will balance 10x better than the BFG or Goodyear too. If I had to have a snowflake rated tire I'd get the Exo Grappler, it doesn't look the most aggressive but I have my personal issues with Goodyear and BFG. I only brought up the Duratrac as an option but wouldn't put them on my truck again (had them on a Toyota years ago).

 

[EricM]

At some point, just need to buy something and try them out. Tires are a paralysis by analysis type thing. I hear you on snow traction, but a lot of whether you end up in he ditch or not is based on the driver's skills. I manged to get by just fine on non-snowflake tires for the last 30 years of driving- plenty of it on ice, snow, slush, and at times really deep snow. If you are really that concerned with winter performance, why not just go to dedicated winter/summer tires and be done with it.

 

[Guy]

Your words are wise Master Obiwon.

A lot of the snowflake rating has to do with the DOT. If you're traveling on a monitored highway where "chains or snow tires required" you'll be turned around without the snowflake. Aside from that I'd say Ridge Grapplers are a good compromise. They may not perform quite as well on ice but what really performs that well on ice other than studs? The Nitto's will balance 10x better than the BFG or Goodyear too. If I had to have a snowflake rated tire I'd get the Exo Grappler, it doesn't look the most aggressive but I have my personal issues with Goodyear and BFG. I only brought up the Duratrac as an option but wouldn't put them on my truck again (had them on a Toyota years ago).

---------- Post added at 03:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:40 PM ----------

I don't mean to annoy anyone with my conjecture...

But this is what I do.... i research for months usually before I make a purchase. I try to know as much as I can and hear as many opinions as possible before I pull the trigger. The one time I didn't... was with the Gibson exhaust..: and I got burned!

My tire timeline is the fall... between now and then I'm going to research out the *****!

At some point, just need to buy something and try them out. Tires are a paralysis by analysis type thing. I hear you on snow traction, but a lot of whether you end up in he ditch or not is based on the driver's skills. I manged to get by just fine on non-snowflake tires for the last 30 years of driving- plenty of it on ice, snow, slush, and at times really deep snow. If you are really that concerned with winter performance, why not just go to dedicated winter/summer tires and be done with it.