BFG (BF Goodrich) KM3 Mud Terrain Tyres on Our 76 Series Land Cruiser
In this post we look at our BFG (BF Goodrich) KM3 mud terrain tyres that we had fitted to our 76 (70) Series Toyota Land Cruiser more than 40,000kms ago.
In our opinion tyres are one of the most important part of any 4WD build if you plan on doing any sort of remote and off-road travelling. We are of this opinion as tyres take an absolute hammering whenever you are adventuring off-road. If our tyres fail, then no matter how well we planned our trip we will have the hassle of dealing with the problem and then the stress praying that another tyre does not fail until we find civilisation as we currently only carry one spare. As we do many solo trips, we would love to carry another spare, but we just do not have the GVM to be able to currently do this. Stage two of our build will deal with this weight problem but until then we only carry the one and we therefore need to ensure that our tyres can handle whatever we throw at them.
We have had great experiences in the past with Good Year Wrangler all-terrains on our two previous 4WDs but with our 76 (70) Series Toyota Land Cruiser build we thought we would try something different.
Why We Chose BFG
With the abundance of choice in the Australian market for good quality 4WD off-road tyres it can be a bit of a mind field trying to determine which brand and tyre style to go with. It becomes even more difficult when speaking with other 4WD Adventurers as everyone has a different opinion on what tyre brand is the best and the type of tyre. Like anything in the 4WD industry, everyone has their brand preferences so it is great to get others feedback on what tyres they recommend but, there is such an array of quality options we would recommend going with what suits your needs best.
We mentioned above that we have had good experiences with Good Year Wrangler all-terrains on both our previous 4WDs, so why did we change to BFG? It is as simple as wanting to try something different as well as going with a mud terrain tyre over an all-terrain. We finally decided on BF Goodrich at the time mainly due to feedback from people we know well and trust running the same tyres on the same 4WD. There was no science behind it. Now after 40,000kms of testing out these KM3s in all sorts of adventures and conditions we thought we would share with you what we love and some of the issues we have had with these tyres on our 76 (70) Series Toyota Land Cruiser.
Tyre Size
The 76 (70) Series Toyota Land Cruiser comes out stock with 31-inch (265x70R16) all-terrain tyres. Legally in Queensland you can increase your tyre size by 2-inches unless you have engineering approval to go bigger. The stock Toyota Land Cruiser GXL alloy rims are 16-inch in diameter and 7-inches wide.
As clearance in any 4WD is vital, we wanted to take advantage of the maximum 2-inch increase in tyres to give us an additional 1-inch of underbody and diff clearance. We therefore chose to go with a 33-inch tyre to achieve this legally. The big decision was then deciding what size side wall and width we would go with to achieve a 33-inch tyre size. We prefer the look and off-road benefits of a wider tyre. We considered going with a 305mm wide tyre but at the time of changing we had not done a suspension lift, and this was going to be an issue with the tyres rubbing when turning due to insufficient clearance. The final decision was to go with the common 33-inch tyre size of a 285mm wide tyre with a 214mm side wall. Choosing a common size tyre like the 285x75R16 does make life easier if you ever do run into problems in more remote locations as you are more likely to be able to find the right tyre size if you need a replacement. This was one of the reasons why we stayed with a 16-inch rim verse a 17-inch rim however far more people are running 17-inch rims these days so getting tyres to fit 17-inch rims is not as difficult when travelling remote. We also chose to stay with a 16-inch rim as it allowed us to maintain a large sidewall which is beneficial when airing down off-road.
If you are wondering how to calculate the overall tyre size with the mix of millimetres and inches, then use the below formula.
Tyre Size Calculation Example
- 285/75R16
- 285 is the tyre width in millimetres (mm)
- 75 is the side wall height percentage of the tyre width (75% of 285)
- R16 is the rim size in inches
Tyre Size = ((Width x Side Wall Ratio) / 2540 x 2) + Rim Size
Our Tyre Size = ((285 x 75) / 2540 x 2) + 16 = 32.83-inches ~ 33-inches
Why We Chose Mud Tyres
So why did we choose to go with BFG KM3 mud terrain tyres over all-terrains when we had good experiences with all-terrains previously? There are number of disadvantages of mud tyres over all-terrain tyres. Mud terrains have worse traction on the bitumen in both the wet and dry, worse traction on the gravel when dry, they are far noisier, worse for fuel consumption, less comfortable with vibrations, are a nightmare to balance, and do not last as long. They do not sound like a great option based on all those issues. But where mud terrain tyres are best, are in the mud, rock climbing and most importantly far more puncture resistant than all-terrains.
The main reason we wanted to go with a mud-terrain tyre was predominantly for them being less likely to get a puncture. In our previous 4WDs we did not travel as remotely as we currently do so we felt comfortable with all-terrains. We highlighted earlier in this post that we only carry the one spare, and we cannot have our tyres fail. Punctures in the middle of nowhere are a trip killer if you are unable to repair the issue yourself and you only have the one spare. With our all-terrains we did have a few punctures over the 5 years that we used them. With the BFG KM3s we have only had one puncture and that was picking up a massive screw while driving through an industrial area not far from home on the Sunshine Coast. In all the off-road driving that we have done, we have not had one issue with punctures, and we have driven some rough and rocky roads. We will take the worse fuel consumption, less comfortable ride, noise, and slightly worse traction for the less likelihood of having a blowout. This choice will really depend on the individual so make the decision that best suits the type of travelling you plan to do as well as your 4WD setup. If you are only driving off-road every now and again an all-terrain tyre will be a far better option for your 4WD.
How the BFG KM3s Have Performed
After 40,000kms and 18 months of on-road and off-road travelling how have the BFG KM3 mud terrain tyres performed on our 76 (70) Series Toyota Land Cruiser. Overall, we have got what we really wanted in that they have not failed without a puncture or blowout in all sorts of driving conditions. So far that is the big tick we can give the KM3s. Road noise to us has not been that noticeable remembering though we are driving a 76 Series Land Cruiser. The 70 Series Cruisers are not the quietest of vehicles to drive, although we have had sound deadening fitted throughout the wagon, any noticeable noise from the tyres is probably muffled by the others. From what we have heard from others driving different 4WDs is that the BFG KM3 mud terrain tyres are pretty good with noise for an aggressive mud tyre but louder than all-terrain tyres. For us in the 76 Series Land Cruiser noise is not an issue with the BFG KM3s. Tyre wear has been pretty good after 40,000kms, we recon we have at least another 20,000 to 30,000kms that we will get out of them, but time will tell, and we will update this post once we find out.
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- And 15PSI
The BFG KM3 mud terrain tyres have performed extremely well for us off-road. We have not experienced any real traction issues off-road, but we do like to run low tyre pressures off-road which would assist with this. In the mud they have performed exceptionally well but they should. Driving sharp rocky terrain like you do in Sundown National Park they have handled those conditions extremely well. We were a bit apprehensive of how well they would go in the sand, but we have not had any issues. On the bitumen they have performed fine without being too noisy, but we do drive much slower in the rain as we have found the traction to be far worse in the wet which is noticeable when driving around roundabouts. But overall off-road we have found the BFG KM3 mud terrain tyres have performed above our expectations for a mud tyre although we do not have any experience with another mud tyre to compare this to.
BFG KM3 Issues
Although we have been extremely happy with how the BFG KM3 mud terrain tyres have performed for us off-road we have had a few issues that we need to highlight below.
The BFG KM3 mud terrain tyres are an absolute nightmare to try and get balanced correctly. We religiously take our 76 (70) Series Toyota Land Cruiser to our local tyre shop who we have found do the best job, Tyre Busters in Kunda Park, every 10,000kms to do a full tyre rotation and balance. Even though we are balancing the BFG KM3s every 10,000kms we have found that we cannot eliminate the vibrations we experience between 80km/h and 90km/h. When our speeds are below or above these speed ranges, we have no issues with vibrations. Toyota once rotated and balanced our tyres at a service and the vibrations we received after they did it were even worse. From the feedback we have received from others running different mud tyres, this vibration issue at similar speeds appears to be a common problem because of the chunkier tyre profile. It is an annoying issue, but it is something we can live with if our tyres are balanced as well as they can be. If they are not balanced well, like we have had once before, the vibrations can be so bad you would not be surprised if your doors fell off. Here we would recommend trying to find a good tyre business that does a great job when it comes to balancing, you will notice the difference.
For the first 20,000kms we did not have any issues with the BFG KM3 mud terrain tyres chipping. Since then, we have unfortunately found two or three large chips in the tyre tread on a couple of our tyres. As the tread is super chunky the chips are not deep enough to expose any steel so they are ok to keep driving on, but it is something we thought we would share. We know chipping is common especially when driving on rough and rocky roads, so it is to be expected. Although we do run low tyre pressures off-road, we would have thought our chances of getting chips in the tread would be less.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the main issue we have experienced with the BFG KM3 mud terrain tyres is vibrations at the speeds we highlighted above. Other than that, we have been happy with how they have performed both on-road and off-road. If we had the GVM to carry a second spare tyre we might consider going with an all-terrain tyre but let us see what happens in stage two of our build in the next 12 months or so. If you do not plan on travelling off-road or remotely frequently, then you will probably find that an all-terrain tyre is a more suitable option for you. When it comes to brand again this is going to come down to personal choice. There are plenty of great options out there so do your research and go with the brand and tyre type that best suits your requirements. The BFG KM3 mud terrain tyres will cost you somewhere between $350 to $400 a tyre when going with a 33-inch tyre.
One final comment about our BFG KM3 mud terrain tyres is their weight. The 285x75R16 is a heavy tyre coming in at 29.24kgs. They are approximately 3kgs more than the BFG KO2 all-terrain tyres of the same size. If you are interested to read more about tyre and rim weights and the effects on GVM then check out our blog post here we discuss this in far more detail.
If you have any questions or comments about this post on our BFG KM3 mud terrain tyres on our 76 (70) Series Toyota Land Cruiser, then please post them below. For more posts on our 76 Series Toyota Land Cruiser, you can read them here. To keep up to date on future posts then join the 4WD Adventurer community here. For more regular updates please follow us on Instagram.
Thanks for reading legends.
The thoughts of Peter.
05/10/2023 @ 2:47 PM
Howdy, I also run 285 KM3s on my 2015 76 series gxl. I have a Tough Dog 2 inch lift.
Done approx 45000 ks with no punctures /issues. No noisier than previous KM2s. Expect another 30000 easy.
No balance issues ever. Swapped tires rear to front at 35000k with a balance.
Have a neg 25mm offset rear only. Tows my 2 tonne van perfect with no sway. Done Kgara (Fraser)with the van – no issues (was in 2 wd half the time. Most overrated site in Oz as far as difficulty goes, could have done it with a tercel – great spot though highly recommended).
Other good thing about the 33’s is that you get lower revs which is a bonus at highway speeds for the pre 2016 models due to their high gearing. I’m still doing 2500 rpm at a true 110km/h.
Anyway cant say enough good things about the KM3’s.
Cheers
Andy
16/10/2023 @ 9:21 AM
G’day Andy
Great feedback mate and thanks for reading. Good for others to see your thoughts on the KM3s.
Safe travels.
Cheers
Peter
11/09/2022 @ 11:57 PM
Hey there,
I wanted to know whether fitting 285/75r16 tyres resulted in any rub on stock suspension. I want to change my stock 225/95r16 to a more wider tyre.
What is your recommendation?
Cheers!
12/09/2022 @ 4:18 PM
G’day Mate,
Yes it did. If you look at the third row of photos (where there are two) you will see the small amount of rub we got when we were on stock suspension with this tyre size. This only occured on full steering lock. Otherwise it was ok. Remembering we run negative 25 offset rims all around (front and back).
When it comes to tyre size, this is all going to depend on the individual and your setup mate. Everyone has different preferences and what might be good for one person might not be good for another. We run negative 25 offset rims on the front as well, so our tyres were sitting futher out. With 0 offset wheels there will probably be far more rubbing than we experienced.
Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Peter
29/06/2022 @ 11:19 PM
To fit 33 did you have to change rims or can I still run gxl rims
04/07/2022 @ 9:06 AM
G’day Matt,
It will depend on what width tyres you go with mate. With the 285’s we went with they recommend a minimum 8 inch wide rim. The stock GXL rims are only 7 inches wide. I do know people that have run 285s with the stock rims and have been ok. The only issue is going to be when you air down to a really low PSI you will run the risk of popping a bead. You can go to 33’s with narrower tyres like the 255 x 85 R16 which might be fine on a 7 inch rim. But it will depend on what tyre you want to run. We wanted a wider profile tyre so with the 285’s decided to change to 8 inch wide steel rims. The stock GXL rims are a nice looking rim, just wished they made them slightly wider. Have a chat with you local tyre company and they should be able to give you an idea of what you might be able to get away with on the stock GXL rims.
Hope that helps mate.
Cheers,
Peter
25/06/2022 @ 3:06 PM
So you are happy with the performance despite the fact that they are noisy, vibrate above 80km/h, are impossible to balance, and are chipping badly after 30,000km?
25/06/2022 @ 5:55 PM
G’day Nick,
I’m happy that I have not had a failure in the middle of nowhere. That’s the main thing for me. In regards to noise, I haven’t had issues with noise. Only issues have been vibrations at around 80km/h. Other speeds are fine. Balancing has been a problem and a few chips. I can live with those few issues for reliability.
Cheers
Peter
22/07/2021 @ 9:37 PM
“285/75R16
285 is the tyre width in millimetres (mm)
75 is the side wall height in millimetres (mm)
R16 is the rim size in inches”
the 75 is ratio not millimeters, 75% of 285 or the width of the tyre
23/07/2021 @ 8:06 AM
Hi Peter
Thanks for pointing out that mistake. Not sure how I missed that error. They would be pretty useless tyres with a 75mm sidewall.
Thanks mate.
Cheers
Peter