Kenda Klever RT tire review- short term results

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Ok- so I’ve had the Kenda RT tires on Blue for a few months now- so far, very impressed. To this point, almost 100% off-road use, so I can comment on some things now, but will have to follow up at a later date with more info related to highway performance.

35x12.50R15
Kenda Klever R/T load range C with their “triple threat sidewall”
7 plies tread (3 polyester,2 steel, and 2 nylon)
3 ply sidewall (polyester)

This will take a couple posts to go through everything I’ve got, so hang on a sec while everything uploads

 

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Back story as short as I can:
First tires I ran on big blue were 33” Bridgestone duelers- loved them! (Discontinued in my size)
Then I ran BFG all terrain TA… mixed feeling. Great on the road, and great in snow/ice. Otherwise not aggressive enough to stand out much in sand/rocks. They had the “bead saver” wires molded into the sidewalls… got a fairly high number of miles out of most of them, and reasonably quiet on highway.

-Most recently, I had big O “extreme all terrains” on the blazer (for the last 7-8 years). They were loud on highway, got flat spots after sitting parked (after 20 min on highway they warmed up and smoothed out though) -had good traction off-road, but they got too old and I started having sidewalls split and blow out… always whilst sitting, and AFTER having been aired down and beat on for a while. Material fatigue/failure.

found out Big-O discontinued that tire, so it was time to go shopping.

Couple photos of the BIG O extreme turds in Death Valley

 

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2 of the various sidewall blowouts on the big turd extremes…

Funny they never popped while in use- went wheeling, stopped or parked- 10 min later, sidewall splits and tire shittts

 

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So, I ended up running around on my oldest spare- a 10 year old BFG
All terrain TA… one trip on that thing and I was shaving lugs off and exposing belts… it was too dry and too old to use…

So I’ll just buy a new set of BFG all terrains, right?! Well… noooooo… I found a couple at a tire store nearby. They were almost 2wice the price that they used to be, and the tires have gotten worse, AND more cheaply made!

I also found out that they got rid of the “bead saver” and have moved to a sidewall design that must cost a lot less to produce? Let me see if I can get a few photos to upload:

 

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Here’s the old BFG all terrain with the bead saver on the sidewall- notice how the wire bead protrudes out farther than the rim? If a rock or a log slides against the sidewall, it’s likely to swipe right past the edge of the rim and you’ll never know…

 

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Now here is the SAME rim, with a brand new 300 dollar piece of BFG all terrain tire mounted on it- see how far out the steel wheel lip sticks out? (This should be the KO2 all terrain… the KO3 is already on the market, but not in 35x12.50r15… and the sidewall on the KO3 is this same sidewall)

Well sure enough-I was in hurry to make a 2 day offroad trip, and I put 2 of these tires on the blazer to get “get me through the weekend”

Day one? On a gravel road doing about 40mph with 20psi in the tire- I caught a rock jussst big enough- it slipped/scratched along the sidewall and BOOM!!!! -caught the lip of the wheel and FOLDED it inward. Immediate flat. The dent was large enough that I could put my hand INTO the tire. Considering the cost of the tires now, I am 100 percent angry and dissatisfied.

We were able to beat the rim back into shape with a sledge hammer and continue on with the trip.

 

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So there’s NO WAY I’m paying BFG close to 300 bucks per tire and then committing to destroying tires and wheels on a regular basis. F that.

I looked around at options, but I’m still running 15 steel rims, and 35x12.50r15 is a dying breed of tire. Everyone is moving on to 17,18,19 inch wheels…

A lot of the tires from general, or TOYO probably would have been worth the $$, but aren’t avail in that size. Also, only a handful of tires on the market have the bead savers on the sidewall.

I shopped around and pretty much thought I was going to order Patagonias, but I’m not sold on that tread design with the solid center stripe…

When I started looking into the Korean Kendas, I got really intersted in the “Klever MT/2”

They are supposed to be TOUGH tires with good traction. I like the tread design… some guys are racing on them out at The Hammers… and the MT2 is supposed to be loud on the highway and isn’t a lot of info that I could find about highway miles and general use…

 

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Local Tire place near my Cabin (where the blazer was at the time) made a pretty good pitch for the “RT” version of the Kenda klever. Same carcass and sidewalls as the MT/2… but with a more “all terrain” tread pattern.

I bought a set of 5 of them, and paid less than FOUR of the BFG all terrains were going to cost.

 

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Now while they don’t advertise the sidewalls as having bead savers… take a look at how deep the rim is seated in this Kenda! (Same steel wheels as photos above!) As far as I’m concerned, It’s got every bit as much protection as that OLD style BFG did.

 

[Barrman]

Nice review. Very informative about the bead saver thing.

 

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I was always told BFG ran “a little Small” compared to their advertised sizes… which I’m fine with. I built this blazer around 35inch BFG all terrains. When I switched to the BIG O tires they were a bit taller and wider- I had a hint of fender and spring rubbing

These Kendas are closer to the BFG in overall height and width. I’ve had ZERO rubbing issues with the Kendas.

Here’s a side by side comparison with a BRAND NEW bfg all terrain in the same size- same wheels

 

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First day mounted.

Reasonably good lookin tire too??

 

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To date I’ve only put about 500miles on these…
80-100 were highway. I can BARELY hear these hum on the highway, but they are still new. I remember the BFG all terrains as being damn near silent on the road… no doubt in my mind these Kendas will be louder than the BFG all terrain.

I will HOPE these be quieter and less annoying than those Big O extreme TURDs were -those were basically mud terrain tires. They were a bit noisy new, and -well, I just wore ear plugs everywhere after they were no longer new.
Time will tell on that. I’ll do my best to report back later in the life of these Kendas.

At 30psi- feel stable on the road. No complaints about ride quality or “handling” (that’s not really a word that applies to my blazer -even BEFORE I removed the sway bar)

 

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Off road?
I’ve got 5 or 6 day trips from my cabin on these now. Joshua tree CA:

-dirt roads
-rocky roads
-donuts on the dry lake bed
-chasing tornaders across said dry lake
-glamis type San dunes
-loose rock trails
-nastier rock trails around the old mines

 

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I’m running at 18psi for the last few trips. Traction is fantastic so far -probably better than the big turd extremes… definitely better than the BFG all terrains

 

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Some of these trails are HARD on tires… the road in the first photo destroyed the red truck’s 700r4 last week…and We have slashed tires going up AND down that trail in the past

 

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Anyway - to sum this up so far, I’m impressed that there aren’t any cuts/slashes and chunks missing from ANY of the Kendas in the last couple hundred miles of trail use! Maybe just because they are new rubber?

With the old tires I was seeing worse and worse damage and wear after every trip.

That’s all I got so far… for 80 bucks le$$ per tire than I was going to spend on the BFG all terrains? I’m hopefully optimistic that I’ll be updating this thread with more good things in the future!