BFG K02 Vibration - Need a sanity check

[BmoreStew]

Had the local Mr. Tire mount a set of 275x65r20s on my truck and am feeling some vibration above 60mph; hits the hardest at 70 and then smooths out a bit. Took them back to the installer, he argued that the more aggressive tread was to blame, I asked them to have a look anyway, and they found that all 4 tires needed balancing.... i was the last customer on the night they first installed them, so I’m assuming it was a rush job. Fine. it happens.

Anyway, they rebalanced them and sent me on my way. The guy said that any vibration I felt from then on was the tread. Now I know a thing or two about cars and trucks... i know the tread excuse is BS. I made the point that it’s an AT, as opposed to a mud tire or even a hybrid and that I very much doubted that BFG would say “yes, these tires vibrate at 70mph” if I were to call them. I left it at that though and wasn’t short with him; was just making the point. Anyway, i was pretty sure the vibration would be gone after they found the balance was off on all 4.

I was wrong though, the vibration is still there, maybe worse, and now I’m staring down a potential argument if I walk back in there again. Look, I expect more road noise and a harsher ride, but I’m very confident that the tires shouldn’t have the whole truck shaking while i go don the highway. Am I wrong? Is there something that could be causing it outside of the tire or a thrown weight? There was no vibration with the previous tires, the alignment was just done a few weeks ago. outside of a flat spot due to cold weather, i can’t think of much else... and of course if it were temperature related, the vibration would disappear as the tire temps went up, not the case here.

side note: the truck handles the LTs just fine. Road noise and ride may be different from the stock falkens, but not so much that I really notice. Like the tires so far... the installer, I’m not so sure about. It’s a shame too cause I’ve taken my cars to them a few times and they’ve been great up until this point.

 

[Rob5589]

There were reported issues with balance on the KO2 a while back. Those are a pretty streetable tire so there shouldn't be any tread type vibration. Could just be the shop doing a crappy balance job, too.

 

[james.h.morris68]

Running the same tire and size on my ‘19 Laramie Longhorn and zero issues at any speed. Not that I tested them above 85MPH......


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[SpeedyV]

Had the local Mr. Tire mount a set of 275x65r20s on my truck and am feeling some vibration above 60mph; hits the hardest at 70 and then smooths out a bit. Took them back to the installer, he argued that the more aggressive tread was to blame, I asked them to have a look anyway, and they found that all 4 tires needed balancing.... i was the last customer on the night they first installed them, so I’m assuming it was a rush job. Fine. it happens.

Anyway, they rebalanced them and sent me on my way. The guy said that any vibration I felt from then on was the tread. Now I know a thing or two about cars and trucks... i know the tread excuse is BS. I made the point that it’s an AT, as opposed to a mud tire or even a hybrid and that I very much doubted that BFG would say “yes, these tires vibrate at 70mph” if I were to call them. I left it at that though and wasn’t short with him; was just making the point. Anyway, i was pretty sure the vibration would be gone after they found the balance was off on all 4.

I was wrong though, the vibration is still there, maybe worse, and now I’m staring down a potential argument if I walk back in there again. Look, I expect more road noise and a harsher ride, but I’m very confident that the tires shouldn’t have the whole truck shaking while i go don the highway. Am I wrong? Is there something that could be causing it outside of the tire or a thrown weight? There was no vibration with the previous tires, the alignment was just done a few weeks ago. outside of a flat spot due to cold weather, i can’t think of much else... and of course if it were temperature related, the vibration would disappear as the tire temps went up, not the case here.

side note: the truck handles the LTs just fine. Road noise and ride may be different from the stock falkens, but not so much that I really notice. Like the tires so far... the installer, I’m not so sure about. It’s a shame too cause I’ve taken my cars to them a few times and they’ve been great up until this point.

I had this happen once, years ago, and I believe I took the vehicle to another shop to rebalance the tires (and to prove to the first shop that they needed to calibrate their equipment).

 

[manshoon]

I would take it to anyone that can "Road Force balance" the tire to the wheel. The Road Force Balance From Hunter Engineering, I seek out shops for this specific purpose when you get into 22" wheels and tires, its seems there are always little imperfections in the molds for tires.

I wanted to add this in after the fact, my older brother drives a Nissan Frontier CC 4x4 and was running a little oversized K2 BFG on his rig, and thuoght he had a wheel bearing going out , as he heard some weird sounds at lower speeds. He Took the truck into a shop and he was told the front diferencial was bad, $1300. for a low millage used differential later and it turns out it was the BFG's making the sounds. Verified by rotating the tires to the back.

 

[troutspinner]

Same tires and size here, no issues. My last Ram (14) had the same tires and size as well, no issues there either.

 

[BmoreStew]

So to catch everyone up. Had a scheduled oil change at my dealership (one of oil-for-life deals) on Friday and had them check the balance of each tire. All 4 were off.

Everything seems to be in good order now. Have only taken a few very short drives, but will put a couple hundred miles on them come Tuesday; that’ll be the real test.

Now I’m left wondering if it’s worth letting the original installer know or to cut and run....

Otherwise, really happy with the tires as they compare to the Falkens. Can’t say for certain if they’re any louder or the ride harsher; so I’m gonna call it push. I have noticed they get a little squirrely if you push them hard... the falkens were definitely better on dry pavement, but not by much and it’s to be expected. Hoping it makes up for it in the mud/now or while towing (the falkens weren’t stiff enough). They certainly look better.

 

[NHjake98]

Had the local Mr. Tire mount a set of 275x65r20s on my truck and am feeling some vibration above 60mph; hits the hardest at 70 and then smooths out a bit. Took them back to the installer, he argued that the more aggressive tread was to blame, I asked them to have a look anyway, and they found that all 4 tires needed balancing.... i was the last customer on the night they first installed them, so I’m assuming it was a rush job. Fine. it happens.

Anyway, they rebalanced them and sent me on my way. The guy said that any vibration I felt from then on was the tread. Now I know a thing or two about cars and trucks... i know the tread excuse is BS. I made the point that it’s an AT, as opposed to a mud tire or even a hybrid and that I very much doubted that BFG would say “yes, these tires vibrate at 70mph” if I were to call them. I left it at that though and wasn’t short with him; was just making the point. Anyway, i was pretty sure the vibration would be gone after they found the balance was off on all 4.

I was wrong though, the vibration is still there, maybe worse, and now I’m staring down a potential argument if I walk back in there again. Look, I expect more road noise and a harsher ride, but I’m very confident that the tires shouldn’t have the whole truck shaking while i go don the highway. Am I wrong? Is there something that could be causing it outside of the tire or a thrown weight? There was no vibration with the previous tires, the alignment was just done a few weeks ago. outside of a flat spot due to cold weather, i can’t think of much else... and of course if it were temperature related, the vibration would disappear as the tire temps went up, not the case here.

side note: the truck handles the LTs just fine. Road noise and ride may be different from the stock falkens, but not so much that I really notice. Like the tires so far... the installer, I’m not so sure about. It’s a shame too cause I’ve taken my cars to them a few times and they’ve been great up until this point.

I had a set of these and they changed the entire set out for 4 new ones and still had the vibration. I will never buy BFG's again!!