BFGoodrich all terrain KO

[01silverado03z400]

does anyone know how good the BFGoodrich All Terrain KO tires are in the winter?? i live in Edmonton Alberta so we get quite a bit of snow here and i like to go up north to Cold Lake sometimes so theres even more snow there. anyone hav any experience with these??

[kenny-1907]

I personally think it is not only a matter of the tread pattern that makes for a good tire in the snow but the rubber compound as well. I can not speak on expierence for the bfg a/t cause i have never had them although i have had a set of 33/12.50/15 hoosier a/t's with exactally the same tread design but never ran those in the winter. They had such a soft compound (which would have been a great winter tire imo) that they only lasted 2 years as a summer tire. I have had a set of 31/10.50/15 uniroyal lareado mt's also one time that were my winter set and had the same tread pattern as the bfg mt and they were an aswome winter tire, they only had maybe 1/4" tread left and i was going through snow that was over the front bumper on my old 88 full size jimmy with a 4" lift. In the past i have also owned a set of 255/85/16 baja widetrack radials i think that were made by firestone not sure though. They had a pretty decent tread pattern on them and i have to say that they were probably the worst tire i had for winter. The compound of the rubber was so hard that when they got cold they were like a frozen hockey puck, little to no traction at all. I currently have a set of 255/85/16 bfg mt km's that have been used year round for the last 3 years, approx 50k (kilometers) and still have approx 1/2 tread left on them. Even without a posi last year in the snow they handled pretty well and now that i have a posi i am sure that they will be a hell of a lot better, although they suck big time if it is icy i have to say cause of the large lug design. So now that i have rambled on and on about past tires i have owned and to sort of answer your question, my next set of tires will be the bfg a/t's. I have a fair amount of confidence in them, just the tread pattern alone offers great traction in the snow and if the rubber compound in them is anyting like it is in the mt's they would make an excellent winter tire imo.

[LongIslander26]

Originally Posted by 01silverado03z400

does anyone know how good the BFGoodrich All Terrain KO tires are in the winter?? i live in Edmonton Alberta so we get quite a bit of snow here and i like to go up north to Cold Lake sometimes so theres even more snow there. anyone hav any experience with these??

I've always had BFG A/T's on all my rigs, and they've handled just about everything pretty well. Having said that, I don't really have any other brands to reccomend, since I haven't owned them. My buddy says the Toyo Open Country A/T's are real good too.

[01silverado03z400]

thanks for the help guys! i think ill go with them in size 285 75 16 if theyll fit! anyone know if i can put on anything bigger without it rubbin?? i dont hav a lift or anything

[kenny-1907]

I personally did not go with the 285's because of the width of them. 285/75/16's are basically a 33x12.50 and that is an awfuly wide amount of tire (25" total) pushing against that snow. I had the splines blow out on the front driveshaft of my old 88 full size jimmy one time when i was on a trail with only 2" of softer snow and i had one hell of a time trying to make it back to pavement. That is the main reason why i went with 255/85/16's , they are the same height, just not as wide. They are narrower by approx 2" each per tire so 4" total width and sometimes that makes all the difference in the world imo. Some people say that wider is better in certain situations, but i say in those few situations ya just put your foot into it a bit more lol. Sometimes nothing makes up for wheel speed When i do get new tires if i do go oversized again , they will be the 255's.

[01silverado03z400]

can u explain to me how the tires are measured?? i thought the first number (ex: 285) was the hieght of them, second number (ex:75) was the profile and the last number was the rim size?? so wouldnt the 285/75/16 be taller and narrower than the 255/85/16

[kenny-1907]

285/75/16 is the same height as the 255/85/16 but the 285 is wider. The 285 is the width of the tire in millimeters. The next number (75) is the aspect ratio. This indicates the tires height with respect to the width. 285 mm wide , 75% of 285 is the sidewall height. Both the 285/75/16 and the 255/85/16 are the same height but the 285 is wider. Hope that clears it up a bit.

[LongIslander26]

Originally Posted by 01silverado03z400

thanks for the help guys! i think ill go with them in size 285 75 16 if theyll fit! anyone know if i can put on anything bigger without it rubbin?? i dont hav a lift or anything

I asked the same question about a week ago. Here's the thread, Hope it helps.


http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=473326

[01silverado03z400]

If I go up in tire size from 245/75/16 to 285/75/16 would I hav to get a different gear ratio or it doesnt matter??

[BlenderWizard]

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...Dimensions.jsp
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...e.jsp?techid=7

[kenny-1907]

That is another thing that is odd about these trucks. Some from factory came with the 245's and some came with 265's and i am not talking about the Z71's. I have the 4x4 modle and it came with 265's and even the sticker in the doorjamb states such so it is not like someone changed them before i purchased it. I would say going from a 245 to a 285 is a fair bit of difference. Check to see what gear ratio you have now, if you have the 3.73's it will still be a difference but not too bad.

[01silverado03z400]

Originally Posted by kenny-1907

That is another thing that is odd about these trucks. Some from factory came with the 245's and some came with 265's and i am not talking about the Z71's. I have the 4x4 modle and it came with 265's and even the sticker in the doorjamb states such so it is not like someone changed them before i purchased it. I would say going from a 245 to a 285 is a fair bit of difference. Check to see what gear ratio you have now, if you have the 3.73's it will still be a difference but not too bad.

How do i check my gear ratio??

[BlenderWizard]

Originally Posted by 01silverado03z400

How do i check my gear ratio??

Check the 3rd post in this thread. Go ahead and vote, if you like

[01silverado03z400]

Originally Posted by BlenderWizard

Check the 3rd post in this thread. Go ahead and vote, if you like

Wow now im really confused! How does that tell me my gear ratio?

[kenny-1907]

I borrowed this info from one of the other threads here and the owner gets credit for it at the bottom. Look at the sticker in your glovebox and find the code that corisponds with the ones below, and that will tell you your ratio.

Check out the build sheet in your glovebox.

GT4 3.73 (most likely)
GT5 4.10
GT7 3.33
GT8 4.10
GU2 2.73
GU4 3.08
GU5 3.23
GU6 3.42
GV2 5.83
HC4 4.56
HC7 5.13
HE3 3.07
HF7 4.56
HF8 4.88

GT4 is the most popular ratio by far, you won't find most of these ratios any where near a Silverado, but I just threw them in anyway.

-salcker