Kumho Road Venture AT52
06/26/2026
It was finally time to say goodbye to the Nittos.
We've been through a lot together—and by "a lot," I mostly mean years of vibration, repeated balancing attempts, suspension upgrades, driveshaft rebuilds, geometry adjustments, and enough frustration to make me question my own sanity. Through all of it, these tires were always on the suspect list.
No matter how many times I had them balanced, they never seemed quite right. They still had plenty of tread left, which made giving up on them a little painful, but at some point you have to stop throwing time and money at a problem and accept that the tires themselves might just be the problem. With that decision finally made, I started researching replacements.
After way too many forum threads, YouTube reviews, and comparison videos, I narrowed the search down to two tires: the Kumho Road Venture AT52 and the BFGoodrich KO3. The KO3s looked fantastic, but after reading countless reviews, I wasn't convinced they would deliver the smoother ride I was chasing—especially considering the price difference. So I ordered the Kumhos and scheduled an appointment with Discount Tire.
Before they mounted the new tires, I asked one favor. "Can you road-force one of the old tires before you take them off?" I wanted to know if everything I'd been chasing for the last few years was actually hiding inside those Nittos. The answer came back pretty quickly.
The techs were nice enough to do all four of the old tires and they measured right around 45 pounds of road force. The new Kumhos? Under 20. The drive home was the real test.
From the first few miles, I could tell the truck felt different. Smoother. More settled. Less busy over every little imperfection in the road. Even my wife noticed. She commented that the suspension and ride quality felt much better than before. I'd like to believe she genuinely noticed the improvement... although it's entirely possible she was just helping justify another 4Runner expense.
Either way, I'll take it.