Read how our BF Goodrich KO2 All Terrain Tyres held up through the dust, heat, water
Choose Your Tyres Wisely
Tyres are the most important contributor to your vehicles performance, both on the tarmac and far away from it. They are the only element that bonds your vehicle of choice to Terra Firma, so it pays dividends to choose wisely.

For our circumnavigation of Australia we needed some reliable and capable boots with which to shod our Land Rover. These tyres had a lot to live up to, supporting a 3000 + Kg four wheel drive through twisty tarmac roads, abrasive gravel tracks, slippery rutted trails, loamy beaches and razor sharp rocky outcrops. We elected for BF Goodrich’ KO2 All Terrain in a 265/70R17 LT size, so lets discuss how they went.
Technical Mumbo Jumbo

So for starters, what do all these numbers on a tyre sidewall mean? Lets have a quick summary of the basics so we know what we are dealing with:
As mentioned, our particular tyres are a 265/70R17 LT 121/118S
265: This is the width of the tyre in millimeters, so ours are 265mm wide.
/70: This is the ‘Aspect Ratio” and relates the tyre width to the sidewall height. So our sidewall height is 70% of the width, ie: 0.7 x 265 = 185mm
R17: The R denotes a radial construction tyre, as opposed to superceeded styles of tyre construction such as Bias Ply. Almost all available tyres today will be Radial construction. The 17 tells us this tyre suits a 17 inch wheel.
LT: This denotes a ‘Light Truck’ rating for this tyre. Many 4WD/SUV tyres are available in standard or LT rating. The LT rated tyres offer a heavier duty construction, with more reinforcing steel/nylon plies within the tyre carcass and consequently a greater load carrying capacity and increased resistance to damage. The downsides to an LT rated tyre are increased cost and increased weight, however for tough offroad use this is a worthwhile compromise.
121/118S: This figure denotes the load and speed rating for the tyre. 118 coresponds to 1320 Kg per tyre at max pressure (80psi), while the S tells us that they tyre is rated to a maximum speed of 180 Km/hr. Plenty!

Note: It is important to make sure your tyre selection is legal for use on your vehicle within your state or jurisdiction. These laws can vary wildly, but generally within Australia you can fit up to a 50mm larger diameter tyre without engineering approval. It is paramount to ensure your tyres are load rated to at least your maximum Gross Vehicle Mass.
Performance
The KO2 is what we would describe as an aggressive all terrain, meaning it has fairly large tread blocks and strong sidewalls with additional tread grooves, sometimes referred to as ‘side biters’. This design delivers great offroad traction for an all terrain tyre, while maintaining respectable manners on the road.
The sidewalls on our LT rated tyres are quite stiff to improve the load carrying capability, though this also aids in on road performance and steering feedback as the tyre resists deformation when cornering. For an off road orientated tyre, the road handling is impressive. Likewise tarmac traction in wet weather (often a sore weakpoint of chunky off road tyres) has proved acceptable, even as the tyres have worn down

Off road performance is the main selling point for these tyres, perhaps alongside the macho look that they bring. Happily, we can report no serious shortcomings on any terrain, and we have dragged them across every terrain the Australian continent has to offer! Here are some more specific notes:
Sand
From the beautiful Western Australian beaches to the desolate great central deserts, Australia is not short of sand and the KO2’s have seen their fair share. With correctly adjusted pressures, we usually start around 18 psi and lower as required, the traction and flotation ability of the BFG’s is impressive. They still offer consistent and predictable grip even after travelling 60,000 kms.

Mud
The southern Australian coast offered up it’s fair share of sloppy muddy terrain and we found the KO2’s to be up to be more than capable of keeping the Discovery moving. In very muddy conditions the tread pattern will become blocked with mud and clay, where a true mud tyre with it’s larger tread blocks and spaces would remain clear. Despite this we found grip to be adequate and the tyre easily cleared itself of excess mud once vehicle speed got up to 10 km/hr or more.

Gravel and Dirt
Most of our driving off tarmac was spent hurtling down the many dusty dirt tracks that litter the Australian continent, where we estimate at least 6000 gravel road kms were covered on our big lap alone. In these conditions the KO2 performs well, delivering predictable handling and good traction in both dry/dusty and wet/sloppy conditions. We would drop tyre pressures 10-15 psi below our usual tarmac pressure, which smoothed out the corrugations and improved ride quality. We did find that on some very rough and abrasive tracks (special mention to the glorified goat track leading into Purnululu NP and the Bungle Bungles!) the KO2’s had the tendency to “chunk out” and suffer chipping to the tread blocks. We found that dropping the tyre pressures further reduced this effect, so it seems the issue can be controlled with awareness and monitoring.

Snow
Though rare in Australia, we did manage to find some slush and snow up in the appropriately named ‘Snowy Mountains’ of New South Wales. The BFG KO2 are winter rated and adorned proudly with the snowflake symbol, which means they are designed to cope with severe winter conditions and freezing temperatures. At road pressures and on the steep inclines encountered, we found the KO2 reached it’s limit fairly quickly and allowed significant wheelspin. That being said our time on snow was very limited and we have no experience setting appropriate tyre pressure for these conditions, so the lacklustre performance may be attributed to user error here.

Durability and Opinion
With over 60,000 kms of overland and interstate travel under the belt, our set of BFG KO2 All Terrain tyres have not had a single puncture, still have legal tread and are performing well. We have a set of 5 and rotate them through every 10,000 kms to share out the wear, especially important as our vehicle is constant 4wd and significant differences between tyre diameters (such as one heavily worn tyre and one brand new tyre on the same axle) can cause drivetrain wear and damage.

As the Kilometres have ticked over the tyres have developed increasingly more road noise, particularly at highway speeds. Unfortunately this is the case with the majority of tyres, especially those with an off-road oriented construction, so we do not consider this abnormal or a fault per se. That being said, road noise is still not too intrusive, helped of course by the Land Rovers good noise damping and insulation qualities.

We have also experienced some ‘chunking’ and damage to the tread blocks, sustained primarily after driving at high speeds on coarse gravel tracks. This appears to be a known weakness of the BFG KO2 and has been well documented, however we have found running appropriate tyre pressures and sensible speeds minimises or even negates this occurance.

Given the mileage and use these tyres have been subjected to, we are very happy with their durability and would recommend them to anyone looking for a go anywhere, jack of all trades tyre.
Reader Experience
Do you have a story to tell about BFG KO2’s? Don’t agree with our thoughts above? We’d love to hear from you, leave a comment below to let us know what you think.

23 comments
Thanks Adam,
Good review. I ran the early version of these on a Prado and had a similar experience. I had heard some not so good verbal reports on the KO’s but wanted to find a real report not one from someone selling tyres no matter how well-intentioned.
Thanks Alan,
These have definitely served us well. They’re still fitted to the car in fact and have lasted better than I ever anticipated.
I think the key to getting good life out of them is to be prudent with tyre pressure and change it to suit the conditions. I’ve noticed they don’t cope so well with high pressures and high speeds on gravel, where they start to become abraided and “chunk out”. However at an appropriate pressure (I drop 10 psi for gravel) they are just fine.
Cheers,
Adam
Hi, I’m getting ready to put new shoes on my Jeep and after reading many reviews including yours it’s going to be 5 BFG’s for me, I looked at Toyo’s and Nitto’s but kept coming back to BFG’s, thanks for your review, stay safe. PJ
How do you find road noise? Looking at putting them on a disco 3 myself but worried as its such a quiet car you’ll notice it to much?
Hi Brayden,
When new the KO2’s were no worse than the stock highway terrain tyres that were on the car originally. They have become a little louder as they have worn (currently they have 70k kms on them) however it is still acceptable in my opinion. With windows up we get a faint hum at freeway speeds now, but nothing intrusive and almost always less than the wind noise.
We bought 5 of the KO2’s and rotate the tyres every 10,000 kms, including the spare. I’d recommend doing this as it shares the wear between all tyres and prolongs the life. I’ve noticed we get some camber wear on the rear inner, so if we didn’t rotate the tyres our rears would definitely be unserviceable by now.
We’ve also just bought another 4WD and have had some Falken Wildpeak AT3W fitted up to that, which are thus far also very impressive. Reviews coming soon on those 🙂
Hi Adam,
I’d be interested in your feedback so far for the Falken AT3W compared to the BFGs. I’m about to order new ATs and can’t decide between these two tyres. How do they compare so far?
Most of my driving is on tarmac from Perth to Pilbara or Kimberleys and then off-road in these regions. BFGs I’ve had good experience with but found their grip in the wet was poor near end of life. Considering giving the Falken’s a go but concerned they won’t be as tough as the BFGs
Hi Brayden,
We’ve only had the AT3W’s for 8000 Kilometres, so perhaps a bit early to make a call. So far though, they provide excellent grip on the tarmac regardless of the weather, with good traction on gravel and loose surfaces. We have not yet had them down the beach or in deep mud, but will get there when we can and report back, likely in a standalone review.
From my experience and that of many others I’ve talked with, I don’t think you can go too far wrong with either the KO2 or the AT3W. The price can be a big decider, as well as the size availability etc. I’ve found the KO2 was price competitive in the LT265/70R17 we had on the disco, but in the LT275/65R18 on Tahnees car (2013 SWB Wrangler) they were over $400 a tyre compared to $290 for the AT3W. We also wanted to try something different so the Falkens were an easy choice.
Hope that helps and thanks for your comment,
Adam
Did you forget to proofread before sending? What is a tyre? If you are talking about the rubber that goes around the wheel, It’s called a tire!
Hi Christopher,
Thanks for taking the time to read the article and leave us your valued opinion. The information I’m about to divulge may come as a shock to you, so please make sure you are sitting down. There is a whole world to discover outside of North America, and in this wonderful world tyre describes the rubber item fitted to a wheel. Tire would be used to describe fatigue or weariness, for example: “Chris began to tire of reading about tyres”.
I’m sure Christopher doesn’t know how to spell metre properly either
One day they’ll catch up, may even go metric🤔
Brilliant response, Adam.
Hi Adam
I agreed completely with maintaining tyre pressure to suit conditions, often overlooked.
I’ve had a BFG mud terrain side wall fail dismally on me after a beach run while at 18psi. The spare is now starting to crack, presuming sun damage?
However my new Hilux is shoed with BFG all terrains so looking forward to the next 70,000 kms.
Hi Tavis,
Sorry to hear about the problems you have had with the mud terrains. I have heard of BFG tyres experiencing issues with cracking in some instances, perhaps a weakness or deficiency in the manufacturing process at some point in time. Are your mud terrains quite old?
Is BFG discontinuing ALL TRAIL AND ALL TERRAIN series tires.
As far as I am aware BF Goodrich are not discontinuing any of their off road tyres, though some are due to be superceeded by a newer design.
The KM2 Mud Terrain has been upgraded to the KM3, while there is likely a KO3 in the pipeline to succeed the KO2 All Terrain soon.
Hi
I have been using BF GOODRICH TIRES for last 7years on my Amazon Vx
I want to but bew ones 275/70 16
I use the car 80% on tarmac in Kenya but with potholes & 20% on gravel roads.
Advice on the right tires
Hi Said,
Your best choice will depend upon what is locally available to you in Kenya at reasonable cost. Given you’ve stated 80% rough tarmac and 20% gravel, it sounds like a reputable all terrain tyre would be the best choice. Make sure the load rating and size is appropriate for your vehicle, this information should be on a sticker in the door jamb or printed within the user manual.
Cheers,
Adam
Great article. FYI, the number 118 in the load index (121/118S) refers to the tyre’s weight capacity when used in a dual wheel configuration. The 121 would be the applicable load capacity for the single wheel configuration on you Rover. This load rating is probably overkill for your application. The KO2 is also offered in this size with a 112/109S load index, which would likely be a closer match to the vehicle’s load capacity and provide a more comfortable ride on the tarmac.
Hi Ron,
Thanks for your input, interesting to know the second number is for dual wheel configuration.
The 121/118S rated KO2’s are the LT (Light Truck) version, while the 112/109S are the standard passenger vehicle specification. You’re quite correct that the 121 rated tyres are overkill for what we required, in fact being rated to 1450Kg each means at max load (5800Kg) the disco would be pushing twice it GVM limit. The reason we went for these however, was that the additional sidewall reinforcement in the LT tyre lends itself better to off-road use and extended low pressure running. Given we covered thousands of kilometers off the tarmac and did not have a single tyre related issue, I’m quite happy we went the way that we did.
I spent 15+ years driving BFG tires- both MTs and ATs- from the mid 80s through the early 2000s, in the Cascade Mountains doing search and rescue work. They were the industry “standard ” at the time- the best in class available.
I’ve been in the Carolina Sandhills for the last 15 years, and spend a great deal of time in the sand and mud for work. When it was time, many years ago, to re shod my 1st Gen Taco, the BFG ATs were my default, automatic choice. Unfortunately, BFG changed their rubber compound in the mid 2000s. While sitill more than suitable foe dirt, gravle, and sand, the performance was not up to par in mud or snow. This was in an environment that (relative to the PNW) is flat as can be, and much less challenging. Light, wet snow quickly filled the tread. Likewise, the soggy groound of the wetland trails and fields were problematic.
I would disagree with the author that the BFG AT is an “aggressive” AT…. its lug and spaciing is comparable to others in its class.
If one is looking for an aggressive AT (or mild MT), consider the Goodyear Duratrac. Decent road manners, good longevity, and more than an ATz but nit as obnoxious as an MT….
As an edit, you mentioned poor performance at high PSI…. this is to be expected. These tiers, in an LT, have a max of 80-85psi. That psi designed for a fitment on an F350 or similar- with a load or trailer.
My current Duratracs on my F150 are rated to 85psi- I run 41psi on asphalt. They wear quite evenly at this pressure. A similar tire, on a first gen Tacoma, witha similar max psi, had to be run at 28psi for even wear.
These LT tires were designed for large, heavy (by the standards of most of the world) America pickups with 4000lb in the bed or towing a 20k lb trailer….
A lighter vehicle would need a lower psi…
Hi ABN,
Thanks for sharing your experience, it’s insightful and interesting to hear a USA based perspective into tyre suitability and performance.
The BFG KO2 sits somewhere in the middle of the pack of AT tyres currently available down here in Australia. It is a more aggressive option than common All Terrain offerings such as Pirelli Scorpion ATP and ATR, Kumho AT51 and Bridgestone Dueler 604V and 693. The Goodyear Duratrac you mention is an excellent tyre and seems very popular with Discovery owners overseas, but unfortunately it can be an expensive and difficult to source option here.
It’s also worth mentioning that in the past few years (since this article was written) there have been a range of “hybrid” All Terrain/ Mud Terrain tyres released that combine a MT carcass with an AT tread pattern, resulting in a very aggressive and durable tyre package for high load and extreme duty use. Examples of this are the Nitto Ridge Grappler and Toyo Open Country R/T, which I would say now occupy the aggressive end of the A/T market and certainly relegate the KO2 into a standard category.
I have also used BFG AT for over 20yrs,travelled all over the Australian countryside,without one issue or puncture.Had the KO on the D2’s and the KO2 on the Discovery 4.I always went for the higher load rated tyre as it was stronger which is what I wanted.The KO2 droned badly on the D4,as the tyres wore,more so between 60 and 70 Km/hr.They were rotated very 10 000 km,but both sets I had droned the same.The more refined the vehicle,the more noise is what the experts have said.There was no noise in any of our D2’s.A mate has no noise in his LC200.Land Rover don’t have a new vehicle that suits our needs,which is another story,so we now have an LC200.Looking at either Nitto ,YokomAT-X,or BFG for it,but more than likely it will be BBFG.