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Weight is how I narrowed down my choice to Coopers. The KO2s excel in weight, and is a 50/50 tire. This puts it up against the ST Maxx, the R/T, and RGs. However, only the STs are remotely close in weight. IIRC from my spreadsheet, the Coopers were about 2.5 lbs heavier per tire, as opposed to 10 lbs per tire with the Nittos.
* Stock tire size.
The stock size Nitto Ridge Grapplers are not 10lbs heavier than the stock tires, they are ~5 lbs heavier with a much more aggressive yet quiet tread pattern. Lots of tire choices out there....
To put it in perspective, rotating mass (such as a wheel or brake rotor) is roughly three times harder to accelerate than sprung weight (such as the additional weight of a passenger or rear seat).
This means that dropping just 10 pounds per wheel with the addition of a lighter set of racing-oriented wheels would equate to almost 120 pounds of sprung weight lost on the car, generally speaking.
For those who have had their OEM KO2's cup and wear out early, I was able to contact BFG and receive a credit voucher due to premature wear. Contact them thru their site and get a case #, they will then give you some local dealers for an inspection. Once I did that, my local America's Tire called in verifying the wear and they gave nearly a 50% credit towards a new set. I was at 27k miles and wish I done it sooner when I first noticed the cupping! I was just about to get new tires but thought what the hell, worst they can say is no. Glad I did. Now, hopefully this set lasts longer.
And again, people I know who have run both say the ST Maxx is quieter and has better bite than the Ridge Grapplers.
Stock tire is 65lbs. ST Maxx is 67 lbs. Ridge Grappler 71 lbs. E Rated KO2 strangely weighs less than the C, close to 61 lbs. I was comparing to that tire, hence why I had it in my head the RG was 10 lbs heavier.
I quote from this article:
I get it, you like your RGs. But fuel economy, noise, and overall performance are important to me, so Toyo and Nitto got the boot. The KO2s excel in weight, which really limits your choices if you want close-to-stock stock performance in acceleration, braking, and fuel economy.
I thought I understood your reasoning for the Coopers until you posted the above.
The only thing the Toyo RT and Nitto RG don’t beat the KO2 is in fuel economy. They perform better in all categories and the road noise is a non issue.
So your more concerned about fuel economy then performance? What are you averaging according to the truck?
It’s the dead of winter here and my wheels and tires are heavier than stock and my truck says 13.5. Summer is 14.5 with 93 octane.
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I want a better performing tire than the KO2 - namely on wet roads and mud - while retaining as close to stock fuel economy, noise, and performance as possible. Thus my weight is limited, and mud tires are out. This pretty much meant I had the three Hybrids to choose from - the Toyo RT, the Nitto RG, and the ST Maxx. I get 17.5 mpg in the summer and I'm at 16.6 right now - the last two months have been our coldest in two years. Both of these numbers include offroad runs averaged in - I've not reset my trip computer since the odometer was at 18 miles.
I have several friends who have run quite a few offroad tires. One is husband to a Frito-Lay heiress - she doesn't want him to work so he piddles around all day on the farm doing - and buying - whatever he likes. He actually killed an 800lb boar and made the regional news for his picture with it in the back of his dually. Anyway, he has run every AT on the market and found the KO2 to be among the worst and thinks the ST Maxx is the best. I've another friend who works at a prominent offroad shop in Houston and has a King of the Hammers rig - he also finds the KO2s to be pretty lacking, and currently is a fan of the Falken Wildpeaks. But I'm concerned with mud performance - the KO2s have been adequate in this area, so I want something at least as good, preferably better.
Any tire is a compromise. I've seen mixed results regarding fuel economy on the Coopers vs KO2s. They are obviously heavier, so I expect it to be slightly worse. I have seen some Toyota owners post pictures of better fuel economy with Maxxs, to everyone surprise, but I've also seen the expected drop. Noise level also has mixed feedback- some say quieter, some say a bit louder. Every BFG I've owned has dramatically increased in noise after 10k. I suspect replacement tires - even more aggressive ones - will be quieter than my BFGs as of current, but louder than they were initially.
Notably, the Cooper ST Pros weigh the same (or less) as the stock tire, and many of the built trucks at TRR run them. I'm afraid they will be too loud. The Firestone MT3 looks really promising too, but again, I'm concerned about too much additional noise.
G2's may be good for him, where he's in Texas. I won 't run them again because they suck in snow and I deal with that crap about 6 months a year up here. I ran Trail Grapplers on my next 2 trucks and they were much better in snow.I would also look at the Nitto Terra Grappler G2s...similar weight (64lbs), very low noise, better wet/mud performance, and generally good wear. I wish Toyo made the Open Country AT IIs in stock Raptor size...I think it's the best AT tire out there.