All-terrain, winter rated

BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO3 Tires in Ottawa

The KO3 is the third generation of the all-terrain tire that more or less defined the category. It is a work tire that happens to carry a severe-snow rating — which in this part of Ontario is the combination that matters.

(613) 789-2128

BFGoodrichAll-terrain, winter rated

Is there a rebate on this tire right now?

We run the manufacturer programs on these tires as they open, and they change through the season. Current amounts and dates are always on our specials page.

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At a glance

Category	All-terrain (light truck, SUV, 4x4)
Severe snow rated	Yes — three-peak mountain snowflake
Generation	Third — replaces the KO2
Tread compound	Reformulated cut, chip and tear resistant
Sipe design	Full-depth locking 3D sipes
Sidewall	Reinforced against cuts, impacts and abrasion
Treadwear warranty	About 80,000 km (50,000 miles)
Fits	Pickups, Jeeps, 4x4 SUVs

What the KO3 is

The All-Terrain T/A is the tire most people picture when they hear the words "all-terrain". The KO3 is its third generation, following the KO2, and BFGoodrich’s changes are almost entirely about durability rather than about looking more aggressive — a reformulated compound built to resist cutting, chipping and tearing, plus sidewall reinforcement.

The part that matters for Ontario is the three-peak mountain snowflake symbol. All-terrain tires historically carried an M+S marking, which describes a tread pattern and involves no test. A severe-snow rating means the tire actually passed a standardised snow-traction test. That is what lets a truck owner here run one set of tires through the year without pretending an aggressive tread block is the same thing as winter traction.

The technology, in plain terms

BFGoodrich’s published features for the KO3, and what each of them is actually protecting you from on an Ottawa-area job site.

Reinforced sidewalls

The sidewall is the part of a tire with no steel belt behind it, which is why a curb or a sharp rock takes out sidewalls and almost never takes out tread. Reinforcement here is aimed at cuts, impacts and abrasion — the failure mode that strands you on a gravel concession rather than the one that wears out slowly.

Cut, chip and tear resistant compound

Loose stone does not wear a tire down evenly; it plucks small pieces out of the tread blocks. A compound formulated against chipping keeps the block edges intact, and intact block edges are what give you braking grip. This is the difference between a tire that ages and one that gets ragged.

Full-depth locking 3D sipes

The sipes interlock under load. That sounds like a detail, but a heavily siped tread block is a floppy tread block, and floppy blocks squirm under braking and wear unevenly. Interlocking sipes let the block stay stiff when you are hard on the brakes while still opening up as biting edges on snow. Full-depth means they are still there at half tread.

Self-cleaning tread

The tread voids are shaped to eject mud and packed snow as the tire rotates. A tread packed solid with snow is, functionally, a slick — this is why the first thing that happens to an underspecified tire in deep snow is that it stops working entirely rather than gradually.

Cut-away comparison of a standard passenger tire sidewall and a reinforced light-truck sidewall, showing the additional ply layers, the unbelted flex zone, and the typical impact points where curbs and rocks cause sidewall damage. — The sidewall has no steel belt behind it. That is why sidewall reinforcement, not tread depth, is what separates a work tire from a road tire.

Is this the right tire for you?

The KO3 suits you if

You drive a pickup, Jeep or 4x4 SUV and you leave pavement regularly — job sites, gravel concessions, a cottage road.
You want one set of tires that stays on all year and still carries a severe-snow rating.
You have had a sidewall taken out by a curb, a rock or site debris before.
You tow, or you load the truck heavily, and you want the sidewall stiffness that comes with it.

Look at something else if

Your truck never leaves pavement — you are paying in road noise and fuel economy for capability you are not using.
You want the quietest possible highway ride; an aggressive all-terrain tread will always be louder than a highway tire.
You want the best possible ice performance. A severe-snow-rated all-terrain is genuinely capable, but a dedicated studless winter tire is better on glare ice, full stop.
You are shopping mainly on price — this is a premium tire and it prices like one.

Side-by-side illustration of the three-peak mountain snowflake symbol and the M plus S sidewall marking, explaining that the snowflake indicates the tire passed a standardised snow traction test while M plus S describes tread pattern geometry with no test behind it. — The two winter markings are not equivalent. The KO3 carries the snowflake, which is the one with a test behind it.

Sizes, fitment and how we quote

We do not warehouse tires. We order in from our Ottawa distributors — usually the same or the next business day — and you get a full installed quote before we order anything. That quote includes mounting, balancing, valve stems or TPMS service kits, and old-tire disposal, so the number you see is the number you pay.

Bring the vehicle, or read the size off the placard in the driver’s door jamb, and we will confirm it against what your vehicle should be running. If your size is not made in this line we will tell you that rather than substituting something else quietly. More on what we do with the tires once they arrive is on our tire services page.

Every number on the sidewall, decoded. The placard in your door jamb is the authority — not what happens to be on the car now.

What this means for an Ottawa driver

The KO3’s natural customer around here is not really an off-roader. It is a trade — a framer, an electrician, a landscaper — running a half-ton between a downtown site and a supplier yard, and out to the rural west end on gravel concessions around Carp, Richmond, North Gower and Osgoode. That mix chews through a highway tire: construction sites are full of cut hazards, and the gravel roads are hard on tread block edges.

Ottawa’s freeze-thaw pattern also produces a specific kind of damage. Roughly eighty freeze-thaw cycles a year break up asphalt from underneath, and by March the city is filling potholes across all 6,000-odd kilometres of its road network. A pothole hit at speed loads the sidewall, not the tread, which is exactly where a reinforced light-truck sidewall earns back its cost.

A severe-snow rating means this tire satisfies Quebec’s December 1 to March 15 winter tire requirement if you cross to Gatineau or run out to the Outaouais.
Ontario auto insurers have been required since 2016 to offer a winter tire discount. A snowflake-rated all-terrain generally qualifies — worth confirming with your broker, because it is not applied automatically.
Ontario’s safety inspection fails a light-truck tire on tread depth, on sidewall repairs, and on mixing radial with non-radial tires. Aggressive tread is not a substitute for meeting the standard.
If you are running load-range E tires on a half-ton for towing, tell us — inflation pressure for a loaded truck is not the same as the door placard number for an empty one.

What installation includes here

Mounting and balancing

Every tire is balanced on the machine, not eyeballed. An unbalanced wheel shows up as a vibration at a specific speed and chews the tire unevenly.

Valve stems or TPMS kits

Rubber valve stems get replaced with the tire. TPMS sensors get new service kits — the seals and collars are consumables, not permanent parts.

Torqued to specification

Wheels go on with a torque wrench to your vehicle’s spec, not an impact gun. Over-torquing warps rotors; under-torquing loses wheels.

Pressures set properly

Set to the placard, or to the load if you tow. Cold-weather pressure drops are why the light comes on the first cold morning.

Old tire disposal

Included in the quote. Ontario tire stewardship fees are part of the number we give you, not a surprise at the counter.

Seasonal storage

Ask us — if you have nowhere to keep a second set, we can talk about what storage looks like.

All-Terrain T/A KO3 — questions we actually get asked

Straight answers, from the counter at Beech Street.

For a lot of Ottawa truck owners, yes — it carries a severe-snow rating, which is a real test result and not marketing. The honest caveat is glare ice. On a freeze-thaw morning when yesterday’s melt has refrozen on a side street, a dedicated studless winter tire is meaningfully better than any all-terrain. If your winter driving is highway and plowed arterials, the KO3 will do the job. If it is unmaintained ice, run a winter set.

Noticeably, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. The tread voids that clear mud and snow also pump air, and that is what you hear at highway speed. BFGoodrich has worked on it generation over generation, but an all-terrain tread will never be as quiet as a highway-terrain tread. It is the price of the capability.

The headline changes are a reformulated cut, chip and tear resistant tread compound, an updated tread pattern with full-depth locking 3D sipes, and further sidewall reinforcement. It is an evolution of a well-sorted tire rather than a redesign — BFGoodrich kept what the KO2 was known for and worked on durability and wear.

The KO3 is offered across a wide light-truck size range, including LT sizes. The thing to watch is not whether the size exists but whether it fits your truck — if you are going up in size from stock, rubbing at full lock and speedometer error are both real. Bring the truck and we will check clearance rather than guess from a chart.

BFGoodrich publishes a treadwear warranty of about 80,000 km (50,000 miles). Real-world life depends heavily on how much of your driving is loose surface and how disciplined you are about rotation — an all-terrain on a truck that is loaded at the back and empty at the front will wear unevenly if it is not rotated on schedule.

We do not warehouse tires. We order in from our Ottawa distributors, usually the same or the next business day, and you get a full installed quote — mounting, balancing, valve stems or TPMS service kits, and old-tire disposal — before anything is ordered.

What Ottawa Customers Say About Our Service

4.9/5 from 293 reviews

"I dropped my car off at Franco Garage around 11:15am (no appointment, they took me right away) and by 12:30pm they had already ordered my car battery AND installed it! The cost was amazing. They only charged me for the battery itself (under $200) and $15 for labour. Everywhere else I called prior to Franco Garage was quoting between $250-$432 for the battery alone and a high labour cost, not to mention long wait times. I will definitely bring my car back to Franco Garage!! What an incredible experience. The service was extremely fast and the guys working were honest, reliable and really personable!"

Natasha Ferrill

2 months ago

"Noticed I had a deflating tire and a 6AM trip to Montreal the next day. The guys were already fully booked for the day, but still squeezed me in for a quick fix. I didnt even have to wait anywere, they were done in under 15 minites. Both mechanics were very polite and even offered to walk i to the ahop and showed me exactly what was causing the leak in the tire. They knew I was in a rush, but still charged me a fair price. I couldn't be happier, they actually made my day :)"

Yehor Sanko