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wessongroup
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 21152
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Location: Mission Viejo
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Mood: Suicide Hot line ... please hold
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Conquering Baja With BFGoodrich’s Unbelievable New KO2
Pretty good write up and information ... if you are into this
http://www.ford-trucks.com/articles/conquering-baja-bfgoodri...
Or thinking about a Subaru engine ... Its the FA
[Edited on 11-15-2014 by wessongroup]
[Edited on 11-15-2014 by wessongroup]
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David K
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Location: San Diego County
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Subaru horizontally opposed, water cooled engines are great. H-4 or H-6, the balance creates smooth running and long life conditions. Subaru's parent
company is Fuji Heavy Industries, and they used an airplane engine as the base for the Subaru powerplant. VW and Porsche did the same, except theirs
were air cooled motors and with pollution controls getting tougher, that couldn't remain.
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Ken Cooke
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I'd like to see what the tread looked like after the 300 miles driven.
After running the North Summit and 1 trip to Joshua Tree, my BFG AT/KO tires were losing whole chunks of tread.
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4x4abc
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Ken, losing chunks of tread of your tires says more about your driving style than the quality of the tire.
The BFG tire below after 10 years (50 days per year) on one of the most grueling off-road trails in the US - the Rubicon Trail
[Edited on 11-24-2014 by 4x4abc]
Harald Pietschmann
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Hook
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I guess I am still looking for the "unbelievable" things that the KO2 did in this story.
They made it to Mike's Sky Ranch? Wheww boy!!!!!!
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Sweetwater
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Mood: chilly today hot tomale
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Hook
I guess I am still looking for the "unbelievable" things that the KO2 did in this story.
They made it to Mike's Sky Ranch? Wheww boy!!!!!! |
the best part for me......
| Quote: |
[Full disclosure: the good folks at BFGoodrich footed the bill for this entire trip, and when I wasn't behind the wheel, I was being stuffed with
magnificent tacos and drinking the best margaritas I've ever had.]
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Everbody\'s preachin\' at me that we all wanna git to heaven, trouble is, nobody wants to die to git there.-BB King
Reality is what does not go away when you stop believing in it. -Philip K Dick
Nothing is worse than active ignorance. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe(1749-1832, German writer, artist and politician)
When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I\'ve never tried before. - Mae West
Experience is what keeps a man who makes the same mistake twice from admitting it the third time around.
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David K
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Seriously, you can about drive anything into Mike's from Hwy. 3. It's the south road that actually needs 4WD in a couple spots.
4x4abc Harold, Ken had All Terrain TAs and not the Mud Terrains... They (All Terrains) really are poor in mud as they load up and don't self clean...
or didn't, per Ken. Let's hope these new babies do a lot better. I hope the sidewall failure that I experienced and witnessed so often is one of the
main items of repair in the new design. It sure looks better!
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Hook
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That's the first set of 10 year old tires I have ever seen that didn't have sidewall cracking.
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4x4abc
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David,
didn't have any AT pictures handy. Have them on my G500. No chunks missing either. 3 years of Baja backroads - about 20,000 miles.
my tires have to work hard, but I treat them well
Harald Pietschmann
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BajaRat
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LOVE my KM2's,,,,,,,,,,, Lets hear how these new pups stand up to the Bad Boys 
4x4abc, What make of compressor is that, looks serious, 12 volt..... Thanks
[Edited on 11-25-2014 by BajaRat]
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4x4abc
Ultra Nomad
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Puma air compressor 12V
best air volume/price 12V compressor I have seen ever
mine has seen about 5 years of continuous use
light enough to move from car to car
absolutely love it
no hiccups
no failures
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PUMA-12-VOLT-1-5-GALLON-OIL-LESS-AIR...
exploring Baja without an air compressor is like a sailboat without life west
Harald Pietschmann
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Sunman
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Just pulled the trigger on a new set of KO2's as my old KO's with about 42K on em were done. Props to BFG for not marking them up just because they
are new. I actually paid over $200 less for these than I did on my last set over 2 years ago (with $70 rebate). Heading to Death Valley this weekend
to give em a work out.
[Edited on 11-25-2014 by Sunman]
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
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No Babying my BFGs
Quote: Originally posted by 4x4abc  | Ken, losing chunks of tread of your tires says more about your driving style than the quality of the tire.
The BFG tire below after 10 years (50 days per year) on one of the most grueling off-road trails in the US - the Rubicon Trail
[Edited on 11-24-2014 by 4x4abc] |
You are right - After tackling the upper Summit Road, I noticed lots of wear on my BFG AT/KO tires - particularly, the rear pair. These tires had
been aired down to 15#psi and had been heavily laiden for 4-5 days. Frequent use of rear locker on steep climbs, along rough bedrock caused the tires
to chip profoundly.
Palomar Canyon - Mexicali Desert
Safe and sound in Tijuana 
With the BFG KM2s, I have put about 10,000 miles on the set since May 2014, and they still appear new/recently installed. The tread compound and the
sidewalls are superior to that of the AT/KO.
Summer Roadtrip (on 35" BFGs) to Oklahoma 2014
Gold Mountain trail - Big Bear, CA
Near Rollover on Dead End 4x4 Trail - Big Bear, CA
[Edited on 11-28-2014 by Ken Cooke]
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
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Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
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Palomar Canyon 4WD Baja
I found this rogue video floating around on the Internet, so I thought I'd link the video to this thread. It shows the punishment I put my
All-Terrain tires through.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSqZv5kxfeQ
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4x4abc
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too much gas, way too much air - especially in the front. Plus you did not use the front locker. Could have walked right up
Harald Pietschmann
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motoged
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Don't believe everything you think....
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
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Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
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| Quote: Originally posted by 4x4abc |
too much gas, way too much air - especially in the front. Plus you did not use the front locker. Could have walked right up |
Throttle - I was high-centered, but could back up the crevice, just not go forward. The rear differential at the driveshaft was hung up on the ledge
that wasn't visible. That's why I took the winch line.
PSI - I was running between 12-15 psi. I bent the previous set of wheels, and that was expensive.
Front Locker - Front/Rear lockers were engaged, 4LO. It didn't look like I was in 4WD, but I was being cautious since Palomar Canyon is a 1 day drive
to Hwy 2.
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David K
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Posts: 64852
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Is it a "Jeep Thing" ?
Harald is right, and he takes that heavy Mercedes everywhere. I also have taken my heavy truck everywhere... and it doesn't have a front locker, but
the remarkable A-TRAC system that matched tire rotation across the axles.
Ken, we discussed this video before... it is obvious your front locker is not engaged because all four tires would turn (or spin) the same. The
transfer case locks the front and back shafts together and the lockers lock the left and right tires together by removing differential action. All 4
tires rotate together, no 'difference' as there is no 'differential' action.
Of course you are concerned not to break anything (I heard the other Jeep owners concern)... But, in low range, properly deflated tires, lockers
engaged all allow slow crawling and low stress four wheeling. Didn't matter if your rear diff was hung up, if just one front tire had good contact
with the ground, that should have pulled the Jeep up and out of that hole.
How did the other Rubicons get over that rut? Thank you for sharing the video again, none-the-less!
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8946
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
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Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
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| Quote: Originally posted by David K |
Harald is right, and he takes that heavy Mercedes everywhere. I also have taken my heavy truck everywhere... and it doesn't have a front locker, but
the remarkable A-TRAC system that matched tire rotation across the axles.
Ken, we discussed this video before... it is obvious your front locker is not engaged because all four tires would turn (or spin) the same. The
transfer case locks the front and back shafts together and the lockers lock the left and right tires together by removing differential action. All 4
tires rotate together, no 'difference' as there is no 'differential' action.
Of course you are concerned not to break anything (I heard the other Jeep owners concern)... But, in low range, properly deflated tires, lockers
engaged all allow slow crawling and low stress four wheeling. Didn't matter if your rear diff was hung up, if just one front tire had good contact
with the ground, that should have pulled the Jeep up and out of that hole.
How did the other Rubicons get over that rut? Thank you for sharing the video again, none-the-less! |
+
Harold and you need to follow me through ruts like those, and we'll see who makes it through. Short wheelbase vehicles have a better chance than
longer wheelbase pickup trucks and SUVs with moderate lifts. The other (longer wheelbase) Rubicon took the bypass - as did the similarly equipped TJ
Sport, and I drove directly through it. I selected my air locker just before hitting the rut, and could have backed out - but that doesn't make for
action-packed video.
When the air lockers are selected, the wheels need to make a couple of complete revolutions before they engage. My friend Victor thought I was in
2WD, and after backing up the first time, and driving back into the rut, he saw that the Jeep was in 4LO, but he still couldn't tell if the lockers
were engaged or not.
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wessongroup
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 21152
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Good stuff ... thanks for sharing ... tough sledding in a couple of those shots ...
Was just struck by this:
“In 2013, the BFGoodrich Performance Team took another Baja 1000 class victory, using not speciality racing rubber, but the same street-legal KO2
tires consumers will be able to buy for their daily drivers and weekend warriors.”
And on the Subaru's ... the 2.5 FB engine they started using .. was having more than its share of problems ... Subaru were just replacing the entire
engine ... when folks brought it in for repairs
And in some cases ... even the replaced engine would not hold up
Some have had good luck with the FB 2.5, but, given the horror stories ... I'd pass on that one engine ... just saying
They went with the 2.0 FA in 2014 over the 2.5 FB ... In Japan, only the 2.0 is offered ... not the 2.5 in either FB or FA
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