275/70R18 BFG KO2 or 295/70R18 Falken Wildpeak A/T3W

[Rockinobsidian]

We're looking at replacing the factory Goodyear 275/65R18 with either Load range E 275/70R18 BFG KO2 or 295/70R18 Falken Wildpeak A/T3W. We will be leveling the front and adding airbags to the rear for when we pull our RV. Truck has 3.92 gears, mainly be used for light offroading/ forest roads around the campgrounds.

Concern with the Wildpeaks is: weight 69lbs per tire vs 59lbs with the KO2s and will 34.3" tires be too tall for just a leveling kit. We had the same KO2s on our Expedition (after getting 2 flats with factory goodyears SMH) and liked the way they rode but have no experience with wildpeaks though they seem highly recommended. Thanks!

 

[Zoompastu]

My friend I have a solution! Nitto Ridge grappler 285/70/18
33.98” x 11.5”. 60 pounds

And yes the wildpeaks are an excellent tire with the only downside being that they are heavy.

Now on a sidenote… You can get the Falken wildpeak in a 275/70/18 and it measures 33.4 X 11. Off the top of my head I believe it weighs 65 pounds. Either one of these tires will fit on the spare underneath the truck. The NItto being about Max. If you plan on encountering any snow or ice the clear choice would be the Falken.

 

[Gozar]

295/70/R18 Ridge Grapplers!
34.29" x 11.77" 69lbs and worth it
2 1/2" level kit and no clearance issues (but I did replace the rims)
3.92 gears, rides and tows like a champ

 

[Rockinobsidian]

295/70/R18 Ridge Grapplers!
34.29" x 11.77" 69lbs and worth it
2 1/2" level kit and no clearance issues (but I did replace the rims)
3.92 gears, rides and tows like a champ

Did you update your spare to match the bigger tires? If so does the 295/70r18 fit in the stock location?

 

[Zoompastu]

@Gozar did I bump into you at Costco the other day when I topped off my wife’s Mini?

 

[Zoompastu]

Did you update your space to match the bigger tires? If so does the 295/70r18 fit in the stock location?

I’m pretty sure I saw his truck last weekend and it did look fantastic!

Everyone has a different goal in mind for their vehicle.

The difference between the 295/70 and 285/70 is essentially a difference of a quarter inch in height and width. Although a 36 pound difference in unsprung rotational mass is huge. That will affect breaking accelerating and mpg. Based off of what you described for the use of your truck the quarter-inch will not make a difference but the extra weight will.

Let me throw this at you… If you go with the Toyo at3, that’s the new tire that just came out there are two different versions in 275/70/18. Black sidewall only weighs 49 pounds and 33.2 tall. Optional white lettering (black letters on other side) is the same size as the Falken at 33.4 X 11 and weighs 52 pounds.
The factory Goodyears on the rebel are 33.2 x11 and 54 pounds for reference.

So the difference between a 33.4 and 33.98 is basically a half an inch. Going with the ridge grappler 285/70 will only give you an advantage of a quarter inch in ground clearance over the 275. To me that’s just not a big enough difference given the usage of your truck. The 295s again don’t make much of a difference for a ground clearance reason. Doesn’t sound like you’re taking the truck rock crawling.
Overall for gearing, fuel economy, daily driving reasons I’d stick with the 275 or 285 at most.

Also going with a 34 inch tire (285/70) will essentially gear you down to a 3.73 which is still respectable for towing


My $0.02

 

[Gozar]

@Gozar did I bump into you at Costco the other day when I topped off my wife’s Mini?

Yes you did!

 

[Gozar]

Did you update your spare to match the bigger tires? If so does the 295/70r18 fit in the stock location?

Not yet but I know of others who have fit it in there. It is next on my list.

 

[Gozar]

I’m pretty sure I saw his truck last weekend and it did look fantastic!

Everyone has a different goal in mind for their vehicle.

The difference between the 295/70 and 285/70 is essentially a difference of a quarter inch in height and width. Although a 36 pound difference in unsprung rotational mass is huge. That will affect breaking accelerating and mpg. Based off of what you described for the use of your truck the quarter-inch will not make a difference but the extra weight will.

Let me throw this at you… If you go with the Toyo at3, that’s the new tire that just came out there are two different versions in 275/70/18. Black sidewall only weighs 49 pounds and 33.2 tall. Optional white lettering (black letters on other side) is the same size as the Falken at 33.4 X 11 and weighs 52 pounds.
The factory Goodyears on the rebel are 33.2 x11 and 54 pounds for reference.

So the difference between a 33.4 and 33.98 is basically a half an inch. Going with the ridge grappler 285/70 will only give you an advantage of a quarter inch in ground clearance over the 275. To me that’s just not a big enough difference given the usage of your truck. The 295s again don’t make much of a difference for a ground clearance reason. Doesn’t sound like you’re taking the truck rock crawling.
Overall for gearing, fuel economy, daily driving reasons I’d stick with the 275 or 285 at most.

Also going with a 34 inch tire (285/70) will essentially gear you down to a 3.73 which is still respectable for towing


My $0.02

Great info, I tow very infrequently and do go off-roading a great deal, also just a big fan of the Nitto Ridge Grappler.
And yes, my gas mileage does suffer, but the pedal commander has something to do with that as well...

I think the Toyo3 would be a great choice.

 

[Rockinobsidian]

I’m pretty sure I saw his truck last weekend and it did look fantastic!

Everyone has a different goal in mind for their vehicle.

The difference between the 295/70 and 285/70 is essentially a difference of a quarter inch in height and width. Although a 36 pound difference in unsprung rotational mass is huge. That will affect breaking accelerating and mpg. Based off of what you described for the use of your truck the quarter-inch will not make a difference but the extra weight will.

Let me throw this at you… If you go with the Toyo at3, that’s the new tire that just came out there are two different versions in 275/70/18. Black sidewall only weighs 49 pounds and 33.2 tall. Optional white lettering (black letters on other side) is the same size as the Falken at 33.4 X 11 and weighs 52 pounds.
The factory Goodyears on the rebel are 33.2 x11 and 54 pounds for reference.

So the difference between a 33.4 and 33.98 is basically a half an inch. Going with the ridge grappler 285/70 will only give you an advantage of a quarter inch in ground clearance over the 275. To me that’s just not a big enough difference given the usage of your truck. The 295s again don’t make much of a difference for a ground clearance reason. Doesn’t sound like you’re taking the truck rock crawling.
Overall for gearing, fuel economy, daily driving reasons I’d stick with the 275 or 285 at most.

Also going with a 34 inch tire (285/70) will essentially gear you down to a 3.73 which is still respectable for towing


My $0.02

Thanks this is great info especially the gear ratio calculator and the different tire options. Probably leaning toward 275/70r18 since we already have a spare tire that size (Goodyear adventurer with Kevlar) and the 285/70 seem to be about $100 more per tire.

 

[Zoompastu]

Lots of off-roading for us here in Idaho! Have not taken my new truck out yet because of the 32 inch P rated tires on 20 inch wheels. To me that’s just begging for trouble. This was my last truck coming back from eighth Street above Boise. You might notice the lower valance in the bed, oops LOL. That truck had 285/70/17 Falken At3w.

As long as you keep your factory 8 inch wide wheels 275s would be fine. If you go with the 18 x 9 aftermarket wheel then you will want to go 285 at a minimum. Also you may want the 33.2 Toyo AT3 to match your spare instead of the 33.4. .2 difference is 8/32 tread depth difference.

There’s a possibility I’ll move to Georgia In the next 6 months or less. I’ll get tires by then. This winter is the wild card. If I move then I’ll get the Toyo’s. After winter Nitto Ridge Grappler (285/60/20).

 

[ThatThingGotaHemi]

We're looking at replacing the factory Goodyear 275/65R18 with either Load range E 275/70R18 BFG KO2 or 295/70R18 Falken Wildpeak A/T3W. We will be leveling the front and adding airbags to the rear for when we pull our RV. Truck has 3.92 gears, mainly be used for light offroading/ forest roads around the campgrounds.

Concern with the Wildpeaks is: weight 69lbs per tire vs 59lbs with the KO2s and will 34.3" tires be too tall for just a leveling kit. We had the same KO2s on our Expedition (after getting 2 flats with factory goodyears SMH) and liked the way they rode but have no experience with wildpeaks though they seem highly recommended. Thanks!

I've had Falken WPs on my Jeep 10 years ago, and recently on my Tacoma.. Just bought a limited Monday and yes going w/ them again. Nitto is garbage, I ran some G2's on the Tacoma for 5K miles and sold those trash heaps to my buddy...lol, BFG is good just no mileage, I had some on an old F150 they wore out asap and my cousin has worn through a set on his Tundra in no time.

Your wieght comment. yes they wiegh more. Their sidewalls are so much thicker than anybody else. Can run over a bed full of railroad spikes sticking up..lol

I just called Discount tire and they are saying the 295s are on backorder from Falken for a month or so. They have 285 and 305s available immediatley.

 

[Zoompastu]

You’re absolutely right the side walls are thick. I used to have customers feel the thickness of the sidewall versus other tires we had for sale at the dealership. It helped me sell and awful lot of them. Falken Makes a good tire. Have Falkens on my wife’s Mini too.

Nitto does make a good tire, but not every tire they make is a 10. A lot of people do not like the G2’s. One of the biggest problems with them is the rubber compound is too hard. They can shred up and not perform very well. I’d be surprised if Nitto does not replace them within the next year or two with an updated design and compound.
The Ridge Grapplers are not apples to apples to the G2’s. It’s one of the best selling tires. It’s not a bad tire even though there are better for off road it’s a great do it all dry tire and let’s be honest, it looks cool . Ice.....just don’t.

BFG’s… Yeah they tend not to last very long with the KO2. First off they start at 15/32 of tread depth which is short for an LT tire. For the money they demand I don’t think they are worth it. I have pulled people out of the snow that had them.
I did see an over landing video in Utah with Land Rovers. Two of them had BFG‘s and one was running Goodyear Duratracks. It was very stormy and rainy and with all vehicles being identical aside from the one with goodyears, the BFG’s were slipsliding around on the trail and the only one that could press on forward was the goodyears. I think the BFG’s look cool but that’s about it…

 

[Flynhayn]

Falken AT3W 295/70/18 load range E. 38psi. Stock rims. ORG. No rub, no trimming. 1/2 inch away from upper control arm. Great ride, quiet, strong sidewalls for off road and towing.

 

[popcenator]

I had the Falken AT3Ws on my 2012 Ram and they worked great, significantly cheaper than others in the same category.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[ThatThingGotaHemi]

stock Air
18x9 Fuel Covert D716
305/65/18
33.6x12, the falken marketing people wrote 34 on the tire sidewall...so I guess we've all lied about a half inch before. haaaaaaaaaaaaaa....too early for jokes this morning..

It clears all the liners by 2" while sitting static...but it will randomly rub/pull the corner of the inner wheel lining in a left hand full reverse turn...seemingly when the suspension flexes out of normal static position.

but it does not rub on normal flat driving...

prob take a box-cutter and cut that little protusion out of my life.

 

[1Zach1]

I’ve been having an internal conflict on going 295/70r18 vs 275/70r18 Toyo OC AT3s. I think it logically makes more sense to go with 275s since most of my driving is paved, but for dispersed camping/logging roads with the family, the idea of having 295s just seems right. I’m sure the 275 are more than capable for that as well though, and would save me some money on tires, plus gas mileage.

 

[WXman]

From 1980 to 2015ish, the BFG was THE bandwagon tire. There couldn't possibly be a conversation or online post about tires without everybody saying, "Get BFGs!". This is despite the fact that the interlocked tread pattern was miserable in mud and snow, and added friction on the road which reduced MPG. Just goes to show you how effective advertising is.

For the last few years, Toyo/****to have had the bandwagon tires. Everybody and their mom runs the ****to Ridge Crapplers, even though they are overpriced, heavy, balance poorly, and have terrible rain traction. The ****to tires are the only brand I know of that even gets mediocre reviews on their own website! And the Toyo AT3 is even more mild and civil than the outgoing AT2 Xtreme, yet it costs even more money. It looks like a H/T instead of a A/T. I just don't understand it.

The Falken A/T3W is a fantastic tire for a fantastic price. It's a bit heavy because it's got thick sidewalls that don't fail. You have to decide what's most important to you: never dealing with flats, or gaining 0.03 MPG? The BFG KO2 is a decent tire, but they don't seem to wear the best. I had feathering on my last set at only 5,000 miles. I sold them and bought Milestar M/Ts and even the cheap Milestars are not showing that type of feathering yet at several thousand miles. Out of the dozens of brands I've run and reviewed, the Falken is probably the best A/T. The Yokohama X-AT is a strong runner-up. If you're talking M/T there are a few strong contenders for 1st.

As far as the 295s go... mine are 295/60R20 which in terms of diameter and width are the same as what you're looking at. I clear them with 1.5" level PLUS I have the Offroad Package suspension. With a standard suspension and leveling kit you can probably clear them but it'll be close.

 

[Wakesnowb]

The Falkens seem to get some very good reviews for snow as well as pavement. That being said, for offroad tires I love the KO2s and have run 3 sets of KOs/KO2s on previous trucks. Pretty quiet on pavement for offroad, even wear, and tread lasts a long time (50k milesish or more is my experience). I think the KO2s might wear a little faster than the previous gen but feel a little stickier. Having been happy with my last 3 sets, I am going KO2s myself when these factory Falkens need replacement.

 

[1Zach1]

Thanks for the response. I was looking at the Falken, Cooper AT3 and Toyo. I didn’t realize Toyo was the bandwagon tire, just that it appears to get great reviews. I am waiting on a 2021 Larmine with air and ORP, appears that others here have been able to fit the 295s without rubbing but it might be hit or miss.