Baja Boss A/T After 17,000 Miles: Wear, MPG, Noise, and Would I Buy Again? (Review)

[Toyotimothy]

You’ve got eagle eyes. Yes, my Ice Cap truck is wrapped in Pure PPF, Satin Champagne (roof is in Frozen Black). The white was blinding when I’d work on the exterior, and I wanted to protect the paint from brush scratches. So instead of white satin, I sprung for the color change PPF.

California chaparral has already scratched my PPF three times, but at 8 mil thick, the PPF is still “self-healing.” It needs to be replaced on the mirror caps. Maybe I’ll buy black caps instead.

My plan/hope is to drive the truck for 15 years. My mileage is split between that and my Integra 6MT, even more fun to drive than our Tacoma camping monster. 🫈

Man that looks good. I need something for mine. It stays dirty more than it stays clean. lol already has a few small scratches and chips mostly in front of the rear tires.

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[lauren01]

Man that looks good. I need something for mine. It stays dirty more than it stays clean. lol already has a few small scratches and chips mostly in front of the rear tires.

My mud flaps have been great to keep off the chips even before I got the PPF.
Taking care of PPF includes a commitment to hand washing and no pressure washing. I like doing hand wash and detailing on our other cars so that was easy. Applying a ceramic coating formulated for PPF has worked well. It’s time to redo it. Washing is a breeze with Optimum No-Rinse. Damn I love vehicles.

 

[TrailAdventurer]

What size are your tires?

I went with LT275/70R18s, which are essentially a 34-inch tire with a tread width of about 10.8 inches.

After running 35x12.5s for the better part of a decade, I was already leaning toward a narrower tire. Looking through a lot of the early 4th-gen tire reviews, it seemed that most tires 35 inches and larger rubbed to some degree—more or less depending on the width and wheel setup.

I took a hard look at how we actually use the vehicle and decided that the extra inch of tire wasn't worth dealing with rubbing, trimming panels, or removing components. So far, I've been very happy with the choice. I've had zero rubbing, even with the suspension significantly articulated.

 

[TrailAdventurer]

I hope this is for anyone to chime in on. While I don’t have a trail hunter I have had BFG KO2s in a 33” and I have to say that I loved them at first. I was careful to maintain rotation and balancing but within less than a year they were wore out.

I've run a few sets of KO2s, from a Suburban to a Wrangler. My own experience was they didn't get particularly noisy until near end of life. I ran one set right to 59,000 miles. Just curious your application (abrasive roads, mileage, etc.).

Michigan roads, other than pothole'd, aren't particularly abrasive.

 

[Toyotimothy]

I've run a few sets of KO2s, from a Suburban to a Wrangler. My own experience was they didn't get particularly noisy until near end of life. I ran one set right to 59,000 miles. Just curious your application (abrasive roads, mileage, etc.).

Michigan roads, other than pothole'd, aren't particularly abrasive.

Just a mix of regular paved roads and forest Trails plus gravel. Honestly I think I probably just got a bad set. The retailer who sold me the Nittos said that he also sold the BFGs. He just didn’t advertise that I could see. He said he usually doesn’t have problems with them but occasionally, say every 10th set sold or so someone will have issues with them. It was his opinion that they weren’t made as good as they used to be. Considering the experience I had with my set, I didn’t argue the point. I used to have a 2020 Tacoma prior and was going to get the KO2s for it but got talked into Falkens. I really don’t remember which style. I just remembered wishing I had gone with the KO2s because back then they had great reviews. That’s why I Chose them for my 4th gen. So far I am happy with the Nittos. They’re quiet run smoothly and handle well.

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