KO's in rain?

GJarrett · August 21, 2000

NO, they do NOT Hydroplane

Go find another dealer who knows what he is talking about. Has he ever driven on them, or just looked at the tread? Do a search on this site about these tires; they are the most universally praised tires among the members of this entire website. You will get very minor (almost unnoticeable) road noise in the 15-30 mph range while braking and cornering as those big treads grab the road under stress. They are as quiet or quieter than stock tires under all other circumstances. Mine are much bigger; maybe stock size would produce no excess noise whatsoever.

I went from my stock Firestone 255/70r16s (hydroplaned all the time) to huge 285/75r16s in the BFG AT ko's. They have MUCH more tread on the pavement which would make one believe they would ski pretty easily. I CANNOT make them hydroplane. Oh yeah, you can expect over 70,000 miles out of them; maybe much more.

They are hands down the best tire I have ever owned, period.

[Edited by GJarrett on 08-22-2000 at 06:44 AM]

Goober · August 22, 2000

I fully agree with Gerald. These tires have plowed through huge puddles of water and I haven't had a lick of trouble with them hydroplaning. There is some noise, but not much more than a street tire. I, myself kinda like the low rumble.
As Gerald said, go somewhere else and get these tires , you won't regret it.

I also believe most places, at least here(NTB, Sears..), offer a 1000 mile test drive to see if you like them... as about it.

donkey boy · August 22, 2000

Geolander or Good Year are not better. With the BFG, you have probably the BEST tire on the market. Also on snow, it performs well.

jason · August 22, 2000

I've tried to get them to hydro plane but they won't I've tried at every speed up too 60.These are some damn good tires

BigDave · August 22, 2000

The BFG's are good tires, while I don't have them, I trust most of the reports on the board. I would also suggest the Goodyear AT/S. I have those on my truck. They are a bit louder than stock, but they grip much better and no hydroplane trouble at all. Just another option for you. I have been very impressed with them so far.

Dave

kvo · August 22, 2000

NO HYDROPLANING ON THE KOs!!!

It will not hydroplane, but then again, if you're driving too fast it wouldn't matter what kind of tires you have.

I have had these KOs since last November and went through a couple of major rain storms here in Northern CA and also rain storms that turned into snow blizzards going up to Tahoe and never did I experience hydroplaning. I was driving at speed up to 70MPH before I realized I was driving that fast and slowed down.

Your tire dealer may be biased or inexperienced but the people here who have these tires on will vouch for them.

The only minor inconvenience was discovering one tire was defective. The vehicle would pull to the side that tire was on. It was replaced at no cost and now everything is fine again.

[Edited by kvo on 08-22-2000 at 07:47 AM]

Maniak · August 22, 2000

We have 32"x11.50" Ko's and we have to drive on a 2 lane rutted (too many heavy vehicles driving on it in 100+ degree weather).

I normally drive 60-65 on that road.. but slow down to <50 in the rain (and slower near the curves).. at 50mph I can get it to pull hard to one side or the other when only 1 side of the vehicle hits water.. but it is usually close to 1" of water... Other than the puddles we don't hydroplane..

Last week we had a good rain storm and the right lane (our lane) was under water.. the right tires were in the water up to the hubs.. and the left tires were about 3" in the water.. We were doing about 10mph (maybe less) and the water was doing at least 10mph (problably more).. We didn't have any problem with it.. (yes I repacked the bearings afterwards)...

We have also used the Yokohama Geolander MT tires (not the AT) and never had any hydroplane problems... Of course that is an MT tire and not a AT tire.. It also only lasted 20k miles (30k was really pushing it)..

We can tell already that the Ko tires are going to outlast the Yokohama tires..

I agree with the other suggestions... Change tire dealers...

CHH777 · August 22, 2000

I had a set of the older BFG A/Ts and can honestly say they were the best rain tires I've ever had. I plan on getting a set of the KOs when my M/Ts wear out.

I'd bet the dealer you spoke with gets a bigger cut ($$$) on the other tires he recommended. Go with the BFGs...

T-Bone · August 22, 2000

Get the KOs!

I'm going to echo what these chaps are saying. I bought my BFG AT KOs a month ago today. I liked the tread pattern and so many people swear by them. I wanted good grip in the snow.
I had heard a similar, but false rumor about them hydroplaning. But I like to find out things for myself. A few weeks ago we had this wet weather pattern come thru the Chicago area for a week. Rain every day on and off. Heavy and light. Let me tell you, I drive fast sometimes. Not too crazy, but I take corners probably faster than I should. On the rainy days, I made it a point to corner hard, I mean REALLY hard in the pouring rain. I couldn't get them to slip. I was hitting 90 degree turns from 25-35+ MPH. They really grabbed the pavement well. I think one or twice at the highest speed while cornering I may have slipped an inch, but any faster and I felt I might have rolled the truck.
Alas, another myth proven false. I can't wait till the first snowstorm here

That guy at the dealership is a chump, he is clearly wrong. Everyone likes to have an opinion. However, BFG is a proven name and there are at least 9 good opinions (and many, many, many more) versus Joe Blow at the "Please Buy Our Firestones" Friendly Ford Dealership.

T-Bone

[Edited by T-Bone on 08-22-2000 at 07:28 PM]

Ray Lobato · August 23, 2000

Well,
I don't think the person you were talking to knew what he was talking about. The BFG KO's are the best tire I have ever owned on my truck. They do not hydroplane. They will last 70K miles and I can tool down the road at 70 with the radio off and NOT get a headache, because they are fairly quiet for a offroad tire. My vote, BFG KO's all the way!
Oh, and Welcome to the site, hope you enjoy it here.

2001ExpSport · August 25, 2000

T-Bone, you are not hydroplaning because you have that monster winch on the front!

T-Bone · August 25, 2000

Matt-
That was before the winch. Now I'm afraid if I brake too hard I'll flip nose first onto the trucks back. opps! LOL. I heard someone mention the front end sagging after 180 lbs. on the nose. You would expect it. I haven't seen it happen though. Maybe over time.
While on the subject of BFGs. How are those BFG mudders you bought in the rain? Snow?

Just curious.

T-Bone

2001ExpSport · August 26, 2000

Well damn T-BONE, be patient my man, doesn't look like snow for about...oh...3 months if we're lucky. When it rains I will let you know, I just got 'em today, dang!

On the sag note, saw a sorry a$$ blazer in a HD parking lot and it had a bumper like yours.

Friggin' thing looked sorry all weak and saggy. That poor blazer didn't know what hit it.

T-Bone · August 26, 2000

LOL! Ya, I should be patient. Is it snowing yet?? Damn!

Is it me or do Blazer owners seem kind of depressed? I mean, I hate to sound cynical, but I consider myself to be a quick judge of character. They always seem to be saying with their eyes, "OK, next truck is going to be an Explorer...DOH its broke again!"
Disclaimer: Comments made by T-Bone do not reflect the opinion of Ultimate Explorations. But we all think it's probably true.
Disclaimer: The last disclaimer and the contents therein, do not necessarily reflect the opinions of T-Bone, but rather....awww forget the whole dang thing!!!

Tom Wilk · August 26, 2000

T-bone, let me know when it snows in Chicago because it will snow in Cleveland the next day.

That's how we predict weather here, whatever happens in Chicago happens here 24 hours later.

For the record, I have the BFG AT's and they are great in the rain. My old 'Stones were not very stable when the water started to puddle. I was driving down the freeway in a rainstorm with them last fall and the vehicle didn't seem like it was touching pavement very often. Not a good feeling. This just doesn't seem to happen with the BFG's. Oh, if you go really fast in really deep water, I'm sure you can get them to lose contact, but it didn't happen at normal highway speeds for me.

2001ExpSport · August 26, 2000

Ok T-Bone, today is your lucky day. It rained and it rained hard. My MT's worked great, tried a few hard turns, a bit lathargic, but no slippage. The tires are heavy, almost twice as heavy as my stocks. They work well for mudders. I don't drive my truck too hard on the streets, it is a truck and it will do a lot of damage. Wait, I take that back, I try to drive as safe as possible...uh....aww hell, I go balls to the wall.

One thing I did notice with the MT's is that it does not pull when hitting large deep puddles. Must be that mud tread.

kurant045 · August 27, 2000

My experience!! or Expreriences!!

Just wanted to add my .02
As you'll all see soon on the before after site, my truck has gone from stock with firestone 235's, to Dunlop 225/50/15's and a dropped suspension, to a 2" sus. lift with 31/10.50 BFG's, to finally 33/12.50 new BFG ko's.

I'll tell you about hydroplanening (spell check)in the rain, being in south Florida we get a lot of it. With stock, I did a couple of 180's on the road, with the dunlops and my heavy foot, I did a 180 and went over a median. Then I got the 31 BFG's and forgot what skidding was until I drove them for about 1 1/2 years, lately with a very worn out thread I had to be cautious. Today I tried out my new 33" KO's under the storm we had and like others here said, I tried to make them skid and it didn't happen. These tires are awesome in the rain.

Robert

T-Bone · August 27, 2000

Kuran: When I read your post I got a tear in my eye because you have finally found safety and freedom in the BFG brang.

Sport: I got a tear in my eye from your post, at least I thought it was a tear, but it turned out to be mud. In fact, my whole face was covered with mud! <shaking my fist wildly in your direction>. Damn kids and their new fangled mudders!

BTW, I'm only 32. That guy in my biz's pics is a guy working in the shop is Andy. He's an old timer at the ripe old age of 54. LOL. Now I'll here it from the Ford owners who liked Fords when they were FORDS!

T-Bone

2001ExpSport · August 27, 2000

Kids? I am 29 thank you very much. You want more mud in da face? :frustrate

KO's in rain?

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