'97 4Runr 4x4, Manual. 99% on-road + travel highway (lots hwy!). Drive 30k+ miles/yr for job. Want to venture into some weekend off-road in the future. Couple months down the road will upgrade to OME suspension. Have AT's now (P265/75R16) and want a decent, economical tire for both. Low road-noise important; however, not at expense of buying HT tires (at least like the AT look if not using them for their intended purpose).

Have been considering BFG's, Toyo's, and these SAT's caught my eye with some of the high random reviews on whatever tire site I was on at the time (tirerack, discounttire, etc), plus somewhat cheaper than BFG's.

I have been pleased with Kumho on my BMW but, that's a whole different animal. Does anyone run Kumho Road Venture SAT KL61, or at least looked hard into buying them? How do you like them, Pros/Cons?

How about Kumho Road Venture KL78's vs. KL61's?

Thanks!
JamesDinan

 

I've owned a set of the KL78's on my nissan. They were great for what they were. They road excellent on the street, and didn't make a lot of noise. Some, but not overwhelming. They have a pretty aggressive tread pattern for an All Terrain tire. If you do take it out in the woods, it will dig when you need it to. But for someone doing primarily pavement driving, they're a much better option than a mud terrain tire. I had about 30-35k miles on them when I sold the truck, and they had about 8 to 9/32 tread depth remaining at that time. (just over 50%). But Also, I am a dealership tech and religiously rotate my tires every 2500 miles, crossing the front tires as i bring them back to the rear, and always stay on top of my air pressures. They never feathered, chopped, or had any kind of uneven wear.

Any time you get a more aggressive tread like that, you need to stay on top of them or they'll start chopping on you. Even my swamper TSL's never had any signs of uneven wear, except for one tire (front right) that started cupping a little bit due to my idler arm being wore the F out... But after I replaced that and tigntened up the steering, it evened itself out. IT's all about staying on top of the maintenance, and you can make pretty much any tire last quite a long time.

Best part about those kumho's is that they were only about a hundred bucks a piece.

 

Can't comment on the KL61's but like the above poster, I have a set of the KL78's in 31x10.5" size on my 1990 4Runner. I havn't put a lot of miles on them since it started snowing and I just had my winter tires put on, but on the few offroad outings I used them for they worked great, quite aggressive as mentioned with reasonable ride quality on road.

 

I'm about to pull the trigger on a set of these Kumho KL61's to replace my Revos, that are pretty much shot. They seem like a great lower-cost AT tire, based on the ratings on Tire Rack. They won't see much off road use, but I still want an AT tire for the snow and the occaisonal woods run. Any body else have an opinion on these?


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....num=67SR6KL61#

 

Anyone?

 

I'd still recommend the KL78's. They ride good, and on those occasional off road trips, you'll thank yourself for getting the more aggressive tire. Plus they're about 5 bucks less per tire

 

The KL61's got better reviews. They look like a better tire than the 78's also. I will more than likely be buying a set when I buy tires this summer/fall

 

I know this is an older thread, but I loved the KL61s on my 2005 Tacoma. They gripped well in the rain and performed better than my Terragrapplers in the snow. They ride quiet and tend to soak up the bumps well. Dry traction was on par with the Terragrapplers (I think they excel here) and they cleaned up in mud fairly well. I'd highly recommend these to anyone looking for a nice AT that will be used primarily on the street with the occasional off road venture.

 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I've had very bad luck with Kumho tires. In the 3 sets I've been familiar with, the last two both had one tire so bad out of round, it had to be replaced as soon as they were mounted. On the most recent set (KL78's), I now have two tires which refuse to balance, one of which has become out of round so bad, I can always tell where it is on the vehicle when they are rotated. Apparently Kumho was a decent low-cost brand when they were made in Korea. But now that they out-source to China, they aren't so great. I won't own another set. The little extra I pay up front next time will be worth not having to deal with the hassle of issues like I've been having.

Otherwise, they seem to have worn fairly well, are mostly quiet (though more now than when new), grip very well on wet and icy/snowy roads, do really well off-road and in sand and they are forgiving to changes in pressure (other than taking forever to "warm up and round out again when they've been sitting overnight and gotten cold).