Ok, I am pretty sure I am going to go with either the KM2 or the MTR with Kevlar. How do there sidewall strenghts compare to each other?

I had a KM blow on the trail (sidewall cut badly on rock)and I would prefer that not to happen again. Are both of these tires much better as far as sidewall strenght than the orignal KMs?

How would these tires compare to a super swamper in sidewall strength?

There are a lot of threads that compare these two but none mention which has a stronger sidewall and is better in rock. This will not be my winter tire so I dont care about that, nor do I care about road noise.

 

i used to run bfg's on all my jeeps but kept on having sidewall issues. tried a lot of other tires and have found toyo's to be the best. i now run mtr's with kevlar on my orange jk and so far, i can tell you that they have much stronger sidewalls than bfg's

 

I'm still running my KM2s and love them, but may go a different route next set - just for something different and also may try 37s... no experience with MTR but should be pretty good!

Anyway, add another sidewall tear on KM2 to your list. This is mine from a few weeks back. Same thing - sliced on rock on a hill climb. Luckily a big rig tire shop repaired it for me by doing a section repair and revulcanizing it, for $20. I am using it as a spare...

 

How thick are those sidewalls, like MT/R with Kevlar?
In fact, I am running a set of MT/R with Kevlar, but I forgot to measure the sidewall thickness before I put them on the wheels.

 

depends on the load range. my 35" mtr's have a load range C and so, they aren't that thick but, the kevlar reinforced sidewalls do seem to help. i understand that some sizes come in a D or E and each would be thicker.

 

The whole idea of putting Kevlar in the sidewall plies is to provide additional strength. Goodyear claims they are 33% stronger than conventional sidewall materials. I think that is conservative number.

As much as I like my KM2s, I would not say that sidewall strength is one its "strongest" features.

 

Even with C load range tires, the sidewall thickness is still around 2cm thick right?

 

No pics, but I can tell you there are some pretty deep gouges on my kevlars, and no leaks. I've also pinched the sidewall pretty hard a few times on rocks, and they dont even show it. Pretty tough for me so far, but then again, there arent too many big rocks in NC...

 

I have D-load KM2s and I doubt the sidewalls are 2cm thick... that's approaching 1" thick and I can tell you I don't think it was that deep where I gouged through. Maybe more like 1cm?

I really have never measured, i just don't think they are all that thick, that's all...

 

I sliced 6 sidewalls on my 35" KM2's last year alone. I think 4 of them were all the way through requiring plugging on the trail, and 2 of them were cut into the cords but still held air... Required replacing anyway.

I loved how they hooked up and the traction they got. And, I cant say that any other tire on my rig in those exact circumstances wouldnt have sliced just the same. Its really impossible to do an apples to apples comparison to see which side wall holds up better.

That said, when I went up to 37's, I decided on the MTR/Ks. The concept and marketing program is that they are stronger. It seems logical that they would hold up better, but I have seen a few sliced on friends' rigs. I havent had mine on long enough to formulate an opinion yet.