i have FC-II in 285/70/17 and duratracs in 235/80/16 that i used in ice and snow here in Conn. and Vermont. both work very well in wintery, onroad conditions. the 235/80/16 duratracs were better in the slushy crap snow/ice we get here in the winter mostly because they were not as wide as the FC-II's. being a little narrower helps alot with not floating and getting pushed around in the deeper, slushy days. i could confidentaly drive faster than most people in any given winter conditions with these tires. i don;t do this but it shows the tires were better than most people's grip on snowy days. this is also nice because traveling with the flow of traffic is easy with this much grip.

i just changed over to a set of 315/70/17 duratracs. i hope these work out in the winter. i regeared so i won;t be using the 235/80/17 set of duratracs this coming winter season. anyone interested in these, let me know ??

 

Duratracs will blow FCII and BFG AT KO away. Trust me, I know from experience.

 

This is more of a HD towing tire, but it is also a great winter tire. They don't come in a lot of sizes but are lighter then Toyo MTs and general available in tall Narrow sizes.

h!!p://toyotires.com/tire/pattern/m-55

jjw
ND

 

When it comes to ice, studs or chains are best. That's why I bought used wheels and mounted up my winter snow tires with studs on all 4's that came off my pickup that I got rid of. Nothing like spiked tires on all 4's with good snow tires to boot.

 

Duratracs are studable .

 

I have been running Duratracs for a year now on my Toyota T100. Discout Tire directed me to them for the winter driving capabilities (as well as all around). They had great grip last ski season, and have been holding up pretty well for the amount of highway miles I have on them.

They are stud-able, but I did not since They get year-round use.

 

The Goodyear Duratracs are one of the few tires that posses the Mountain/Snowflake symbol. Although I suspect that the MTR's are going to be fairly decent in the snow and ice, the Duratracs are going to perform quite a bit better due to the additional siping.

 

Duratracs, no question.

 

Duratracs. Nuff said. Most of the people digging Duratracs are from places where we try them out regularly on the snow and ice.

 

I think that it is important to understand that only a handful of off road tires have been tested to the CRA snow test. The reason is that typically, almost any deeply lugged tire, with just moderate siping will pass the snow test. There's much discussion and complaint about ordinary M+S tires passing the snow test. So, having the snowflake symbol doesn't mean much by itself. Tire manufacturers must present the tires for testing, schedule the testing and pay for the testing. Typically, most manufacturers limit this to road tires for passenger cars. Even then, there can be wide differences between approved tires, especially after there is measurable tread wear. Since the vast bulk of the tire market is passenger car tires, the manufacturers concentrate there.

I've had the chance to drive a TJ on Duratracs in about 10" of snow. They were excellent. Even on packed snow, they performed very well. Not much lateral slip, and very good bite on acceleration and braking. I had a chance to drive my JK on the Cooper S/Ts on Spring snow up in Maine. Another excellent tire, the equal of the Duratrac IMHO. I had a set of BFG AT KOs on my YJ. They were adequate, but clearly inferior to the Duratrac and Cooper in every way. I've driven the OEM BFG KMs in snow as well. They do well in deep, dry snow. However, they are poor on packed snow and ice. If you plan to use these for winter driving, have them siped.

So, if the choice is Duratracs or BFG AT KOs, it's a no-brainer... Buy the Goodyears.

Just remember that there is a whole new class of hybrid AT/MT tires on the market now. These combine respectable mud performance with excellent all terrain and snow traction. In this category are the Duratracs, the Cooper S/T, The Kelly TSR, the Dunlop Maxx Traction, Cepek F-C II, Procomp Xtreme AT, and the Mickey Thompson ATZ. If you live in the snow belt and can afford only one set of tires for all purposes, any of the above would be a good choice. Two or three may be a bit better in snow than rest, but I don't believe that the differences are great.