BFG K02 or LTX ?? 2015 Silverado

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Originally Posted By: CKN
Michelin (The tire Gods gift to mankind) or another tire....
Useless thread here on BITOG.


Not brash. Quite funny.

Michelins can stand on their own excellent reputation. On 3500 one ton service vans they can go THREE TIMES what a set of factory bridgestones are good for.

On regular Silverado pickups they have gone 75k miles plus for us and they do not lose their excellent performance as they age.

Then there's the PSS, which many drivers like for an excellent high performance street tire.

All get excellent reviews from lots of other people besides me...
 
BFG KO2 are fantastic tires. Had them on my Ram 1500 and they were very quiet and gripped well in all weather conditons. They have the mountain/snowflake rating which is fantastic for extreme winter weather and since you have a 2wd truck it will help in that nasty weather.

I had the old KO's on a different vehicle and although they look similar, they are quite different on & off the road. The compound and siping make the new ones a different animal.

Good luck!
 
Either one should serve you well, and I don't really know if you can tell the difference. I would go w the better price.
 
BLUF:. I don't think you can go wrong with either one. If you don't off-road much, I would recommend the Michelin LTX.

My Tundra came with BFG KOs as OEM. I thought they were a decent tire and gripped well. It took me everywhere I wanted to go. The only downside is that around 20K miles it started to hum. That hum got progressively louder. It was mildly annoying but no big deal.

My wife's 4Runner currently have Michelin LTX MS2s on them. After a set of BFG Long Trail Tour tires that I thought were absolutely horrible (I replaced them after 17K miles), the Michelins were incredible. They were quiet, smooth, and fantastic traction. After 40K miles, she still has 7/16" tread on them and they're still quiet, smooth, and fantastic traction. A year ago we had an ice storm. After she got home from work, I asked her if she had any problems driving on the nearby hills. Did she have to use 4WD? No kidding, my wife looked at me and asked, "My car has 4WD?" She had completely forgotten that her 4Runner has 4WD.

When it came time to replace my KOs, I wanted the Michelins for my Tundra. But Michelin was transitioning to the Defender and Discount Tire did not have it in stock. The salesman recommended the KO2. I asked him if they were better than the KOs. He said that Michelin had reformulated the tire so it was a new ball game. Won't know until more people drive it. I decided to try them.

I now have just over 25K miles on the KO2s (LT285/70-17). So far, they are much quieter than the KOs - no hum yet. Traction is superb. I have driven thru standing water, rain, snow, and sand. I have driven them on the ocean beaches, Mojave desert, back roads of Moab, and at 80 mph on I-40. I'm very satisfied with them.
 
Originally Posted By: RW1
BLUF:. I don't think you can go wrong with either one. If you don't off-road much, I would recommend the Michelin LTX.

My Tundra came with BFG KOs as OEM. I thought they were a decent tire and gripped well. It took me everywhere I wanted to go. The only downside is that around 20K miles it started to hum. That hum got progressively louder. It was mildly annoying but no big deal.

My wife's 4Runner currently have Michelin LTX MS2s on them. After a set of BFG Long Trail Tour tires that I thought were absolutely horrible (I replaced them after 17K miles), the Michelins were incredible. They were quiet, smooth, and fantastic traction. After 40K miles, she still has 7/16" tread on them and they're still quiet, smooth, and fantastic traction. A year ago we had an ice storm. After she got home from work, I asked her if she had any problems driving on the nearby hills. Did she have to use 4WD? No kidding, my wife looked at me and asked, "My car has 4WD?" She had completely forgotten that her 4Runner has 4WD.

When it came time to replace my KOs, I wanted the Michelins for my Tundra. But Michelin was transitioning to the Defender and Discount Tire did not have it in stock. The salesman recommended the KO2. I asked him if they were better than the KOs. He said that Michelin had reformulated the tire so it was a new ball game. Won't know until more people drive it. I decided to try them.

I now have just over 25K miles on the KO2s (LT285/70-17). So far, they are much quieter than the KOs - no hum yet. Traction is superb. I have driven thru standing water, rain, snow, and sand. I have driven them on the ocean beaches, Mojave desert, back roads of Moab, and at 80 mph on I-40. I'm very satisfied with them.


Get that lady a Subaru or a full-time 4wd Land Cruiser.
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Realtech214
Well my truck has 24k miles on the stock garbage goodyears and in the rain alone its harder NOT to spin them from a stop. Im going to Idaho (to live there) and probably should get some new tires before i go. Ive always wanted the Michelin lTX M/S and the BFG K02 tires.

Which will serve me better? Snow and ice and I stay on the roads. No crazzy off roading. Like the LTX because they last forever and are very quirt. Thanks!


Michelin all the way!
 
Originally Posted By: Realtech214
Well my truck has 24k miles on the stock garbage goodyears and in the rain alone its harder NOT to spin them from a stop. Im going to Idaho (to live there) and probably should get some new tires before i go. Ive always wanted the Michelin lTX M/S and the BFG K02 tires.

Which will serve me better? Snow and ice and I stay on the roads. No crazzy off roading. Like the LTX because they last forever and are very quirt. Thanks!


I have both BFG KO (pre-2) and LTX M/S2's. They are very different tires, basically the KO/KO2 is the better off-road and the M/S2 better on-road (in any weather). Both are excellent, but different. Both are heavy tires with high rolling resistance, meaning you'll get better MPG from a lighter tire. Both are long-wearing.

I'm not a Michelin fanboy. I wasn't very pleased with my Primacy MXV4's, and I run Conti's and Generals on my other vehicle.
 
All I know is when I put the Michelin LTX M/S2 tires on my truck the ride got a lot smoother, road noise diminished and going over pot holes was softer.
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8

Not brash. Quite funny.

Michelins can stand on their own excellent reputation. On 3500 one ton service vans they can go THREE TIMES what a set of factory bridgestones are good for.

On regular Silverado pickups they have gone 75k miles plus for us and they do not lose their excellent performance as they age.

Then there's the PSS, which many drivers like for an excellent high performance street tire.

All get excellent reviews from lots of other people besides me...


And then there are the rest of us, who actually get all FOUR seasons... who wasted good money on a set of Michelin LTX's that were off the truck at 32,000 miles and sold on Craigslist.

I couldn't take another white knuckle winter of no snow and no ice traction. But apparently they do just fine in Sunny Florida.
 
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8

Not brash. Quite funny.

Michelins can stand on their own excellent reputation. On 3500 one ton service vans they can go THREE TIMES what a set of factory bridgestones are good for.

On regular Silverado pickups they have gone 75k miles plus for us and they do not lose their excellent performance as they age.

Then there's the PSS, which many drivers like for an excellent high performance street tire.

All get excellent reviews from lots of other people besides me...


And then there are the rest of us, who actually get all FOUR seasons... who wasted good money on a set of Michelin LTX's that were off the truck at 32,000 miles and sold on Craigslist.

I couldn't take another white knuckle winter of no snow and no ice traction. But apparently they do just fine in Sunny Florida.


You are the only person I know who had bad experiences with 2 of the highest rated truck tires out there.. are you sure its not operator error?

Tons of very happy people with the michelin ltx ms2 and the firestone destination le2.. but both were terrible for you.
13.gif
 
I'm not in Sunny Florida. Central Maryland suffers from wet/black ice almost every morning during the Winter. Western Maryland gets lots of snow. It's not all Baltimore.

Your tire experiences are different than everyone else, time to start looking for the real causes. Not everyone who has a great experience with some of the world's best tires has to be a fanboy.
 
Well it is all in what you do and where you do it. My 2500 came with Michelin LTX AT2's and they were just about the lousiest off road and gravel road tire I had come across. And I am very fond of Michelin for my commercial heavy trucks. I had to get rid of the LTX's and get BFG KO2's. They perform much better for the rural two lane, gravel roads that can get pretty nasty, and off road cropland/pasture, farm/ranch stuff. LTX's, I would slide sideways trying to go up a wet, only partially muddy hillside. Not the KO2's. And I haven't really seen any appreciable mpg difference between the tires. And man, the KO2's can push the snow. Even on turf areas around out buildings and barn that I have to plow snow around.

I get the feeling that Micheline just punts the ball to BFG when it comes to serious working tires on the pickups. They sure don't do that with their heavy commercial truck tires. Now those are worth every penny. It is nice to get 447,000 miles out of a set of 445/50R22.5 tires and still have 8-9/32 tread and no uneven wear. Tire dealer even gave me $150 for each of the used tires when I had them changed out 220,000 miles ago. And the ones on now are barely close to 1/2 life at 220,000 miles on them.
 
Work trucks get muddy in this neck of the woods - BFG KO2 or GY Duratrac
Play trucks get even more knobby ...
 
Originally Posted By: TiredTrucker
Well it is all in what you do and where you do it. My 2500 came with Michelin LTX AT2's and they were just about the lousiest off road and gravel road tire I had come across. And I am very fond of Michelin for my commercial heavy trucks. I had to get rid of the LTX's and get BFG KO2's. They perform much better for the rural two lane, gravel roads that can get pretty nasty, and off road cropland/pasture, farm/ranch stuff. LTX's, I would slide sideways trying to go up a wet, only partially muddy hillside. Not the KO2's. And I haven't really seen any appreciable mpg difference between the tires. And man, the KO2's can push the snow. Even on turf areas around out buildings and barn that I have to plow snow around.

I get the feeling that Micheline just punts the ball to BFG when it comes to serious working tires on the pickups. They sure don't do that with their heavy commercial truck tires. Now those are worth every penny. It is nice to get 447,000 miles out of a set of 445/50R22.5 tires and still have 8-9/32 tread and no uneven wear. Tire dealer even gave me $150 for each of the used tires when I had them changed out 220,000 miles ago. And the ones on now are barely close to 1/2 life at 220,000 miles on them.


All Michelin light truck tires are "LTX". Love my LTX MS/2's, avoided the LTX AT/2's due to poor reviews. My local tire guy agrees LTX AT/2's are awful tires. He says the LTX MS/2's do better on the plow trucks than the AT/2's, so that's what he recommends, and that's what they buy.
 
I gave the M/S 2'a a look see, but settled for KO2's. Tires on my pickup have to deal with a wide range of stuff that the average pickup doesn't see often, if at all. One day everything is frozen and snow has to be plowed, a week later and it has warmed up enough to make the 2 miles of gravel road to my house from the highway a mess. And then there is getting out on the acreage to check thing and accomplish some task. The M/S 2's might have done better than the AT2's for general purpose, but not convinced they would have been a tire that has to meet a wide variety of challenges. This pickup is not a commuter kind of thing. It only gets used when it is needed for some task. Until the recent snow, it had not been started in two weeks. It hasn't seen a hard surfaced road in 4. But even when it has, the KO2's are pretty quiet on the highway and handling is great. At the current rate of use, it will last a long, long time. I changed oil in it in June and I barely have put 2000 miles on it since. When not used, it is garaged (heated garage in winter). It did get used more early on when I got it in March of 2015, but the pace slowed since summer.
 
I'm chuckling at the one one-upsmanship and my tires have to do more than your tires ever will stuff in this thread and others. Too funny. My truck does stuff the average truck doesn't... Ha, Ha...

Given the OP's description, I'd go with the Michelin's and call it a day.

That is NOT a blanket approval of every Michelin ever made. Had one set on the old Cherokee that had poor ice and wet traction. Wore like iron and were quiet, good in the dry, but they were replaced when the winter weather concerns required it. Have a set of Latitude Tours on my Explorer that I run in non-snow season, and I am very happy with them.

And I also agree with SteveSRT8 - there is a difference often times between the OEM and aftermarket tire with the same brand and product name - some of them have dramatically different looking tread.
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
I am in wonder at people on this site not being aware that FACTORY tires are different from AFTERMARKET.


I've had this discussion on another site a couple of years ago. After extensive spec reading, we determined while there are some FACTORY editions of the LTX MS/2, there's no one size of LTX MS/2 that is made in both FACTORY and AFTERMARKET versions.

If that has changed, please feel free to pony up the differing SKU's and specs.
 
Originally Posted By: MNgopher
I'm chuckling at the one one-upsmanship and my tires have to do more than your tires ever will stuff in this thread and others. Too funny. My truck does stuff the average truck doesn't... Ha, Ha...



Ha, Ha.. I like how some will take what is said and twist it to mean something else. I did not say my pickup or tires have to do more than your tires ever will, quite clearly I stated that it does things that the "average pickup doesn't see OFTEN". Most average pickup owners do not have to deal with pastures and cropland, checking fence rows, or running gravel roads DAILY, etc. You take something and twist it to fit what you want to convey inaccurately and then you want to say it is one upsmanship, when that is what you did with that post. Very immature.
 
Originally Posted By: HangFire
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
I am in wonder at people on this site not being aware that FACTORY tires are different from AFTERMARKET.


I've had this discussion on another site a couple of years ago. After extensive spec reading, we determined while there are some FACTORY editions of the LTX MS/2, there's no one size of LTX MS/2 that is made in both FACTORY and AFTERMARKET versions.

If that has changed, please feel free to pony up the differing SKU's and specs.


I was referring to the well known fact that OEM tires on vehicles are often different from tires purchased in the aftermarket. Our own Capriracer has made this clear many times on this forum.

Quote: "May be it is time for my lecture on OE tires?

The Goodyear RSA is primarily an OE tire - and OE tires are designed by the vehicle manufacturer - that is, the amount of grip, vs treadwear vs rolling resistance is decided by the vehicle manufacturer, not the tire manufacturer. So it is not a surprise to hear that there are lots of complaints about the tire.

But that is true of any OE tire, regardless of brand."

Ironically this was in another recent thread about Michelin LTX
 
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