What do you think are really good tires for most off road ventures

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Contributor II

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Mount Holly, NC
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Jeff
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Giszczak
I'm not really a DIY guy unfortunately....I wish I was haha. I have the below so far on my Silverado

2" leveling kit
BFGoodrich KO2's 275/75/18
KBVooDoo Bed Rack
Hi Vis Overland Crag2 Roof Top Tent
Decked USA drawer system for the bed.
Midland GMRS radio
I try to be DIY if I can but when it comes to my truck I'm very picky on what I mess with. Sounds like a pretty good set up so far. With only a 2" level do you have any rubbing issues with the 275/75's? Are those factory wheels or aftermarket? I thought about that size as well but based on my level there is a chance it would have rubbing problems.
 

Sasquatch SC

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They are good to have and free up a ton of space on your rig.
The trailers would be great in flatter, more open terrain. They really limit you on the east coast. On a lot of trails here, if you come across people going the other direction it becomes a coordinated effort with a lot of reversing and maneuvering to get to a spot where one can get around. Not to mention the tree falls that sometimes can be cut away or yanked out of the way, but depending on if you are in a state park, national park, forestry land, game management land, etc dictates how you handle it. Sometimes you have to just get turned around and find another way. Gates can also be unexpectedly closed. The FS does a good job with updating their website with closed routes, but since we have a mix of different parks and areas that don't fall under the Forestry Service and a lot of trails amble across the different areas you can't depend on it. Reasons you find closed gates around here vary, but some examples are: wildlife management reasons, hunting seasons, if the trail is failing and a car crossing could collapse it, people abusing the route (trashing it, going off-trail, etc), landslides, flooding debris washing downhill, fires (both wildfires and management burns), etc.

A trailer was up on my list until @JButtress brought his out for an Overland Bound event. It was a ride on a staple for just about every overlander in the southeast - Old NC 105 - which is basically just a gravel track that runs across the top of a ridge. Even on that the trailer was a bear. On an actual trail it would be a nightmare. My Subaru is pretty small in comparison to 95% of other rigs, but I've had to reverse more than a quarter of a mile down a trail to find a spot for someone coming down to pass. Downhill always has rightaway.
 

MOAK

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The trailers would be great in flatter, more open terrain. They really limit you on the east coast. Downhill always has rightaway.
Whew boy, I don’t even know where to begin with these statements and I certainly don’t want to come off sounding like a dick, however, sir, uphill traffic always has right of way. I’m not sure where you have learned your trail etiquette but your statement is flat out wrong. Uphill traffic having right of way has been the world standard for thousands, yes thousands of years. Trailer? I and lots of others have been dragging our off road trailers all over the country, including the eastern trails, what there is of them, for decades as well. There are a lot of folks on here, OB, seeking sound advice because they are new at all of this and good factual advice is very important for them.
 
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Sasquatch SC

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Whew boy, I don’t even know where to begin with these statements and I certainly don’t want to come off sounding like a dick, however, sir, uphill traffic always has right of way. I’m not sure where you have learned your trail etiquette but your statement is flat out wrong. Uphill traffic having right of way has been the world standard for thousands, yes thousands of years. Trailer? I and lots of others have been dragging our off road trailers all over the country, including the eastern trails, what there is of them, for decades as well. There are a lot of folks on here, OB, seeking sound advice because they are new at all of this and good factual advice is very important for them.
I’ll yield to the right of way. I think it has more to do w/ the trail you are on. When I have had to back up before going up it has been because the vehicle coming down has no choice. Once they start down there is no backing up & you never know the other vehicle is there until you are already pretty close.
I stand by my trailer feelings though. On the gravel tracks, they are manageable, but on the trails they are a hinderance.
 

Lanlubber In Remembrance

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The trailers would be great in flatter, more open terrain. They really limit you on the east coast. On a lot of trails here, if you come across people going the other direction it becomes a coordinated effort with a lot of reversing and maneuvering to get to a spot where one can get around. Not to mention the tree falls that sometimes can be cut away or yanked out of the way, but depending on if you are in a state park, national park, forestry land, game management land, etc dictates how you handle it. Sometimes you have to just get turned around and find another way. Gates can also be unexpectedly closed. The FS does a good job with updating their website with closed routes, but since we have a mix of different parks and areas that don't fall under the Forestry Service and a lot of trails amble across the different areas you can't depend on it. Reasons you find closed gates around here vary, but some examples are: wildlife management reasons, hunting seasons, if the trail is failing and a car crossing could collapse it, people abusing the route (trashing it, going off-trail, etc), landslides, flooding debris washing downhill, fires (both wildfires and management burns), etc.

A trailer was up on my list until @JButtress brought his out for an Overland Bound event. It was a ride on a staple for just about every overlander in the southeast - Old NC 105 - which is basically just a gravel track that runs across the top of a ridge. Even on that the trailer was a bear. On an actual trail it would be a nightmare. My Subaru is pretty small in comparison to 95% of other rigs, but I've had to reverse more than a quarter of a mile down a trail to find a spot for someone coming down to pass. Downhill always has rightaway.
I had already come to that conclusion and is why I have three different rigs. I use my Ford Escape and 13' SCAMP trailer for the flat land trails. (It needs a 3 or 4" lift or an axle swap so I can put bigger tires on it) If the trail is anywhere near technical I'm in my LRD2 or 84 Dodge Ram 4x4, and tent or ground camping. Right now two are being moded for fall and winter outings. I only use the Dodge for short (100 excursions because of bad gas mileage
I’ll yield to the right of way. I think it has more to do w/ the trail you are on. When I have had to back up before going up it has been because the vehicle coming down has no choice. Once they start down there is no backing up & you never know the other vehicle is there until you are already pretty close.
I stand by my trailer feelings though. On the gravel tracks, they are manageable, but on the trails they are a hinderance.
 

Lanlubber In Remembrance

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I’ll yield to the right of way. I think it has more to do w/ the trail you are on. When I have had to back up before going up it has been because the vehicle coming down has no choice. Once they start down there is no backing up & you never know the other vehicle is there until you are already pretty close.
I stand by my trailer feelings though. On the gravel tracks, they are manageable, but on the trails they are a hinderance.
Uh oh, ennie mennie miney mo, which way should I go ? LOL
 
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Eagle

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Grea
Excluding extreme rock crawling or mud bogging, what tires do you thing perform the best for most on-off road conditions in all weather situations and for technical trails as well. I am about to buy 5 new tires for my LRD2 in preparation for my fall, winter, spring adventures. My trips will be in NM, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Washington, and Organ. I will be on paved roads as little as possible but unfortunately I cant just go anywhere I want so whatever road is available for travel will be what I use in my wonderings.
Lanlubber Jim
Excluding extreme rock crawling or mud bogging, what tires do you thing perform the best for most on-off road conditions in all weather situations and for technical trails as well. I am about to buy 5 new tires for my LRD2 in preparation for my fall, winter, spring adventures. My trips will be in NM, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Washington, and Organ. I will be on paved roads as little as possible but unfortunately I cant just go anywhere I want so whatever road is available for travel will be what I use in my wonderings.
Lanlubber Jim
Great question I’ll be watching this thread like a hawk.
 

Lanlubber In Remembrance

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Grea



Great question I’ll be watching this thread like a hawk.
You'll have to back up and go to page one for the debate. Great bunch of answers. Several tires have made it to the top of the list from low to high cost.
 

Buckaroo

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Landlubber, only you could answer your own question with any real success.
Anyone else can only suggest what they already use where they are.
Your wanderings and climate changes are way different to mine.
FWIW, I run BFG K02 winter tyres, M+S all year around.
 
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Lanlubber In Remembrance

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Landlubber, only you could answer your own question with any real success.
Anyone else can only suggest what they already use where they are.
Your wanderings and climate changes are way different to mine.
FWIW, I run BFG K02 winter tyres, M+S all year around.
Well Hello Dave, Your right about the tire selection but I was more interested in finding out what most people use in the S.W. USA use. We have rain (sometime) we have snow (seldom) we have a lot of rocky trails and sandy roads. If it rains, and you are on a dirt-sandy (even clay) road ,you need traction and not all tires will give you good traction under those conditions. Rocky mountain roads are another concern in the S.W. Region. I pretty much will stay in this region of the states as I'm too old to get up in the northern regions of the country with heavy snow. Tires are a big investment so I didn't want to buy something that was not suited for this terrane. IMO M/T tires are a little too harsh for 85% of my driving so the next best tire for me would be an A/T tire. There are many with different tread designs. I needed to know what others were using and how successful the tires worked for them considering that every one drives a different type rig. The feed back I got allowed me to make a good choice from about 4 different tire brands and tread design. I settled on the Goodyear wrangler Ultra Terrane A/T tires.
They meet all of my requirements for a 10 ply tire. They were not the most economical but they were not as expensive as the KO2 tire, close but less expensive and made by an equally good tire maker. Tally Ho fellow OB'er, thanks for checking in on your cousins.
 
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Lanlubber In Remembrance

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LOLZ, I wish that I owned a horse so that I could say Tally Ho too.
I'll just have to stick with "F@cking start you sh!t lump of junk" :-)
I don't own a horse either, but cant people with Horse Power say Tallo Ho too ? After all it is the modern day horse. Can you post a picture of your rig.
My daughter is currently building a Chevy van and needs all the ideas she can get. Cheers, long live the Queen !!!
 

Ghost

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LOLZ, I wish that I owned a horse so that I could say Tally Ho too.
I'll just have to stick with "F@cking start you sh!t lump of junk" :-)
I own a horse, and while I can’t recall ever saying “Tally Ho” I do frequently say things like "F@cking start you sh!t lump of junk" :-)
 

systemdelete

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I was looking for new tires for the rover, and had read the thread looking for affordable options. Narrowed down a couple and started pricing. To my surprise(and I have no clue why) KO2s were cheaper than any of my other options, by a wide margin! I searched each of my tires by size in google and the KO2 search popped up with an obscure amazon listing that had them at $90 each! Quick phone call to my local discount tire, got them to price match and I’m into a set of 5 new KO2 for just over $600. The same full set of KO2s on my previous rig were $1.5k IMG_1061.JPG

Moral of the story, do your research you might just find a screaming deal!
 

Lanlubber In Remembrance

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I was looking for new tires for the rover, and had read the thread looking for affordable options. Narrowed down a couple and started pricing. To my surprise(and I have no clue why) KO2s were cheaper than any of my other options, by a wide margin! I searched each of my tires by size in google and the KO2 search popped up with an obscure amazon listing that had them at $90 each! Quick phone call to my local discount tire, got them to price match and I’m into a set of 5 new KO2 for just over $600. The same full set of KO2s on my previous rig were $1.5k View attachment 117895

Moral of the story, do your research you might just find a screaming deal!
I think that was a one time Amazon prime deal for using their credit plan wasn't it ?
 

systemdelete

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I don’t use their credit plan, had I the first tire would have been $50 off. I believe it was possibly some old inventory they were trying to move quick, that item shows out of stock now. I pondered buying from amazon but worried they could show up with old date codes and may have been sitting in a warehouse somewhere. With discount willing to price match I locked in that price on fresh KO2s brought in through their supply chain.
 

Lanlubber In Remembrance

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I don’t use their credit plan, had I the first tire would have been $50 off. I believe it was possibly some old inventory they were trying to move quick, that item shows out of stock now. I pondered buying from amazon but worried they could show up with old date codes and may have been sitting in a warehouse somewhere. With discount willing to price match I locked in that price on fresh KO2s brought in through their supply chain.
Mighty good deal. I just purchased 5- 265/75R/16 Goodyear Wrangler Ultra Terranin A/T tires and with all discounts paid $679.00.
I am pleased with both the tire and the price.
 

MOAK

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I have to report that after nearly 3 decades of using BFG KMs & KOs I’m going to give the General ATXes a try. I’m not really sure why other than it’s about 150 less for all four corners & they get excellent reviews.. I’ll be keeping the two best KOs for the trailer.. wish me luck with my experiment
 
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Lanlubber In Remembrance

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I have to report that after nearly 3 decades of using BFG KMs & KOs I’m going to give the General ATXes a try. I’m not really sure why other than it’s about 150 less for all four corners & they get excellent reviews.. I’ll be keeping the two best KOs for the trailer.. wish me luck with my experiment
Which ATX will you buy. I looked at them and they are pretty much the same pattern as my Goodyear tires. My tire dealer said he sells a lot of Generals to people who had previously bought BFG TA's or KO's. You probably made a good choice. I have BFG's on two of my trucks and I had them years ago on my 67 Bronco back in the 80's. I put 60,000 miles on that bronco and never did wear them out. I ended up putting them on a 70 Ford 1/2 ton short bed and got another 15,000 miles on it. before selling the truck. I do maintain my trucks alignments, rotation and balancing which I think is one reason for the good wear longevity of the tires.
 
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