I've searched the forum, read, researched and priced a lot of tires and have narrowed the list to four types of tire, two from Goodyear and two from BFGoodrich.

Here's my typical driving habits. Daily driver. 2 trips to Moab a year. Rain and heavy snow in winter. I want to do more off roading when on vacation or weekends, but retain a reasonably smooth commute to work. I want to be able to handle a patch of mud if I run into it. I'm looking at 33 inch tires.

Now I'm stuck! I like all four of these and their price difference isn't that much, so the cost doesn't really factor in, but I still want to stay around the $220-260 range. Here are my options with what I like about them.

The Goodyear ones:

DuraTrac: TractiveGroove Technology™ offers enhanced traction in deep mud and snow. Self-cleaning shoulder blocks help provide enhanced dirt, gravel and mud traction. Highly angled center tread blocks help provide enhanced traction and lateral stability while reducing road noise. Rim protector helps protect wheels from accidental curb damage.


MT/R Kevlar: The revolutionary off-road tire built with the rugged toughness of DuPont™ Kevlar® for enhanced sidewall puncture resistance. DuPont™ Kevlar® reinforced sidewalls help increase sidewall puncture resistance by 35% for confidence in tough terrain*. Hardworking wraparound tread offers enhanced sidewall traction in deep mud, sand and rocks. Innovative asymmetric tread design offers aggressive off-road traction while maintaining enhanced handling on the road. Advanced silica rubber for superb off-road and wet traction.


The BFG ones:

All Terrain T/A KO: I just like the look of these tires. Aggressive high void All-Terrain tread design features interlocking elements that stabilize the tread's center and increase control during braking and acceleration. This also minimizes highway noise.

Mud Terrain T/A KM2: Handles almost anything in its way. Linear flex zones let the tire contour to obstacles, providing incredible traction even in the roughest terrain. Perhaps most surprisingly, well-placed tread blocks make the Mud Terrain T/A KM2 unusually quiet for an off-road tire. Self-cleaning tread prevents mud from sticking to the tire.

All 4 seem to have what I want... but I just can not decide!!! It's making me go bonkers.

 

I am a big fan of the TrXus MTs' I use my jeep for less then you even do. I love the TrXus because they have very thick sidewalls, and I have been unable to slice through them yet (but have tried, nice gashes ). The TrXus are awesome in snow/ice, We have that most of the year so it was important to have heavily siped tires and the TrXus are the best I've found for this. The tires are a heavy load rating on them so I can run them on the pavement down to about 5lbs before they even appear to have any air missing (on a 2dr) but they drive best at about 30lbs, not to stiff and no major loss in fuel econo. The tires are not too heavy, dont have a number on that for you though. Awesome off road, mud and goo etc.

If you didn't have snow or ice at all I'd say the MT/R Kevlar's but with snow and Ice in there i'd prefer the TrXus MT's

best part is? they're darn cheap, worst part? they can supposedly be a trouble to balance, but most guys around here just balance interco's with a few ounces of bolts thrown inside the tire (self balancing) and they've never had an issue.

 

I'll take a look. The reason I like the four listed above is because I can buy them thu Discount Tire Direct with 12 months interest free. (and they're sponsors.)

That's easier to sell the wife on. We just finished paying for her diamond bracelet with the 12 months interest free. Now it's my turn.

 

haha, that is true.. i am tempted now, I do need to replace my tires soonish.. Maybe i'll do that 12 month thing, oh thats bad. I really shouldnt be doing that lol.

I like the MT/R Kevlars, but they're not nearly as good as the TrXus Mt's in snow or ice :|

 

I would remove the KM2's from the list due to the mention of "Snow" on your driving habits.....KM2's are poor street tires in ice and snow!!

 

The KOs will give you the best road performance and tread life at the expense of traction if the mud or snow gets really sticky. I also noticed they had a slight tendency to hydroplane above 35 MPH.

The MTR/Ks and KM2s will give you the best performance off road with the KM2 being the quieter of the two but the MTR/Ks have tougher sidewalls for rocks.

The Duratracs will give you better snow/ice traction due to the lower void ratio than the two above.

I think just based on my own set that the KM2s will last less than the others, although the tread life of the MTR/K's recently came under fire.

It really depends on your preferences, but its hard to beat the KM2s for all around road and off road balance.

 

I suggest the Goodyear Duratrac with the All terrain T/A running second.

I bought a set of Cooper STT's and had them sipped. the sipping allows me to grip the ice extremely well. I've never spun out on the ice before. The problem I have is the tires are designed for mud and dig through the snow too much. when I try to go over large snow banks I dig a whole and high center myself everytime. I'm thinking a tire that dispurses the weight more evenly may offer a little more floatation over the snow and allow a lightweight Wrangler to get over these drifts.

The Duratracs and AT's are aggresive enough to be a decent all around tire but allow for floatation as well. I can't say how well either tire will work in the mud.

Good luck, I hope it all works out for the best

 

My Jeep is stock in relation to any question relating to tires, it came with the BFG KM's and I'm at 42K miles with lots of tread left, not a lot of 4 wheeling if you don't count the miles of snow, and all the land on the farm I live on, rocky hills, mud etc.. Sometimes it's lock both axles or you won't make it back to the driveway. These are mostly highway miles though, I rotate at 4K miles, and I'm happy with their performance, if I have to replace them and all that is available are KM2's, that's probably what I'll try.

 

You're really comparing two types of tires here. All Terrain vs Max Traction. Your statement about majority on road driving and icey conditions almost automatically removes the Max Traction tires from the running. These types of tires are designed specifically to grip in dirt, mud, and irredular rocky surfaces. They will be fairly to extremely noisy on road. And due to thier massive voids designed to clear mud they have smaller contact patches on things like ice and pavement which causes them to hydroplane and slid more easily.

What you're going to want is an All Terrain tire. Will it be great in the mud? No, and nor should it be given how they're designed. All Terrain tires have smaller voids between the lugs to facilitate better on road performance and to minimize the paddle wheel like drone of the max traction tires. Since there is more rubber in contact with the surface of the road at any point your handling will be superior and more comportable. Also, since there is more rubber in contact you'll have better on road traction and longer tread wear on average due to more surface area to wear.

I love my DuraTracs. There were the most agressive All Terrain tire I could find. They have larger voids than the BFGs which result in superior off road traction. They are pre-siped which improves traction in ice and snow. The side walls are not nearly as thick as say a KM2 or MTR but then again these are not designed to be dedicated off road tires. Check my build thread for more information on how and why I chose these tires.

 

You are confusing the "all terrains" with the "mud terrains". You want all the features of the all terrain, but the traction/off-roading of the mud terrain....dont we all!

The Kevlar sounds like the best tire for you, personally. But i do love my Km2s