Tire Brands, who likes what?

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Renodemona
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Tire Brands, who likes what?

Post by Renodemona »

With the engine swap wrapping up soon it is on to new rubber. Going with 33s. Now...who likes their tires? Who hates them? What do you have? What have been your experiences with them on your FSJ? Looking at the following, keeping in mind I'm trying to stay around the 200-235 a tire range. Going to be used on pavement (with snow in winter), dirt roads 2-3 times a month, camping 2-3 times a summer, light trail runs 5-8 times a year.

BF Goodrich A/T KO (what I have now but in 30x9.5)
BF Goodrich KM2
Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac
Goodyear MTR w/kevlar
Dick Cepek Mud Country

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Re: Tire Brands, who likes what?

Post by carnuck »

If available, check out Avon tires. 255/85/16s are what I had. Drove in/out of the scrapyard for almost 10 years without a flat.
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husker77
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Re: Tire Brands, who likes what?

Post by husker77 »

I had 35" cooper stt's on my cherokee and they will be going on my wagoneer. They looked like an aggressive tire but I thought they were very quite on pavement and rode nice. I never got a chance to try them in mud, but I thought they worked very good in deep snow and handled good on ice packed, drifted roads.

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Re: Tire Brands, who likes what?

Post by surfwagoneer »

I run 35" Goodyear Kevlars on the wagon. Run great on the road and extremely quite for a MT and they have done good on the trail so far as well. Perfect for a daily driver and occasional off roader
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Re: Tire Brands, who likes what?

Post by will e »

I have run bfg at's and now goodyear mtr. No issues with either.
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Re: Tire Brands, who likes what?

Post by Lumpskie »

I've run the BFG ATs, KM2s and the Duratracs on your list. All of them are good tires. In my opinion the Duratracs are the best (for me) due to the fact that you get MT like traction offroad but get all the AT benefits of packed snow/ice traction and a lighter tire. I really like how well they perform in packed snow, deep snow and on the rocks but they have a reputation for having a weaker sidewall. (personally, I think that's a driver issue)

After that I like the KM2s because the initial grip was really good. The rubber was sticky and I could climb rocks slightly better on my 32x11.5 KM2s than I can with my 33.12.5 Duratracs. But they were scary on ice and packed snow... even being siped. From what I hear, the MTRs are a better wheeling tire than the KM2s, but the KM2s last longer on a daily driver.

The BFG ATs were third place for me. I like the fact that they did great in any kind of snow and in dirt though. They were awesome for mountain driving but just a little less aggressive for rock crawling.

Also, there's one other tire you might consider is the Trxus MT. It's a daily drivable MT with great snow traction and really sturdy sidewalls. The tire is heavy, but it's a true 33, measuring out to 33" rather than 32.5, like my duratracs. Upside is that the tire wheels really well. Down side is that it's heavy duty and can have some minor balancing issues. This would be a rock crawling tire that you can drive daily rather than a daily driver tire that you can rock crawl with.

Here's a review:
http://www.expeditionr.com/2010/05/25/t ... in-review/

Interco website with size information:
http://www.intercotire.com/tires.php?id=11&g=1

Hope that helps some!
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Re: Tire Brands, who likes what?

Post by REDONE »

I won't touch BFG tires anymore. I had two bad sets back to back and Sears (who installed them) gave me a hassle over it. MTs blistered within a few hundred miles of highway driving and the ATs they finally replaced them with broke belts, again within a few hundred miles of highway driving. Every company has a bad batch at one time or another, but the fact that they made it such a hassle and in the end I paid BFG prices for cheaper than BFG tires has stuck with me.

I liked the Duratracks when they first came out but everyone I know who's had them says they wouldn't buy them again because they wear too quick; basically they're a two to three year tire. EDIT>>> Or a winter only tire if you run two sets.

If I had the cash I would've run with the MTR this last time, but I settled for the Mud Claw from Big-O, studded. It's more like a really aggressive AT than a true MT but with the studs they do good in the snow, really good in the slop, and not too bad on the road. There's some noise and these suckers are HEAVY, but again, they were what I could afford, not what I really wanted.

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Re: Tire Brands, who likes what?

Post by Tad »

Lumpskie wrote:...Also, there's one other tire you might consider is the Trxus MT. It's a daily drivable MT with great snow traction and really sturdy sidewalls. The tire is heavy, but it's a true 33, measuring out to 33" rather than 32.5, like my duratracs. Upside is that the tire wheels really well. Down side is that it's heavy duty and can have some minor balancing issues. This would be a rock crawling tire that you can drive daily rather than a daily driver tire that you can rock crawl with.

Here's a review:
http://www.expeditionr.com/2010/05/25/t ... in-review/

Interco website with size information:
http://www.intercotire.com/tires.php?id=11&g=1

Hope that helps some!
I'm on my second set of Trxus MT's (37x12.5 R16's) and have nothing but good things to say about them.
My first trip out on them involved driving 120 miles in a rain storm on the interstate, they were so stable I had a hard time believing they were an MT, rstep got many years of service on his in the 31x10.5 series.
My previous KM2's were down right scary on wet pavement above 50 mph and although they did well off-road they went to crap in less than 18 months, the compound is just too soft for our harsh southwest rock.

You can tear the crap out of a Truxus MT though.
This was all from one spot on one trip.
Granted it was really sharp rock I was up against and I could have used the bypass.
But once I was in there it would have done just as much damage to back out of it.

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Re: Tire Brands, who likes what?

Post by Stuka »

The duratrac has a slightly softer rubber compound for snow and ice driving. Downside is they wear faster. Harder compounds give less traction, but longer wear. If I had to drive in snow regularly, it wouldn't even be a contest as to which tire I would go with, it would be the Duratrac.

Currently I have Cooper STTs on my J10 and JK. Been very happy with them. Far better wet traction than most MTs, wear decently, and really have little road noise for an MT. They also have a decent weight, not super heavy. Even the E-rated ones I have on the JK.
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Re: Tire Brands, who likes what?

Post by 90supra »

Currently running the duratrac on my wagoneer. I have no complaints yet. They came on it when I bought it. They did great in the snow this winter and have been good off road. Haven't gotten to wild.

Also had the Michelin ltx at2 on my 4 runner before. They were better on road and probably better in packed snow/ice.
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Re: Tire Brands, who likes what?

Post by surfwagoneer »

You might also want to check out the Toyo open country for an all around/ mostly daily driver type of tire. A lot of guys seem to like them. They supposedly perform much like the Goodyear kevlars
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Re: Tire Brands, who likes what?

Post by 243 »

I recently asked a similar question, the Cooper S/T Maxx is at the top of the list for me.

http://www.fsjnetwork.com/forum/viewtop ... =10&t=7864
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Re: Tire Brands, who likes what?

Post by Stuka »

Yeah the S/T Maxx is a good mix of AT and MT.
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Re: Tire Brands, who likes what?

Post by AwesomeJ10 »

I am running the newest style BFG AT on my Lexus and LOVE 'em. Very good tires. I got 72k miles out the the older style BFG AT's on there before.

I'm running 42" Kevlars on the Honcho and love them too. They are about the biggest radial out there and work great in all conditions - even the hwy.

I just picked up a set of 37" Kevlars for my wife's YJ and they are working out great too. I also had a set of 35" Kevlars on my '88 GW that I sold.

Kevlars are really good tires but they wear out very fast. So unless you are actually 'wheeling them, you might be better off with the BFG KM2, which are good tires as well.
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Re: Tire Brands, who likes what?

Post by ghcoe »

The Australians love these tires for the price, traction, and durability Adventuro M/T. I have the Adventuro II's and love them, but they do not come in a 33 though.

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direc ... turo+M%2FT
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Re: Tire Brands, who likes what?

Post by Gumby »

Check Wal-Mart, I'm running their exclusive good year in 31/1050/15 and so far not too much to complain about in daily driving. I have taken them in very little mud, good cleaning with a little speed. Dirt and such it has been really good. No snow here so I'm no help. They 're reasonable for the tire.
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Re: Tire Brands, who likes what?

Post by COLORADOCRAWLER »

Gumby wrote:Check Wal-Mart, I'm running their exclusive good year in 31/1050/15 and so far not too much to complain about in daily driving. I have taken them in very little mud, good cleaning with a little speed. Dirt and such it has been really good. No snow here so I'm no help. They 're reasonable for the tire.
Agreed. I am running the same tire (Goodyear Wrangler Authority A/T) and have bee nothing but happy with them. They work well everywhere including the snow and you can catch them on sale for cheap. :-bd
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Re: Tire Brands, who likes what?

Post by Gumby »

Cheaper if you buy online and pick up in store. I learned that after I had already committed.
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Re: Tire Brands, who likes what?

Post by Nikkormat »

I've been amazed at what the Cooper AT3 tires I put on my dads truck will do. Better in all regards than the expensive old Michelin ms tires my whole family has run for years. There lasting better too and I'm HARD on tires. Lotsa gravel on the road around here and I've got a heavy foot. The old Michelin starred chunking bad and even lost tread blocks. But the coopers are wearing like iron. Snow and ice is great and they self clean at 7 mph in a 32 inch equivalent metric size.

I'm on gravel roads everyday and commute 50 plus miles of pavement in all weather conditions up and down a mountain pass here in Colorado. I loose and gain two thousand miles every day during the school week.

The coopers also win the most editors choice awards out of any of the other AT tires. Notably so from exposition portal, those overlanders eat tires like candy.

It's also the official tire of 4wd Colorado police vehicles. You don't see many stuck cops, do you?

When I intern at the local mechanics shop a good 3/4 of the tire mountings are cooper.

I like the coopers, would be the point of this post. It got a little rambley but I don't want to re write it, sorry.
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Re: Tire Brands, who likes what?

Post by Stuka »

Nikkormat wrote:I've been amazed at what the Cooper AT3 tires I put on my dads truck will do. Better in all regards than the expensive old Michelin ms tires my whole family has run for years. There lasting better too and I'm HARD on tires. Lotsa gravel on the road around here and I've got a heavy foot. The old Michelin starred chunking bad and even lost tread blocks. But the coopers are wearing like iron. Snow and ice is great and they self clean at 7 mph in a 32 inch equivalent metric size.

I'm on gravel roads everyday and commute 50 plus miles of pavement in all weather conditions up and down a mountain pass here in Colorado. I loose and gain two thousand miles every day during the school week.

The coopers also win the most editors choice awards out of any of the other AT tires. Notably so from exposition portal, those overlanders eat tires like candy.

It's also the official tire of 4wd Colorado police vehicles. You don't see many stuck cops, do you?

When I intern at the local mechanics shop a good 3/4 of the tire mountings are cooper.

I like the coopers, would be the point of this post. It got a little rambley but I don't want to re write it, sorry.
I have run AT3's on our old KJ. I loved them. They did amazing in the snow and rain, and they do quite decent offroad. They also have a 3 ply sidewall, so quite a bit tougher than most other tires they compete against.
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