Kumho Venture A/T's

Just picked up a set of 31x11.50x15 Kumho Venture A/T's today...pretty good deal...just curious to hear if anyone as ever run them? Read a lot of good reviews for on-road performance, but not many for off-road...any info would be great. Thanks

rhino

2000 XJ with 3" Rusty's Lift

My '99 had 225/70/15 Kumho ATs when I bought it. I kept them for about two years until I went with 235 BFG ATs. They were very nice on road, but offroad they were like glazed doughnuts.

The performance of the Kumho AT's are pretty good on-road, but are pretty lackluster off-road. They are decent overall, but if you were to notice, the tread compound is harder than that of a BFG AT for example. This leads to less traction in loose, slick, or wet conditions off-road.
Though the overall thing to look at would be mileage and durability. Assuming your XJ is your daily driver, having a tire with a little bit harder compound should net you better mileage and longer life than a tire with a softer compound. The bad thing is there is always some kind of trade-off.

I was a little concerned about the off road capability of the tires, but they are on my DD and mostly on the street I should be set. Unfortunately I don't get offroad as much as I want to, but I will keep that info in mind if I do. Hopefully airing down will help a little...we shall see...They will get a workout at the Jamboree in a couple weeks....I will report back with more info after that...Thanks for the info!!

rhino

It has indeed been awhile since my original post, but I thought I would throw in a quick update on the tires in case anybody is interested...

After about 4000 miles or so...running about 30psi

On-road:
Handling and traction is very good on wet or dry pavement. Wear is looking good so far, but its still early. They do feel like they drift a little at interstate speeds, BUT they are 11.5 inches wide so I kind of expected that. Looking forward to testing them in the snow and ice as they were highly recommended for excellent traction in these conditions. We shall see...

Off-road:
A week after I had these tires I put them through a good test at the 16th Maine Mtns Jeep Jamboree in Bethel (Way Point and Sunday River Trails, in case anyone was there). I was rather nervous about how they would do off-road as they are not very aggressive in the tread pattern area..(especially when everyone around you is running Claws, Trxus MTs, and TSLs)...needless to say I was shocked (and so were several of the other drivers around me) at how well they actually did...I aired down to about 20psi and they walked me through both trails without any issues...everything from semi-steep (and wet) rocky inclines to a few decent stretches of soupy mud...The tires took a real beating and stood up to everything I threw at it. Sidewalls held up very well and molded good over the sharp, rocky sections. With a little more wheel speed than the others, I was able to make it through all the muddy runs without much trouble. Only trouble I really had was with steep, muddy inclines...tread fills rather quickly and it takes a LOT of wheel speed to clean out, so I had to make a couple runs at a few hills, BUT still made it up without any tugs or winching...All in all...very much shocked at how well they did..especially for an AT tire...

Overall:
So far I give them a thumbs up for now. I will try to post more after the snow starts flying here in Bangor. Hope this helps...

How is the road noise?

I heard they were fairly loud.

katarn

I've got a set of 235's on my 98 classic. They are very quiet (still new though, might get louder with wear). I got to test them out at 75 in some very hard rain, and there wasn't a hint of hydroplaning...a really nice switch from the stock goodyears. I haven't pushed them offroad, but I did do some very tight (ATV) trails on some land our family has, and got to pull start a tractor going uphill in some semi-loose dirt. They really grabbed much better then I thought they would. Didn't even really thing about it until later on when I realized I couldn't even make the hill unless I was in 4x4 with the stock tires...and I pull started a tractor going up it this time. For the price, I don't think you can top them. I paid $315 from the local tire place for 4 mounted and balanced with lifetime rotation. Can't say no to that!

Road noise isn't too bad for me...there is some at about 70-75mph, but again mine are pretty wide so I expected some noise with that much rubber hitting the ground. Around town is very quiet...Naturally they are much quieter than my old MT tires...I agree with JeffsJeep04...for the price, you can't go wrong!!!

Winter driving will be a good test as well...stay tuned, more info to come!

anything is better than those Goodyear RT/S tires. just switched to the Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo's. very nice!

whatevah said:

anything is better than those Goodyear RT/S tires. just switched to the Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo's. very nice!

Click to expand...

Totally agree with that...those were my original "stock" tires...man they sucked... I ran the same Bridgestone's after installing my 2" BB...great all around tires...really handled great, but make sure you keep them rotated often...I kind of slacked on rotating mine and they wore out quick...only got like 30K out of them before they were scary on wet roads...

just my two cents...