Sport mode.... Holy Cow, where is the traction?

[Aonarch]

39 PSI cold is too damn high for the tires and will effect traction.

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[jordantii]

39 PSI cold is too damn high for the tires and will effect traction.

Agree 100%. I think it's for MPG.

 

[Shadow Black Ranger Rapto]

What tire pressure are you running? I hope not 39 psi front and rear.....

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

John-

What have you found to be the optimal tire pressure for your Raptor when it’s not loaded down?

I suspect you have experimented a bit and have more miles u dear your belt than me.

Thanks!

 

[Aonarch]

John-

What have you found to be the optimal tire pressure for your Raptor when it’s not loaded down?

I suspect you have experimented a bit and have more miles u dear your belt than me.

Thanks!

I'm not who you were quoting, but the best way to check is with a chalk test. I run 34 cold.

 

[jordantii]

John-

What have you found to be the optimal tire pressure for your Raptor when it’s not loaded down?

I suspect you have experimented a bit and have more miles u dear your belt than me.

Thanks!

I am in the 35 cold club. MPG suffers a tiny bit.

 

[Caneman88]

I'm running 34 cold

 

[Lion77]

It's been my experience that pickups in general, with even a hint of power, will have traction issues, especially if it's been raining all week. I am in the minority on this forum though, feeling that the Raptor has plenty of traction, if you drive it like, and expect it to act like, a truck. Lots of other members that feel the KO3 just doesn't have the traction they want. Again, just my opinion, but I think they're perfect for the RR. Haven't let me down yet in snow, wet pavement, dry pavement, little bit of crawling, lots of dirt and gravel trail riding. Looking at your vehicles and I can add that it certainly is a different animal than the GT350s I've had. Wait until you get the Ford tune and add a nice little wallop of midrange punch!!

You and me both. Your opinions echoe mine on the KO3's. The only two actual gripes about the KO3's are the following:

1. When they do slide, they don't recover well, meaning once the traction breaks, you can't go off-throttle and steer back into traction like you can with a lot of tires, you just gotta wait for momentum to bleed, meaning you have little control. And the breakaway characteristics are not even remotely predictable (nothing like the Pilot Sport 4S on pavement, very linear and you can ride the edge or even into slight breakawy).

2. Steering precision is vague at best, I'm not talking feedback either, there's almost a delay to steering input response and it's not the most predictable or easy to precisely steer it.

The Pirelli XTM AT's look to be a possible better option that fixes the above issues while maintaining the excellent off-road characteristics of the KO3 in terms of grip. AT4W's also have better on road manners but are stupid heavy for what they are. I think the new Pirelli XTM AT's are the better blend between traction, weight and off-road of all three tires based on the testing I've seen, once my KO3's are worn out I'm going to give the XTM's a try.

Plus they will give that "bigger tire look' having nearly 1" more tread width than Ford OE spec KO3's, which are only 8.8" tread width compared to 9.7" on the Pirelli's. But yah, the KO3's are not a bad tire and they excel in their intended role and are pretty decent on road. I generally have no issues with dry traction at all and I have a Pro Cal tuned RR, forward grip and bite are reasonable in the rain, lateral is decent aside from unpredictability of breakaway.

At the end of the day, the RR is a hot rod rally truck with an open rear diff and lots of power and torque with low gearing....not exactly the bastion of rear traction with any tire but a sticky summer street tire, so drive accordingly and all the RR's have 4A which fixes any rear traction issues in inclement weather. If it rains or snows, I usually just turn with 4A on and have no traction issues at all.

Would you go off-roading if you didn't use 4H? Sure, you can run in 2H on flat ground and do rooster trails, for any serious off-roading, you NEED 4H. Well, for any seriously weather on-road, you NEED 4A and the Raptors have it!

 

[Chuck2001]

True!

And I'm really interested to get reports on XTMs as well. Quite new and not a lot of factual reviews

 

[jordantii]

You and me both. Your opinions echoe mine on the KO3's. The only two actual gripes about the KO3's are the following:

1. When they do slide, they don't recover well, meaning once the traction breaks, you can't go off-throttle and steer back into traction like you can with a lot of tires, you just gotta wait for momentum to bleed, meaning you have little control. And the breakaway characteristics are not even remotely predictable (nothing like the Pilot Sport 4S on pavement, very linear and you can ride the edge or even into slight breakawy).

2. Steering precision is vague at best, I'm not talking feedback either, there's almost a delay to steering input response and it's not the most predictable or easy to precisely steer it.

The Pirelli XTM AT's look to be a possible better option that fixes the above issues while maintaining the excellent off-road characteristics of the KO3 in terms of grip. AT4W's also have better on road manners but are stupid heavy for what they are. I think the new Pirelli XTM AT's are the better blend between traction, weight and off-road of all three tires based on the testing I've seen, once my KO3's are worn out I'm going to give the XTM's a try.

Plus they will give that "bigger tire look' having nearly 1" more tread width than Ford OE spec KO3's, which are only 8.8" tread width compared to 9.7" on the Pirelli's. But yah, the KO3's are not a bad tire and they excel in their intended role and are pretty decent on road. I generally have no issues with dry traction at all and I have a Pro Cal tuned RR, forward grip and bite are reasonable in the rain, lateral is decent aside from unpredictability of breakaway.

At the end of the day, the RR is a hot rod rally truck with an open rear diff and lots of power and torque with low gearing....not exactly the bastion of rear traction with any tire but a sticky summer street tire, so drive accordingly and all the RR's have 4A which fixes any rear traction issues in inclement weather. If it rains or snows, I usually just turn with 4A on and have no traction issues at all.

Would you go off-roading if you didn't use 4H? Sure, you can run in 2H on flat ground and do rooster trails, for any serious off-roading, you NEED 4H. Well, for any seriously weather on-road, you NEED 4A and the Raptors have it!

Although I do not echo your sentiments on the K03 break away characteristics or maybe I don't lift when they break. I find them very controlable when they do break. What I do not like is the occasional push in the front end. That could be due to me not adapting to the truck just yet.

I do agree about the Pirelli's though. I'm waiting for the full test and if it checks out they will be my next tire.

 

[dpAtlanta]

Wow... did this thread ever take off...!!!

Lots of good input here folks.

 

[jordantii]

Wow... did this thread ever take off...!!!

Lots of good input here folks.

Tires and the RR are a "thing" here. Lol

 

[Pic-N-Stick]

AT4W's also have better on road manners but are stupid heavy for what they are. I think the new Pirelli XTM AT's are the better blend between traction, weight and off-road of all three tires based on the testing I've seen, once my KO3's are worn out I'm going to give the XTM's a try.

What about the SL Falcon A/T4W's? Looks like they are 53lbs. Am I missing something?

Falken WildPeak A/T4W 285/70R17

 

[dpAtlanta]

Tires and the RR are a "thing" here. Lol

I guess it's kinda like the 2-door vs. 4-door threads on Bronco6G.

I'm new here obviously.

 

[Chuck2001]

Tires and oil

 

[jordantii]

I guess it's kinda like the 2-door vs. 4-door threads on Bronco6G.

I'm new here obviously.

Oh is that the "thing" over there...?

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