BFG All Terrain KO2's....noisy as heck!!

[Rich.M]

Originally Posted by 05CrewDually

Your next stop should be an alignment shop. You may have a loose tie-rod end or bad ball joint. Those tires are a mild tread and should wear even if the vehicle geometry is in spec.
I didn't notice the year or miles of your truck, but GM had issues for years with clunky tie rods and idler arms failing. Have it checked out.

X2 on the alignment. Those tires are fairly quiet on my wrangler and wearing evenly.

[si camper]

I run the BFG All-Terrain KO 325/65/18. 50,000 miles on the first set. Liked then well enough to buy another set.

[Gm Mike]

Had a set of BFG All Terrians on an older Sierra and absolutely loved them. Ran 50psi and they were awesome. Towed my 5ver in summer and ice fished in the winter sometimes plowing through some decent snow. Little louder than than factory ATs but really good.

[Super Thirty]

Originally Posted by willie1280

2015 Silverado with 45k miles.

Mine had 27k kilometres on it and a ball joint failed.

[jonshonda]

Thousands of positive reviews out there, not many negatives.

Who knows what the previous owner did or didn't do to these tires.

[old guys]

2011 dodge ram 1500. Came with Goodyear tires...not the best. Then got KO's and now KO2's. Love them and don't find them noisy at all. I do agree on the alignment though and it should be a four wheel alignment not just a front wheel. Cupping like that is usually a result of a problem with inflation or the truck itself. Old Guys (Brian and Joanne)

[ov845]

If there's no tire wear, I'd bet it's bearing noise. We bought our truck used and it had a noise that acted similar to yours, turned out there was water in rear differential. Since it had a trailer pkg and hitch had rust in it, I'm guessing they pulled a boat and water got in the differential. Replaced all the bearings and the noise was gone.

[madmaxmutt]

The only noise complaint I have heard of with KO2s turned out to be a rear bearing issue. Once fixed the tires were reported quiet again. From the cupping, you obviously have a truck problem, not a tire problem.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by willie1280

Well, im at Discount Tire and all 4 have bad cupping on the inner tread every other lug. They're going to balance and cross rotate them and see if it makes it any better. If not, I guess I'll be buying new rubbers.

We usually refer to that as "scalloping" in the tire biz. Many causes can lead to it or make it worse. Some tread patterns are more prone to it than others.

On trucks, it's usually more pronounced on the front tires, and regular rotation helps (7500 miles). Besides the tire patterns, and those with the more block patterns are easier to have this occur with the way the toe and heel of the block hit the pavement..... there are other causes.

Bad/weak shocks and balance are also culprits besides other suspension components that members have correctly pointed out. People who put big winch bumpers or other stuff on the front of their truck, without compensating for this with the appropriate shock also cause it, since the truck now bounces/skips more with the added weight on front and under rated shock absorbers not being able to stop the skipping fast enough.

Once they get TOO scalloped, then it gets past the point of no return, and rotating them will not make the road noise settle down. The tire will just continue to scallop more and make more road noise even if the initial cause (if there is one) is corrected. It'll eventually sound like the old gumbo mudders (for us old timers who know what that is )

[willie1280]

UPDATE:

So last week i finally had enough.
After going to Discount Tire and having them cross rotated with little to no change i bit the bullet and scheduled an appointment to get new rubber put on.
Never in my life did i think with my severe hearing loss (from birth) that i'd pay good money to NOT hear something, usually it's the opposite for me since my aids cost over $5k every couple years.

Anyways, i dropped the $1100 on some Michelin LTX M/S and they had them on in less than 30min. Anxiously jumped in the truck for the quiet ride home and no more do i start rolling forward and i already hear that familiar sound. Pulled out on the road to head home and there it was, the same loud noise i just paid to NOT hear. Turned around and went right back to Discount Tire. Walked in shaking my head and they already had guessed what i was going to say.

Shockingly he said if it didn't fix the problem, he couldn't take my money and offered to pull the tires and put my old ones back on. Now that's customer service i'll never forget!!

So i called the dealership up that i bought the truck from and told them that sound they said was the tires wasn't. They basically said tough crap but they'ed be happy to setup a service appointment for me as a paying customer. I said forget that and called up a dealer local to my work. Brought it in the next day and guess what, it WAS the wheel bearing/hub assembly on the drivers side. $800 for the repairs since it's not covered under the Chevy drivetrain warranty. But fortunately i bought the extended warranty which does cover that item, so it was $100 bucks.

So now i wonder if it's worth it to try and get the dealership i bought the truck from to cover that $100. It's not so much the money part, but rather that they insisted it was the tires and nothing else.

Thoughts?

[ov845]

Unfortunately Willie, not giving the original dealer a chance to check out the problem would be difficult to get your money back. It doesn't hurt to try, the worst case scenario is, they say no. Since you established a relationship with another dealership, I would stick with them. They fixed it right the first time, that's important. They may also provide a loaner vehicle while yours is being worked on next time you bring your truck in for repairs.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by M109Rrider

Hub bearings sometimes sound like a tire howling when they start to go. I had them once upon a time, they are louder than a H/T but I don't recall it being obnoxious.

Originally Posted by ov845

If there's no tire wear, I'd bet it's bearing noise. We bought our truck used and it had a noise that acted similar to yours, turned out there was water in rear differential. Since it had a trailer pkg and hitch had rust in it, I'm guessing they pulled a boat and water got in the differential. Replaced all the bearings and the noise was gone.

Originally Posted by madmaxmutt

The only noise complaint I have heard of with KO2s turned out to be a rear bearing issue. Once fixed the tires were reported quiet again. From the cupping, you obviously have a truck problem, not a tire problem.

Glad you got it fixed, and there were several members figuring as much.

[Dano1955]

Yep I figured suspension because I just put 285/70/R17 KO2's on my RAM this week and they are a dream, no more noise than any other set a All Terrains I've had the last 30+ years.

I run 65 front and 75 rear (with tools, hitch and equipment in the bed) and they are perfect. Haven't towed with them yet but will see how they do with 1450 lbs pin weight (loaded). May need to max the rears to 80 cold, but always ran my old ones at 75 with no problem.

Ordered the Bilstein shocks today to put on this weekend, just because current OEM are over 75K mileage. Also will stop to have the alignment checked since it's only $60 to have it aligned.

[madmaxmutt]

Wish we could change the title to "wheel bearing noisy as heck". Glad they got you fixed up and than up to DT for that offer!

[B and B]

A 2015 with bad bearings? That seems awfully early, chevy must be buying substandard bearings again! in 1974 the bearings where shot on the Suburban after the 1st year warranty expired.

[M109Rrider]

**** happens. Sometimes stuff just breaks.