What tire should I run?

Okay so i'm preparing for my lift soon, and still haven't decided on a tire. The lift will be a Rough Country 3" with full packs, so i'm getting 31s. It will be a DD almost every day and probably see the trails every few week/weekends. Central New York winters are harsh, so it has to be good in both snow and ice. I don't plan to see much mud, but you never know. I believe I've narrowed down my options to these few, but am open to suggestions.

-BFG AT KO

-Goodyear MT/R w/ kevlar

-Treadwright ATB or MTG

-Goodyear DuraTrac AT

Also, if you have a picture of your XJ with a 3" lift and tires that you recommend, feel free to post it. I would like the tire to make the jeep look more aggressive as well.

thanks in advance!

bfg at/ko or the MT/r's... they seem to do well in the snow and DDable. the BFG's will be quieter and probably last longer.

The "old" MT-Rs are loud, way too noisy for a daily driver. Don't have any experience with the re-designed ones yet.

Currently running the BFG ATs on my DD.(30x9.50, no lift) They work well in rock and sand, haven't tried anything else yet.

Cooper ST or Cooper STT's. Both are excellent tires for DD and Offroad. Great tires, at least give them a look.

~James

I used to have BFG AT KOs. I absolutely hated them. I found nothing that they really excelled at, and if you ever find you self in mud, you're screwed. They were all right on the street, but performance sucked off road. I try to avoid mud as well, but mud happens, especially where I live. These tires did not last well for me at all, which seems to contrast with what has been said on here, at least recently, but I can never say that they last well. The ones I had were very soft and wore like crap.

Cooper STTs, as mentioned, seem like a good tire. I know a guy with some on his XJ and he claims they work well, tho I have never been with him offroad.

I replaced the BFGs with Dick Cepek Radial FC IIs. I love these tires. The work well on the trail, and they at least tolerate the mud when it decides to be there. They're tough and speed rated. They seem to be holding up better than what I used to have. They're availible in many common sizes 31 and up. They are a bit expensive, and probably harder to find than many others, but I intend to buy them again. I don't really have any pictures that show the tires really well, or clean, but this is the closest thing to a closeup I have. 3", 31, stock rims, and a bit of sheet metal removal.

sweet, thanks. i was actually just looking at the FC IIs. My boss runs the BFG ATs on his truck and said the same thing- they're great on road but wear fast and aren't great off road and told me to go for an aggressive tread. Then again he's DD'd his truck with some hardcore treads like super swampers.

The STTs look real nice, just wondering how they are in rain/snow/ice because mud-style tires with little siping don't always do great in those.

how well do the FC IIs handle the snow and ice?

i have the bfg ats and i love them they have lasted quite a while and they grip really well at least down here.

Well nothing is really good on ice, I guess unless you have studs in them. But the FCIIs seem to be siped more than the BFGs, and they are pretty good in the snow/ice that I have seen around where I am. Braking in snow seems to be better, and although I have not had them in as deep of snow as my previous tires, I have used them in fresh, "virgin" snow, and they impressed me. It's unclear as to how aggressive of a tire you want for use in snow, seems like it depends on type and depth of snow. One thing I like about these tires is how they are somewhat in-between an aggressive "MT" and a normal "AT" tire. They seem to make about the same amount of noise as as the BFGs.
Super Swampers, of course, are very aggressive, and made from softer rubber - both being traits that would make the tread go away faster. That's probably what has kept me from buying them. If you want more aggressive, you would probably want something like the MT/R or the STTs if you are going to DD it. I have no experience with the Cepek MC tires.

I've ran several different tires on many different rigs. All of them were DD/Weekend wheelers. For a vehicle that see's 90+% Street driving, I definitely would recommend the BFG AT's, while they don't work very well in mud, I have yet to find a terrain in my area that they don't do well (not great) in, including a fairly good amount of snow. Your going to be hard pressed to find a tire that does Great in all types of terrain, you will have to compromise one type of terrain for another. I have found that The BFG At does well in the types of terrain and types of driving I do most often, and it sounds like you will be doing alot of the same type of driving I do. The Goodyear Duratrac looks like a pretty sweet tire, and is what I was going to try, until I got 2 almost new BFG AT's in a trade. I talked to the Salesman at Discount tire, and he said just about everyone he has talked to, said the Duratracs are fairly loud, almost loud enough to just go ahead an get an MT (just hearsay though). Just my opinion take it for what its worth. Here is my setup with 3.5" lift and 31" BFG's

I ran MTRs on my DD for 6 years (same pair) in mud, moab, and lots of snow, loved the tire. Not loud at all untill you have like no tread left at which point you should get new tires anyways lol. Now i'm running the new km2 and i've been very happy with them! But the MTR is still a great tire, i just decided to try something new.

Also i've been eyeballing the micky thompson MTZ... Those might be a good tire for you because of the agressive lugs and good sipes.... But maybe i just wanna see what people think about them...

The bfg all terrains have an interlocking pattern. There is not even the slightest visible hint of a path to clean out snow mud sand or water. The new km 2 have a very good flow pattern. Very similar to the cheaper big o x/t's. The new mtr's are going to be loud and are a very heavy tire. An aggressive all terrain might serve your needs better. Toyo open country. Nitto terra grappler. Big o a/t. Or something of that sort. Get good FACTORY siping and a more aggressive all terrain pattern. Drive it like its a jeep in crap weather or off road and you will be good

i have the new mtr kevlars and love them. if you dont wheel a lot and can afford it you can't go wrong with bfg all terrains they are tough as hell and last forever, but are pricey for their catagory.

i really like dunloup mud rovers. there not loud as anyother MT i've ran adn there hella cheap. funny side note the current set of mud rovers im running bought when i got my first XJ since then they have lasted 3 XJs

I ran STT's in Germany for a few years, and we got tons of ice and snow. They handled GREAT in the slick stuff. As soon as these Interco TruXus tires wear out on my jeep, a new set of STT's will be going back on. Interco tires SUCK on the street.

We would get our fair share of the white stuff, and lord knows it rains like a mofo in Germany.



~James

31"BFG Muds! The best there is. :laugh3:

wim hoppenbrouwers said:

31"BFG Muds! The best there is. :laugh3:

Click to expand...

People who had both BFG Muds and the Destination M/Ts would disagree.

http://www.offroaders.com/reviewbox/showproduct.php?product=292 (see sixth review down).

Also, check this out:

http://www.expeditionoverland.com/sponsors.htm


I have a set of these, and they're hard to beat. If you're gonna be on a lot of ice, get them siped or get studs (they're studable), on all other surfaces, they're exceptional.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=ORMT

http://bestcovery.com/node/11172/compare

i've got interco trxxus on mine. they work great. had em out in snow, mud, and dirt in the summer. never had an issue.

they and the wheels are for sale too.

I would recommend, Bridgestone Dueler A/T 695's or REVOs, Cooper STT's, Dayton Timberline A/T's, The GY MT/R's are nice you can pick up the treadwright MT/R's for a decent price.

Over the last 13 years I've run BFG AT's, KO's and KM's, Goodyear MTR's and am currently running Maxxis Bighorns....look like an MTR without the noise. Balance up good, have performed well in rain, snow, sand, shale, slickrock. I'd buy them again....and my rig averages 60 miles per day highway, fwiw.

Here's the Bighorns in action.......

We have installed more then a few sets of the new MTRs and have heard good things about them so far. A few a from guys who have run the Rubicon with them and use them for there DD too. They quieter the the old ones and have a better side wall, I am going to run a set of 35" MTRs on mine soon.

Also the BFG KM2s are very nice DD and trail tires and pretty quiet.