Ran the Rubicon last Thursday with a Rubicon experienced Jeep 392 on 40s leading me and an almost bone stock Bronco Raptor on base wheels. The video is long, but it covers the whole day with lots of Video from my dash showing the other Raptor and me negotiating our way through, quite a few...
www.broncoraptor.com
So, after the sidewall gash on the Rubicon, the options were to repair the tire with my
GlueTread kit or buy a new tire. Given the location of the gash and that it had 7/32" left on it after 48k miles, I started thinking new tires (for the winter) since the warranty is only for 50k miles. But which tires, which rating, which size?
BFG, Falken, Nitto, Mickey Thompson, etc.
After a little research, I decided against 38" or 39" tires and the suspension mods required. I found that the 37" Wildpeak tires are too heavy (for me), even if they have 19/32. Nitto is not good for winter (per spray), too heavy, and speed-limited. I really wanted the
KO3s because of the thicker sidewalls, better rubber compound, better siping, better mud clearing, blah, blah, blah, but I do not need an E- or F-rated tire. The C-rated KO3 is expected out in May 2026. What about a D-rated KO3?
[edit: This post by RennWagen was about 4 days too late; otherwise, I might have reconsidered the F-rated KO3s.]
This is going to be Fun watching what Kevin & Britney do with the Bronco Raptor, including all the mods. In this video Kevin already provides us some pointers on step and bumper ends removal. "We sold our Ford Bronco Badlands, equipped with the Sasquatch package, because we hated it. The...
www.broncoraptor.com
The BFG Labor Day sale at
Discount Tire and
1010 Tire was the deciding factor. Stick with the C-rated KO2s and keep the best, worn tire (10/32") for a spare, and do a 4-tire rotation. Restart the 5-tire rotation after all tires are 10/32". Then upgrade to the C- or
D-rated KO3 after I wear out the KO2s.
Stock Tire:
BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2;
37x12.5R17 /C 116S, 65 lbs, 3/6ply, 15/32, $375
on sale
Possible Upgrades:
BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2;
37x12.5R17 /D 116R, 70 lbs, 3/8ply, 15/32, $488
BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO3;
37x12.5R17 /C 116R, 66 lbs, 3/6ply, 16/32, $455
(n/a until 2026)
BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO3;
37x12.5R17 /F 128R, 75 lbs 3/12ply, 16/32, $482
Falken Wildpeak A/T3W;
37x12.5R17 /D 124R, 82 lbs, 3/10ply, 19/32, $458
Falken Wildpeak A/T4W;
37x12.5R17 /E 128R, 80 lbs, 3/10ply, 19/32, $390
on sale
Nitto Ridge Grappler;
37x12.5R17 /D 124Q, 82 lbs, 3/8ply, 18/32, $462
And now for the rest of the story . . .
So, I get the tires at my local Discount Tire store. I'm in and out in 90 minutes; mounted and balanced. They said they needed to take the beauty rings off due to interference with their mounting machine. OK, fine. The drive home was great; gotta love that new tire smell.
When I got home, a valve stem cap was missing on the driver's front. No problem, I've got more. But then, I noticed the beauty ring was mounted wrong; shifted by 10 holes.
Same problem on 2 other wheels. Then, I noticed the spare tire was pinching my camera wire because they didn't feed it through the center hub. So now I'm worried about all the bolts and nuts, are they torqued properly? Short answer: NO.
Several lug nuts were overtorqued by as much as 300 ft-lbs (air gun for sure); two were only on hand-tight. Similar issues with the beauty ring bolts: several overtorqued, several undertorqued. So, I spent the next 4 hours redoing EVERYTHING!
It is hard to get good help. To be fair, I have
Gorilla locking lug nuts, so that may have confused them.
Needless to say, I will NOT be taking advantage of Discount Tire's free rotation. While at the shop, I noticed that 80% of the customers were older than me; probably in their 70s or more. What do they do to verify the technician's workmanship? The one thing Discount Tire did right, they gave me a lifetime warranty on all 5 tires for the cost of only 3 tires. I may need that if I get another sidewall gash.
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The torque specification for the beauty ring bolts (wheel trim ring bolts) on a Ford Bronco, specifically for models like the Raptor and Sasquatch or beadlock-capable wheels, is
22 ft-lb (30 Nm).
These bolts should be tightened in a 4-star pattern to ensure even pressure (even though they are cosmetic).
It’s recommended to remove any factory thread locker (e.g., yellow residue) from the bolts and
apply anti-seize to prevent seizing and facilitate future removal. Be cautious not to overtighten, as these bolts are prone to stripping (in the aluminum wheels), and use a
T45 Torx bit for proper fit.
If
bead-lock rings are being installed, then the sequence is a 4-pass process using the same 4-star pattern with a
13mm socket and provided bolts:
1st Pass: 11 ft-lb (15 Nm)
2nd Pass: 26 ft-lb (35 Nm)
3rd Pass: 48 ft-lb (65 Nm)
4th Pass: recheck 48 ft-lb (65 Nm)
Verify zero gap between the ring and wheel using a feeler gauge.
Inflate the tire standing up so the rear bead will "pop" over the inboard bead hump.
Recheck bead-lock bolt torque after initial 500 miles.
How do you trust a tire tech will do the job properly?
[Edit: The Lab North America has an exchange program if you want colored wheel trim or bead-lock rings. I have a feeling that the trail rash on my rings would disqualify me. 
]
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