Tires

oldschool

oldschool

Well-known member
I'm starting to think about the next set of tires for my Cherokee. I really liked the KM2 when I first got them, but truth be known I spend more time on road than off, and they got some miles on them, and now sing something terrible on the pavement. Plus, they suck on hard pack snow and ice, which we get a bit of in CO. I want something smooth and quite on pavement, that still has some off road worth. Any suggestions?
???
 
I don't have a specific suggestion, but: most mild all-terrains or aggressive highway-terrains will handle pretty much all of what you're asking, excerpting the hard-pack snow and/or ice.  For that, you might as well step into a winter tire, because nothing is going to do well on those surfaces without being designed for it.  I've anecdotally heard that the Duratrac is a decent snow tire, but 1) I haven't used them personally, and 2) I don't know how loud they are, comparatively.  That said, ANY new tire will be quieter than a worn mud-terrain, and if you need more traction than the new tire offers at highway pressure, either air down when off-road or just throw your KM2s back on before hitting a heavier trail.
 
I prefer the falken at3w. It is cheap, tough, 55k tread wear warranty, and they do great in snow. Very quiet for how aggressive they are. I have run duratracs before and while they are good in snow, they suck to balance and have thin sidewalls. Zero complaints on the falkens so far, I have close to 30k on my current set
 
Here's the real question: what's the ratio of pavement to non-pavement miles?  If you're hitting asphalt 95% of the time, there's no reason to go to anything beyond the mildest of all-terrain patterns...and even that is a stretch.  Match the tire to what you're driving across; not what you wish you were driving across.
 
Duratracs do very well on ice/snow covered roads like I see in the winter. In the two sets I had they took a ton of weight to balance and needed frequent rebalancing. They were also heavy compared to others. BFG A/T are a close second for AT tires in winter. I do have to say the last two sets of KO2 I have had. (4runner & JL) both 285/70R17 Load C feel like they flat spot overnight and take a lot of weight to balance. I probably wouldn't run them again. I may try coopers the next time. I have a friend that runs the Discoverer S/T and loves them.
 
I appreciate all the input. Some decent advice. Given me some other tires to check out.
As for the Goodyear, had bad experience in the past with wrangler AT.

The Goodrich AT, had a set on this Jeep before. Was not really impressed with the way they handled snow/ice. Wore like iron though.

I was leaning towards Dunlop Grandtrek SJ6 and Cooper Discoverer A/TW. But will research the other ideas.

 
oldschool said:
As for the Goodyear, had bad experience in the past with wrangler AT.
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Word of advice: don't pre-judge a tire from a manufacturer just because you had a less-than-stellar experience with a different tire from that same manufacturer.  If you have bad experiences with lots of tires from one brand, or you simply don't care for some aspect of their process/procedure/products, that's fine...but be wary of transposition across models: you'll miss out on a lot of good choices, that way.

I personally haven't used either of the tires that you mentioned, but they're both dedicated winter patterns/compounds...so if you're looking for solid snow/ice performance they should do well.  Pick up a cheap set of stock wheels and you'll have a nice cold-weather set.
 
I ran the duratracs in NJ winters for a few years and they did really well until the started to wear around 50% or so. Then the wet/snow traction decreased and noise increased. I did cut a sidewall chunk on a trail but the tire still performed on road for over a year. Dad ran the grabber at2 and really liked them in his 2wd ram even in the snow and ice.  I like the idea of keeping the km2?s for trail use
 
I?ve run Duratracs, KO2s, and Cooper ATP. If you?re just running on pavement, get the coopers. Super quite, balance well, long life, and handle bad weather just fine.

The coopers are currently on the WK2.
 
Sundowner said:
Word of advice: don't pre-judge a tire from a manufacturer just because you had a less-than-stellar experience with a different tire from that same manufacturer.  If you have bad experiences with lots of tires from one brand, or you simply don't care for some aspect of their process/procedure/products, that's fine...but be wary of transposition across models: you'll miss out on a lot of good choices, that way.

I personally haven't used either of the tires that you mentioned, but they're both dedicated winter patterns/compounds...so if you're looking for solid snow/ice performance they should do well.  Pick up a cheap set of stock wheels and you'll have a nice cold-weather set.
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Believe me, I am not knocking either Goodyear or Goodrich. Goodyear makes some of the best speed rated/racing tires available, and the even half wore out, the Goodrich KM2 is still excellent in mud and loose soil. I simply did not like the Wranglers I had. Goodrich AT's I had I was happy with overall, quiet, smooth, and wore really good. Just didn't like how they were on snow and ice.
It amazes me the tires that are out there today. Most are of much higher quality than we had only 20 years ago.

I was just wanting to hear what other guys out there have been happy with.

The 2 off road tires I loved, Firestone 23 degree radial and Dunlop m/s (can't remember designation) that I had on this Jeep and got 60K miles out of, are no longer available. So, I'm looking for up to date recommendations.
 
The old BFG AT is far superior in snow as compared to the old KO style. I?ve run both and agree the old style was not confidence inspiring in snow.
 
ShaunSweeney said:
The old BFG AT is far superior in snow as compared to the old KO style. I?ve run both and agree the old style was not confidence inspiring in snow.
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Is the new style siped? I've found that makes a huge difference.
 
The sipping on the Duratracs is better. I think the biggest improvement on the KO2s vs the KOs is the compound they chose.

If your major concern is winter performance and you want an all around tire, the DTs are the best but wear quickly.
 

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