off road capable tire options
 

Has anyone out there used BF Goodrich All Terrain T/A KO tires (size 265/65R18)? They are a bit bigger tire for better off road ability. I'm debating these slightly larger diameter tires against some General Grabbers in the stock (255/60R18) size, but am concerned the BF Goodrich may be slightly too large for the wheel wells without a suspension modification.

The 265 will fit well, do your self a favor and buy something other then the BFG AT's, they don't do well in mud, snow or rain and are terrible on ice.
Go see if Good year makes our size in a Dura Trac or also check out the Nitto Grappler.

ther are a few choices out now. if you keep height stock you can go with a 285-60-18 alot of guys are running the cooper zeon ltz. anothe good one is the hankook at10, you can also go with a 275-65 in the mtr or dura trac but you will want to run the rod mod. which is no big deal. you can put the rods on your self in 15 mins. with realy no tools wilth the exception of a screwdriver. If you are intersted in that let me know I have been dooing them for years now. I personally run the cooper and am happy with them. I may moove into the duratrac when these wear out. you can get 40k on them and are good in just about every situation except sicky mud the lugs are not quite wide enuf.
I would have to say for stock height suspension the cooper is the best choice you usually have to order them discount tire has them and can orderthem even though is is not an option on their site.

Thanks for the tips! I'll check into your suggestions.

this is a good place to start as well
http://blog.nextstepdesigns.com/?p=46

Several of us in out LR club use the BFG T/A KO in that size on our LR3's and they do work great. I disagree that they do poorly in mud and snow.

When out on the trail with the club they did better then the other all terrain tires in the mud, including the Cooper and Nitto brands that tended to pack up with mud. The only ones that had better traction were those that had mud terrain tires. Worked great in snow also, never had any ice yet.

For what it's worth, I've had 3 sets of BFG A/Ts over the years for a combined total of 110K miles on 2 different vehicles, the latest being a 2004 Discovery II. I came to really dislike them for a few reasons:

1.) Rock hard on the road compared to the Michelins that came on the Discovery. Especially noticeable on the Rodeo where it made the ride uncomfortable. I'd gotten used to it but when I took them off the Rodeo and put on a set of Uniroyals, it felt like a quiet luxury sedan by comparison. I attributed it to the stiff 6 ply sidewalls. I also got 2-3 MPG back.
2.) Not good for Colorado bentonite mud. Would really cake up and get slippery compared to the guys running the mud terrains. Didn't see much difference between the BFGs and the Dunlop & General A/T tires.
3.) Snow braking and acceleration were ok, but turning and fishtailing were really problematic. Terrible lateral traction on snow.

Dave

Testinig comparison on bfg, toyo, and hankook at10 the toyo is similar to the nitto and the general is similar to the bfg
http://www.4x4tirereview.com/ATcomparotest.html
most at tires will clog up in mud. that is why they make a mud tire.

I beg to differ with those trashing the BFG's. I have run them on several vehicles, including my LR3 and I think they are a solid AT tire for wheeling and for snow. They wear well and have great sidewall protection--one of a few tires with an extra cord layer of sidewall protection. That probably does make them stiff on the road, but what are you buying them for? They are a good all around choice, far quieter than mudders (which get progressively noiser with wear) and the ATs wear better than mudders. Of course, if you are going to be in mud all of the time, go with mudders. Mudders are also horrible on ice. For ice, get studs. For an all around off-road tire, the BFG ATs are tops.

DuraTrac and BFG T/A KO
 

Got them both. Just got Duratrac 275/65R18 few weeks ago for my disco before the big snow storm here in the east coast. Like them very much. Stopping power on snow is excellent. Also my traction control hardly or almost to not lighting up upon driving on thick snow and ice.
I'm on my 3rd set of BFG, got them 4 months ago, great tires love them too but its on my Jeep with 180k miles. Hard to compare since the jeep xj is much lighter than the disco, you can really feel its digging in the snow. Stopping power is above average. But if my jeep will survive another set of tires, I'll get the DuraTrac also because of the look. Cheers -Gerry

See Pictures