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Tire Question: Km2 , Bighorn or Duratrak

8K views 20 replies 14 participants last post by  FJC_MIKE 
#1 ·
So I have a dilemma. I have decided to go with steel wheels as this will match my M416 trailer.*
The issue now is tires. I have narrowed it down to 3.
Do say 80% on road with little rock crawling unless it is a destination. I am planning a trip this summer to Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado ( gone for almost 3 weeks) I am looking for a good all around tire that can be of any use in snow as well.
Noise is not an issue as the damn roof rack is noisy when cruising.

Ok choices
This is due to easy of availability and cost of trying to keep this under $1700 out the door. *In Northern Virginia this is not easy.
Tire size: 285 70r17.
I will have my lift done by then as well (just have to install it)
Looking for a true Mud terrain of Hybrid of an AT/MT.*

Goodyear duratrak
Maxxis Bighorn
BFG KM2
Cooper STT


What do you think?

Remember I am looking for ease of purchase and availability.
 
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#2 ·
Out of those 3 i would only pick the Duratrac or the KM2.

The duratrac will be better in snow and on the highway.
The KM2 will be offroad and in the rocks.

One of the only downsides to the duratrac, IMO, is the 2 ply sidewalls. This is where most people damage their tires offroad. The BFGs have 3 ply and are pretty strong.
 
#4 ·
So i added the Cooper STT's in there as well. Just because of the siping. And I hear good things.
I think the Bighorns are our and the Duratracks as much as i like the looks and the design, that 2 ply sidewall is worry some. If they are strong 2 ply maybe, but my last set of tires felt all squirly on back road when in a 2 ply.

As for the M416. I have to take more pictures. Right now it is all apart. No major rust (all surface) and in real good condition. Built in 1962 by Fayettte Mfg in Fayette Ohio. Serial number 637, so a real early model.
Yours looks great BTW!

 
#6 ·
you should consider cooper st maxx. i have owned cooper stt and bfg km2's as well and so far my favorite is the cooper st maxx.
great traction in snow and wet conditions. ready to accept studs. great in the dirt. have not had them on the rocks yet but coopers armor-tek sidewalls are hard to beat.
and my favorite feature of all is, theyre super quiet!
 
#7 ·
A vote for Duratrac here.

Last FJ had BFG AT's. Went offroad last weekend to the same spot I visited 6 months ago. BFGs needed 3 attempts and a rear diff lock to get through a spot in the summer. Add soggy snow a couple of days ago and Duratracs went straight up first time. FJ behind me running Nitto Grapplers got up on third try.

I didn't air down because I was lazy about it and finally got stuck in doors deep snow, but those tires did a whole lot of climbing to get to that point!




Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app
 
#9 ·
I run a company up in Canada. We have 10 Tundra Pick-ups and we've tried a whole bunch of tires. Criteria choices: wear, loose dirt traction, snow traction, "twistability" while hauling trailers...since we have tried the Duratrac, the choice is unanimous by all our foremen : we run Duratracs with studs for the winter months and a second set w/o studs for the summer months. The only truck not running the Duratracs is my FJ...I have a set of Wrangler MT/R Kevlars. All my offroading consists of mud - and having tried both, the Good Year is by far better than the Duratrac in the mud.
Fj summer kit

winter wheel kit unit #591
 
#12 · (Edited)
I am currently dealing with the same dilemma. I've been trying to decide for months between the Duratrac, STT, and KM2. Most of my driving would be highway as well. I really wanted the STT until I heard how hard it was to balance. I really don't want the shakey wheel on the freeway. I think what I'm going to do is buy the Duratracs for an all-season and ride them for a year. Then next spring, pick up a set of the KM2s with wheels for the Summer.

Here's what I came up with from my research.

Duratracs - Great on highway, good off-road, great in rain, snow and ice, decent in mud.
2-ply sidewall. wanders a bit on the freeway. lightest tire.

STT - Good on highway, great off-road, decent in rain, snow and ice, good in mud.
3-ply sidewall. ride gets rough in colder weather. LOTS of weight to balance. slightly heavier than Duratracs.

KM2 - Good on highway, great off-road, decent in rain and deep snow, horrible on ice, great in mud.
3-ply sidewall. weight is similar to other tires above. balance great.
 
#14 ·
WickedPSI

Thanks i will have a look at them. they look interesting for sure. 3 ply sidewall?

mdb3sgte
that is awesome info.
I think i just might gamble on the STT depending on the ST Maxx. i will only have one set for at least a year. So something all around will work.
I was not interested in the Toyo's just due to availability in my area and cost. Nitto, i just do not like the tire

i really like the KM2 and they are still a pick.
Why does picking tires have to be so hard LOL.
Ice is the problem i have heard with them.

I have a feeling it will come down to a coin toss.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Well my last post got me searching again. I've decided to do a MT now, Duratracs in the winter, and new rims next spring.

I've recently ran across some great reviews on the Firestone Destination MT. TireRack ranked them 2nd to the KM2 and offroaders.com gave them better reviews than the KM2.

They have a 3 ply sidewall and load range E. Fairly light at 61lbs for that load range. Pretty good ratings for the snow believe it or not. Not to mention you can run studs in them and can also get the center lugs siped(which I'm seriously considering for extra wet traction)

http://offroaders.com/tech/AT-MT-Tires/Firestone-Destination-MT.htm
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=ORMT

So now I'm going to search around on here and see what fellow FJ owners say about the Destination MTs.

ugh..... tire shopping sucks!
 
#16 ·
Just to give my .02. I love my KM2's. They do great offroad, in mud, rocks, whatever, they have always given me traction. I do a lot of onroad driving, my FJ is my dd, takes me 3 hours to and from college, and I tend to drive a lot regardless. So far I have around 35k miles on my KM2's doing a 5 tire rotation, and they still have a lot of tread on them. I get compliments about them all the time, and are plain mean looking. The noise on road isn't bad at all, in fact I wish they were a little louder. The only issue I've had with them is I've had 3 nails go through 3 different tires. One got patched (BFG sent me a replacement on for that since it was new-ish), one got plugged, and the other one is sitting on the spare, soon to be replaced with the patched one sitting in my garage. Either these things have magnets in them or I have really bad luck with nails. Either way, I've never had a flat or damaged them offroad, other than your normal chunking/slices in the lugs from sharp rocks. The sidewalls have held up great. I'd recommend them to anyone.
 
#19 ·
Helmut_S they were a thought some time ago, but I ave since ruled them out for one reason or another. But they are still in the back of my mind

Tornadolax11
Thanks!

I ran Destination MT's on my '96 Grand Cherokee in load range E. they wore like iron and were ok in snow, ice and rain. But that was one rough ride. To rough for my liking and I took them on a 2k trip.
 
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