Short story – maybe consider R17s for ease of replacement over R18s.
Long story - I knew when choosing between the two stock sizes of tires when ordering the Grenny that the KO2 R17 and R18’s were the same height. I opted for the R18’s because bigger is better right? I’ve been very happy with the tire as quiet enough for city driving and aggressive enough off road. However just came back from a week-long trip through Colorado and Wyoming. Day 1 of 9 on the trail and I was driving on Engineer Pass outside of Silverton Colorado and made an uphill climb on a more than 90-degree switchback over some rocks. Greeny sild a bit on a rock and BOOM – punctured side wall and bent rim. Then it started to snow but that’s another story. Switched out to the full size spare. Yay. But now I’m in fairly remote county with just a series of small towns trying to find a replacement tire for a spare. Didn’t want to risk not having a spare for the next eight days and the Greeny lugs don’t match up with the Tacoma and Colorado trucks that I was with. Called and called every tire shop, 4x4 outfitter we could find along our route and they had the KO2 (or really the KO3’s since they are current I was told) but in R17, not R18s. Even called Ineos Roadside and the Ineos Dealer in Denver. If I wanted to back up a day the dealership had them in stock. We did NOT want to back up a day – Tetons or Bust! And this is Colorado and Wyoming where almost every vehicle you pass is a truck or jeep. Finally found a R18 (not a KO but a similar enough to make a useful full size spare) at a Big O Tire store in Frisco (the blue collar town that supports Breckinridge Colorado). Big O bent the rim back in shape (yay steelys!), new and mounted tire for $337 and I was back on the road and the Mrs was happy to hear I had a spare again on the trail. If I ever find myself need 4 new tires, I seriously might consider switching to the R17s for availability.
Oh – ABSOLUTELY take off your spare tire once before hitting the trail. The torx bolts from the factory holding the plastic spare box on are super tight. If a nice Jeeper with a cordless impact hadn’t stopped by I’d likely have had to mangle the plastic to get them off – In the SNOW!
Long story - I knew when choosing between the two stock sizes of tires when ordering the Grenny that the KO2 R17 and R18’s were the same height. I opted for the R18’s because bigger is better right? I’ve been very happy with the tire as quiet enough for city driving and aggressive enough off road. However just came back from a week-long trip through Colorado and Wyoming. Day 1 of 9 on the trail and I was driving on Engineer Pass outside of Silverton Colorado and made an uphill climb on a more than 90-degree switchback over some rocks. Greeny sild a bit on a rock and BOOM – punctured side wall and bent rim. Then it started to snow but that’s another story. Switched out to the full size spare. Yay. But now I’m in fairly remote county with just a series of small towns trying to find a replacement tire for a spare. Didn’t want to risk not having a spare for the next eight days and the Greeny lugs don’t match up with the Tacoma and Colorado trucks that I was with. Called and called every tire shop, 4x4 outfitter we could find along our route and they had the KO2 (or really the KO3’s since they are current I was told) but in R17, not R18s. Even called Ineos Roadside and the Ineos Dealer in Denver. If I wanted to back up a day the dealership had them in stock. We did NOT want to back up a day – Tetons or Bust! And this is Colorado and Wyoming where almost every vehicle you pass is a truck or jeep. Finally found a R18 (not a KO but a similar enough to make a useful full size spare) at a Big O Tire store in Frisco (the blue collar town that supports Breckinridge Colorado). Big O bent the rim back in shape (yay steelys!), new and mounted tire for $337 and I was back on the road and the Mrs was happy to hear I had a spare again on the trail. If I ever find myself need 4 new tires, I seriously might consider switching to the R17s for availability.
Oh – ABSOLUTELY take off your spare tire once before hitting the trail. The torx bolts from the factory holding the plastic spare box on are super tight. If a nice Jeeper with a cordless impact hadn’t stopped by I’d likely have had to mangle the plastic to get them off – In the SNOW!
