Tire talk

[TreXTerra]

Within the next month I will be replacing my BF Goodrich TA KO tires. I primarily use my rig in the Intermountain West - that means hardpack desert, sharp stones, slickrock, sand, and some mud (although I try to avoid mud). My rig is also my daily driver, so long tread life, and on-road handling in wet and snow conditions are also important.

Right now my top contenders are:

BF Goodrich TA KO2
Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac

Both these tires have their pros and cons. The BFG is less aggressive, but seems to have a heavier carcass than the Goodyear. I'm a little disappointed that BFG eliminated the rim guard that was on the original KO series. The Goodyear seems more aggressive in the tread, but has a lighter carcass; a friend ended up with his second sidewall cut yesterday on very mild roads. I know that any sidewall can be cut in the right conditions, so I'm trying to not let this influence my judgement.

BF Goodrich
Pros:

• Heavy carcass
• Acceptable snow performance
• Decent tread life
• Been pretty happy with the KO in the past
• Quiet highway driving compared to the Duratrac

Cons:

• Less aggressive tread
• Heavy
  
• Price

Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac
Pros:

• Aggressive tread
• Better snow performance than the BFG
• Better sand performance
• Better mud performance
• Deeper initial tread than BFG
• Stickier tread than BFG

Cons:

• Lighterweight carcass/durability
• Faster wear than BFG, despite deeper tread
• Noisy

I'm open to any suggestions of what else I should consider.

 

[Lifestyle Overland]

I'm partial to the BFG's because they simply work. I run KM2's on my FJ45, KO's on the 2014 4Runner and 2011 GMC Sierra. Love everything about them but the gas mileage.

Another tire I considered was the Cooper Discoverer A/T3. I didn't get them because they weren't readily available in my area and I wanted to minimize down-time waiting on replacements. You might add them to your research list. (OJ did some extensive testing on them.)

 

[Steve]

Neither the TA KO2 nor the Cooper A/T3 were available in a size to fit my application, or I would have gone with them (preferably the A/T3.) Instead, I ended up with the Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S, which is biased a bit more toward the daily use end of the all-terrain spectrum than the off-road end. Worked fine for the ~40 miles of gravel I drove on our recent 7700 mile trip. Road manners were great except on the slotted concrete that seems to be prevalent out west. Tramlining was quite pronounced then, but I suspect that would be the case with any aggressive tread.

FWIW, the very reputable tire dealer here that I bought my Yokohamas from uses Cooper A/T3s on his personal FJ Cruiser and his son's pickup.

 

[SLO Rob]

I have the K02's and love them...highway, in town, off road, sand...all of it. 265/75/16 from www.onlinetires.com

 

[saint urho]

I really like the look of the Nitto Exo Grapplers.. don't make them for my xterra though. My part of the country has the possibility of snow any month of the year so my next set of all-terrains will need to have the mountain snowflake symbol. I'll still use dedicated winter tires from Early October to Late April. Except for winter performance I can't really complain about my OEM BFG Rugged Trails... two trips to Moab, a few more off-road adventures in Alberta, and all of my overlanding. Consider the Toyo Open Country AT 2 Extreme or the Cooper SST Max.. let me know what you find out

 

[mmnorthdirections]

I run Duratracs,
I do a five tire rotation and really enjoy the wear rate. 40,000 and still have plenty to go. That's a c-rated 265-75r16

 

[NorthStar96]

I put a set of the Yokohama Geolandar AT-S also, Same as Steve, on my LC. They are very quiet, and have a less aggressive tread but still aggressive for good traction on roads and easy trails. I have not driven in the snow with them yet but I have heard they are very good in the snow. Iv'e got about 5K on them now and there is no signs of wear yet. (Cant wait for winter)...

 

[hardtrailz]

I have seen the Duratrac's work so well for so many rigs, they are always a top consideration. Not seen the KO2 actually off of pavement so hard to say if they are good.

 

[Overland-Indiana]

I run Dura-Trac now, have ran BFG MT KM2 and the AT version, was VERY happy with them all, MT were a bit noise IMO but still a great tire. My dura-tracs just got me out of some deep sand-water mix in Michgan a month ago, was very pleased with them!

 

[toxicity_27]

I've got the KO2s on the truck, just got them on so don't have much experience with them yet. I do think they look great though, and they're considerably quieter than the KM1s on my JK.

I watched this last night and it made me feel like I made the right choice.

 

[Trixter404]

I run Duratrac 285/75's. Love them! Great all-around tire (I have yet to be stuck) and really not that loud. I would definitely buy again.

 

[Overland-Indiana]

My favorites by far have been my BFG AT and my Duractrac's... More partial to the BFG though, next set i'll go back to the BFG, I just got a deal i couldn't pass up on these Duractrac's

 

[hardtrailz]

My favorites by far have been my BFG AT and my Duractrac's... More partial to the BFG though, next set i'll go back to the BFG, I just got a deal i couldn't pass up on these Duractrac's

Didn't you just get the Duratrac's used? Just curious since I did not think you had much use on them yet and can you share how much tread they have?

 

[Overland-Indiana]

Didn't you just get the Duratrac's used? Just curious since I did not think you had much use on them yet and can you share how much tread they have?

Yeah I bought them used, got 5 Crager Soft 8's and 4 Goodyear Duractrac for $300, tires have 75% tread left..

 

[Overland-Indiana]

Didn't you just get the Duratrac's used? Just curious since I did not think you had much use on them yet and can you share how much tread they have?

Iv'e put 5k+ Miles on them since i got them. Spent some time in dirt, sand and mud and the Duratrac's have performed well. They have more buzz going down the highway than my BFG AT did.

 

[hardtrailz]

You did get a smoking deal.

 

[Overland-Indiana]

You did get a smoking deal.

I know, I couldn't pass that up!

 

[VCeXpedition]

I upped for KO2's when they were relatively new out. I did quite a bit of reading at the time and thought the KO2's had been improved enough from the original KO's that I was impressed. And I ran KO's on my '80 previously. Saw the same videos that others are referencing, pretty impressive what they do to the sidewalls. I know that is pretty real, I know some of the guys that do that type of testing, and they really do want to find the limits.
My son just put DuraTracs on his '98 4Runner at almost the same time. He likes them a lot, gets good traction no problem. He doesn't have lockers and was able to crawl up the backside of elephant hill where another '80 with slightly worn something-or-others had to lock up.
I just bought another set of KO2's for my 100 series project truck because I was so happy with the road manners. Quieter than the DuraTrac after riding in his 4Runner. KO2's promise longer tread life, we'll see.
I've recommended BFG's to several people but it's not the most aggressive looking tire if that's important to you. I do like the looks of the Duratrac for a civilized tire (read: not M/T).
FWIW, Dan.

 

[Justin_0237]

I am running duratracs now. I love the tire. I don't really have much experience with different tires just nitro Tera grappler and the duratracs and I will say that these out perform a lot of my buddies tires as well. Also if you are living In or go to the snow they have the snowflake emblem. I have used them through mud, soft dirt, sand and recently snow and I gotta say I have yet seen a flaw in them. The ones I got are kind of heavy because k think they are the "E" rated tire but that also means thicker sidewalls. All in all I think both the tires you are thinking of are great tires.

 

[WUzombies]

When you buy check the DOT stamp on each tire and refuse anything that isn't new, I'd say a year old or less. Catastrophic tire failures seem to increase with a tire that is five years old or more. Major products cases, like fatality rolling events caused by tire delaminations, don't make the news, Internet or NHTSA databases as they are often settled in sealed agreements. With that said I personally wouldn't by a Cooper tire or a LT Geolander for my vehicle right now.