I've been having a mental breakdown trying to choose tires. With the excellent feedback from members of the forum I've narrowed my choice down to a 35/12.50R17 or 315/70R17 tire. I'm trying to find a relatively lightweight tire that's not too heavy duty for a Unlimited Rubicon that's stock except for a Body Armor rear bumper and tire carrier (which I have on order). That seems to mean a load range D tire with a service rating around 115-121.

I'm in Southern California. I pretty much never see mud and I don't think that's likely to change. I don't see snow (or even rain) that often but I've been off-road in deep snow at least once a year so it is a concern. Most of the off-road terrain I see is dirt, sand and rock trails or washes with occasional slickrock.

My Jeep is my daily driver and I've had no issues with the on-road performance of my stock Rubicon BFG tires. I also tow my Jeep behind my motorhome 4,000+ miles per year. I go off-road about once a month. My off-roading is for the purpose of getting somewhere (abandoned mines mainly) and not recreational rock crawling and such. I'm looking for a tire that's streetable but when I go off-road I don't want to be held back by the tires.

All that being said, I'd love to hear your recommendations and experience regarding tires. The amount of choices out there is literally making my head spin off!

Thanks!

 

People seem to be going bananas for the good year dura tracs.

 

you really need to decided between an all terrain and mud terrain. after that decision is made then it narrows down your options...slightly. with no rock crawling, daily driving, and limited mud i would think an all terrain would fit your needs best. something like dick cepek FC-IIs or bfg all terrains would probably be fine. in the end you will still be paying close to mud terrain prices because of your size. remember all terrains will for the most part last longer, give you better mileage, and perform on the terrain you plan to encounter.

 

unless you're adding "looks" into the equation, for your purposes, it sounds like you're wanting a basic all terrain tire. if this is the case, i might recommend the goodyear duratracs, procomp extreme at's or bfg at's.

 

Ok, I know everyone is tired of seeing my tires/wheels, but I will post it again. I love my GY DuraTracs: 315/70/17 on Liquid Metal Gatlins.

 

The DuraTracs have been on my list. I'm actually quite open to either an AT or MT tire. Whatever will work best on the sort of off-road terrain I encounter is what I want.

The DuraTracs also seem to be less expensive than most MT tires (BFG, Nitto, Cooper, etc.) in the same size which is always nice.

I guess the big question if something like the DuraTrac AT will perform better off-road than a similar sized MT (for my type of off-roading of course)?

 

I'm also wondering what people think of the BFG MT KM2?

 

35's on 17's and rool it as a DD.