Tall, skinny KM2s- any experience?

[Fordguy77]

Have always been a fan of 33x10.5s and have run them on a few rigs with no issues, have noticed the wider tires feel more stable at speeds, but not so much that it would change my mind about running them.

[otisdog]

I've been running 33 x 10.50's since 1995 and see no reason to change.

[glacierpaul]

Tall and skinny, that was the tire on the WW2 Willys Jeeps and we all know what and how they did, best in snow for sure.

[Dirt Claude]

Travis - I run 255/85/16 BFG KM2s on my 98' Runner with a 3" lift and love them. I also had mine siped which I'm still up in the air about. I ran the older style 33x12.50.15 BFG mud and those were down right scary on slick roads, which is why I choose to have the news one siped. These newer ones seem to do well on slick roads, but we'll see how they do later with any chuncking of the lugs. I've got about 20k miles on them right now and they seem to be holding up well, probably 2/3 tread left.

I choose this size for several reasons:
- Can still run stock wheels, no rubbing when fully flexed
- Skinny tires track much better going down the road compared to wider ones
- Less rolling resistance and overall weight
- Cuts through deep snow amazingly - I busted trail on a Rock Creek snow where larger rigs with 35"/37" tires struggled
- They tuck in the wheel well nicely when fully stuffed

Stability with my small 3" lift feels very good. If I were running a bigger lift, I would seriously consider a wider tire for more stability.

As far as the BFG KM2, I'll probably buy another set of them when I finish building my FJ40. The side walls seem pretty durable, although I put a hole in one when I was on a snow run. I was aired down to 15psi going in reverse and flung the front end of the truck around. I forgot how aired down I was and ended up putting a gash in the sidewall from a rock. Learned my lesson the hard way on that one.

A little pricey, but I'd certainly buy them again.

[ILuvtheMountains]

Awesome info, thanks. I had them in the snow up in red feather this weekend and they did great. Only about 8" deep at the deepest. Still, I was impressed.
Where is that first picture taken?

[Dirt Claude]

That's the top of the rock quarry at Moody Hill.

[Flyer]

I have c-rated 32 KMs on my Jeep. I am switching to 35s and am moving to MTR Kevlars. I love the KMs off-road. I have not encountered a place where they do not do well. However, I do not like them ni the snow/packed snow. They have zero siping and just a very blocky design. I find the braking is terrible, and 4wd does not help with braking. They do well on fresh snow, especially snow on dirt. If you're driving really carefully and slowly in the city when it snows, it's no big deal. Off pavement though...they have been fantastic so far.

[ExplorerTom]

I just bought a set of 33x12.5r15 BFG ATs this summer. They've been fine for me, but I've been seeing a lot of talk lately about the skinnier version. I would have to give them a serious consideration if I were at the point to buy new tires. And with as much as I drive mine, my tires will last forever.

[ILuvtheMountains]

I decided to keep my 32" BFG ATs for winters, and I will use the KM2s for all other seasons.

[Jim]

35" 12.5 KM's on the jeep.

I generally love them for 3-season use. In snow, they slip-n-slide all over. For snow I'd welcome tall-n-skinny (in general) and a different tread than the KM's (in specific).

As the jeep is mainly for trail (and to-n-from) use (generally little to no snow need) I'll stay with, and enjoy, the 12.5 wide KM's as-is.

[ExplorerTom]

From my fairly limited snow wheeling experience, it seems wide is better. They do exactly what you don't want on the street- float up on the snow. On the street, you want skinny to increase the contact pressure and therefore increase the traction. On the trail, where the snow could be deeper than your floorboards (ie to the point where you'd be stuck), floating on the snow is better. A skinny tire in deep snow will tend to dig due to that increased contact pressure.

That's the theory anyway. But 2" of extra width per tire may not actually make that much difference.

My Explorer never saw any snow on the street this winter so I can't really comment on the 33x12.5r15 performance. Last winter, when I had the 30x9.5r15 (even skinnier) BFG ATs, they'd take off through a snow covered intersection like a scalded dog but didn't turn or stop all that well. Compared to actual winter tires, I thought the BFG ATs weren't worthy of their "mountain snowflake" symbol. My old Mazda Protege ES lowered on Mazdaspeed Protege suspension with 195/x/15 Hankook iPikes was a little mountain goat.

[Rick]

ExplorerTom previously posted:

[ExplorerTom]

Rick previously posted:

[Rick]

ok!

[glacierpaul]

stuck is stuck, but I figure skinny stops me before I get too stuck, and fatter allows me to float to a deeper stuck if that makes sense been my experience, but I get stuck with any tire when I try as Rick points out. That is where the winch thread comes in to play....

[Java]

Are there any other tires that come in 33x10.50 aside from BFG?

[4Runninfun]

there are a bunch of tires in 255-85r16 which measure out to be ~33x10. Mine are Interco Trxus MT's.

[ILuvtheMountains]

I wouldn't say a bunch but there are 3 or 4. The BFG is probably the most common.

[4Runninfun]

BFG, Hancock, Cooper, Interco, Toyo, Maxis are the big ones I can think of right now.