Plays into my dilemna. My ride on the Nittos is so harsh on the canyon roads I'm beginning to seriously dislike the truck. I know I need shocks but I'm sure the tires are contributing, and have been wondering lately if the KOs would ride nicer. I keep the pressure around 40 to keep the idiot TPMS light off. They plow through everything up here but the ride is so damn harsh. They are wearing well on all three vehicles (two H2s and a Titan) and the 2s both have around 7k on the tires. The Nissan ride isn't nearly as harsh but the wheels aren't the same size either, 275/60R20 vs 315/70R17 on the H2s. Size matters?

So I'll be following this to see where you end up, NOLA.

 

I'm new to the H2 crowed so its hard for me to evaluate the ride based on tires. My 08 had the factory 20's with the factory tires. I recently had some 37" Interco Vortrac tires installed and have been happy with the ride and handling of the truck these tires are a true 37 inches tall. I can't comment on the wear as they are only a few months old and I haven't been driving my truck very much. The service at Interco was very good and the salesman was very knowledgeable about the tires. Interco has a very strong following in the all out mud tires so I see no reason they wont put the same attention to detail into their all terrain tire. I also had to have an American made tire,

Neal

 

Flyday,

I know we both have the shakes. Get new shocks. It's cheap & will prevent premature ball joint wear. That could be another issue with yours. I know swapping mine helped.

I'm hoping to keep the tires on here till I get the powertrain swap. There's absolutely no one locally who can work on the H2. I've been through too many garages. They can't diagnose anything. Taking it to a dealer will set me back more an LMM upgrade. That's another topic for another day. I've just washed my hands of the powertrain issues & the driveline clunk. 10.5 or 11.5 rear end & call it a day.

Legerwn,

How much wear did the Goodyear SR-A tires have before swapping?
Did you put your 37s on 20s or moved down to an 18 or 17? You'd say they ride better?

I don't mind sticking with an AT tire. I was actually looking at the Cooper STT Pro. As Flyday has said, I've heard too much negative press about Nitto... ride quality & tread longevity. I've heard lack luster things about Mickey Thompson, although I'm not writing them off, either. I've heard a lot of bad things about Toyo MTs in rain, so they are out. Had the ATs on a truck but I can't say how they rode for other reasons. The Toyo RTs might be an option... again, idk, there's tons of choices and for every good review, you can find really bad reviews as well.

The Interco Vortrac looks like a nice tire for mostly highway use. I'd be curious if it can do anything in mud at all. It's a 2.5 hour drive for me to drive to Interco. It would be cool to see all of the tires, first hand.

Please report back on how it rides, noise etc. Interco is not a brand thrown around much anywhere, so there's just no comparisons to other tires. Post some pics too.

 

I have never heard of Interco. I too will only buy American tires so I stick with the OEM BFG's I did like the Duratracs that I had on my wifes H3

 

The SR-A tires were worn pretty good, still had tread but was time to replace. I would say the interco tires ride is close to the worn SR-A ride, a little more rough possibly.
I did mount the Interco tires on the factory 20's, I like the OEM wheels.
I can't comment on how they perform in the mud, I've only been off road once with it to pull a dramax out of the ditch but the area was grass and dry. The owner of the duramax called a friend with a Ford 1 ton 4x4 to try but he couldn't budge him so they called me to bring my tractor but I chose the h2 due to weight instead, pulled him out in high no problem with the Interco's, didn't spin a tire.
like I mentioned it rides good for a truck with that size tire but I don't have a lot of experience with the h2 ride. I purchased the tire for just that, mostly highway and it had to be low noise and decent tread life. The tires are to my liking as for as the noise goes and I really cannot comment on wear at this time.

Neal

 

I had close to 70k on my stock BFGs but they were so dry rotted I didn't think they were safe as the 2 was my DD. The treat was ridiculous even after 70k miles! It was a shame to get rid of them with so much tread life left. Granted, here in AZ tires will dry rot a hell of a lot faster with the heat especially if the rig is outside all the time.


I wanted some meaty MT's for new tires so I went with Kumho MTs. Mean as hell looking and no where near the cost of BFGs.


I have NITTO Crosstek on my Canyon in 33's. They are a cross between a street tire and an AT. Pretty good tires IMO.

 

Starting to remember the dry rot issue with BFGs. Went through 3 sets on my F250s of the L/T all terrains. I got 80K out of each set but got rid of them because the sidewalls were dry-rotting and cracking. Still had plenty of tread left. This was when we still lived in Biloxi way down yonder in Ole Miss. Not a particularly dry environment so don't know why the tires do this.
Did a search for AT tire reviews and BFG seems to come out on top, but no mention of dry rot on any review that I found. Always good tread wear. AND invariably whatever tire was being reviewed was always subjective - one guy says this one's the noisiest tire ever, one says quietest; one says that one's rock-solid in mud/ snow, next guy said he slid all over the place.

Most articles point out that you need to pick a tire based on the largest % on your driving, an obvious point but often forgotten. I chose the Nittos for their durability and ice/snow characteristics, and I've been really happy with that aspect. As it's a compromise tire (like all ATs) I may have to accept the ride on the canyon road to get in and out when the snows of November come early.

 

If they are riding like a used SR-A, I'll pass.
This is invaluable information, though. I'm hoping that the tires work out for your needs.

My KOs had so much treadlife when I replaced them. I felt just like you! It doesn't get as hot here (upper 90s on bad days, but it's extremely humid). My rig sat out just like yours. I think I'd have gotten 120k miles if the dry rot wasn't an issue. I was putting 75 miles a day or more on them.

Did you get 37" KMs?
I see they are only available for 20s. 13.5 on an 8.5" wheel works, according to tire rack. It'll look beefy. I guess it'll rub a good bit.

How do they do on the highway? Are the blocky lugs on the edge wearing ok?
I know you guys don't get much rain, but any experience? We get a ton of rain here (we just made national news for 10" in 5 hours in New Orleans), so wet traction is a must.

Yeah man, it seems like the BFGs suffer from that. It's amazing that no one mentions it. I'll update my review on tire rack to reflect this. Dry rot after 80k is acceptable, not 35k.

The review system is difficult to believe. Every tire has a large number of good reviews and then some bad ones. When I notice the bad reviews setting a trend (dry rot, poor traction, etc), I listen.

There's a hype train for almost every tire that comes out. I don't believe any "official" tire review that's published on the web. Very few are willing to say a tire sucks. There's a circle jerk around every time... it's the best tire overall, or best bang for your buck, or best low budget, etc, but there's no mention of other tires it beats. They make cop outs by saying each has it's strength & weakeness, but never do a direct comparison showing tire A is better than tire B. Tire C is better than both. Avoid tire D at all costs.


My real world driving is 95%+ highway/road with the other 5% mostly being grass & gravel. I hit so much wet roads, that it concerns me with a dedicated highway tire. The Michelin Defender LTX M/S should be a go to tire for my needs, but I've broken the previous iteration of that tire free in a light rain, so I'm worried I'll just skid all over the place. Many ATs seem like crap either in the ride department or longevity. It's hard to find both. There's a few contenders in the MT range that will not hydroplane & ride well, but it's still difficult to know the tire will work. I don't know how people just blindly buy tires and they work out, lol.

 

I stuck with 35's but the Kumhos in 35's were larger than the BFGs which was a plus. They are very loud at highway speeds but I kinda like it. Wear wise they are not bad at all, I figured tread life would be terrible with the low price of them but I'd consider them a great buy. Wet traction I never had an issue. AZ gets bad monsoon storms during the summer and I felt more confident with the MT's during flooding knowing they would push water away with the large tread instead of possibly floating on top like AT's might.

 

Thanks for getting back to me.
We've always had downpours here. I'm used to it at this point, but I've hit patches with the KO2s where I was not planted.

How many miles are you getting out of the Kumhos?