I just went from 285/70-17 Duratracs to 34x10.5 KO2s.
Duratracs are truly remarkable in winter driving conditions, but I found they "bounced" quite a bit on freeway driving. If you can live with that, they are an outstanding winter tire.
The KO2s seem more comfortable on the freeway, but I haven't had a chance to try them in the snow yet, so I can't comment on that until I do.
Slightly narrower Duratracs than the ones I had may prove more comfortable on the freeway.
I have stock Duratracs, which have the snowflake symbol.
I've got them put on in October last year, so 10 months, (about 15k or so) and they drove fine in the winter. Good traction, felt they really bit into the snow. I live in Northern Ontario, so -30C and lots of snow are the norm in the winter, not the exception.
Went and had some fun in an unplowed parking lot (about 10 inches of snow) with two other Jeep buddies, they were running the stock highway tires, and both of them got stuck. I had to pull both of them out. So, in my opinion, the Duratracs are great in snow.
They have been absolutely fine so far this summer. I've been driving topless and doorless as often as I can this summer, and the only time I've heard any sort of hum from the tires, has been when I've probably been a little too hard into a turn and stressed the tires.
My opinion after my time with them so far, great tire for mix of D.D. and light off-roading. Can't say heavy off-roading, simply because I haven't had a serious chance yet.
As for the OP, my ride is my DD, and I have no issues with the stock size on pavement, I find them to have very nice street and highway manners.
Just got back from a 900km road trip to Burlington and Toronto, and never had a second thought about my tires. Handled fine cruising at 110kmph and then in stop and go traffic in the city.
My buddy runs 285/70/17 Duratracs and is quite happy. We're running 305/65/17 KO2s. Always been a BGF guy so it was a no brainer but it rides better than the stock KMs for sure, especially in the rain. What I can tell you is my buddy's 285 Duratracs LOOK bigger just standing looking at them both. Maybe it's because they're a 2dr and we're a JKU, but they do.
Little like trying to figure out which "Two Broke Girls" you wanna snuggle with in a remote mountain cabin for a weekend, assuming they are both suffering from laryngitis......
I looked at what my rough conditions are most of the time. In Michigan that's mud, sand and snow. To me, the duratrac seems better for that. To me, the ko2 is more of a rock crawling tire, although I'm sure its great at mud, snow, sand.
What really got me on DT was the weight and sidewall rating. The ko2 is heavier in a 285 and has an "e" rating. I have an 09' didn't want to increase the weight and didn't want e rating, but mostly it was the weight.
Then I took advice from here, u know who you are thank you, I came to realize I could get new wheels and DTs for not much more and drop a huge amount of weight w a c rated tire, 6lbs a wheel!...sign me up.
33x12.5x15 a hair wider than a 315(at least by math), no regear, not much lift needed if any, no new rear tire carrier necessary, less worry about axle damage. V happy.
I've been running 275/65/18 Duratracs for a few thousands miles. These tires are amazing. Given the aggressive tread pattern, they are VERY quiet and ride real smooth (for Jeep standards). I highly recommend them for everyday use and some off-roading on occasion.
If side wall strength is important then no question KO's --if you spend most of your time on the pavement and light off roading then either will be fine.
The DuraTracs are very good in the snow and solid everywhere else. I have heard that the KO2 is excellent. For the best AT-type of tire, I would not use anything else in Colorado though I only use MTs since I have two vehicles...the Jeep is mainly a second vehicle. When I move to 37s, it will likely be one of the two.
KO2's in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado this past Christmas,
This is how our cabin looked like after the little storm "Goliath" dumped its power in 24 hours.
On our way to the place before the snow started catching up, the US550 was fun to drive, especially knowing the Silverton crew were performing avalanche control, it took us literally the entire day to cross the Silverton Pass on Dec 23.
Love this thread. I am looking into replacing my Stock Rubicon tires and the DuraTrac is only available in 255/75R17 in a non LT. Its also 6.5 lbs lighter than the stock BFG muds. What am I giving up by going to a non LT tire? Is there another size that will fit that is at least as large on won't rub at all ever? I hate it when tires rub... Feels amateur.
I'm running Silent Armors 255/75x17 supposedly with a Kevlar reinforced sidewall. P- rated, but about 3 lbs. heavier than the Duratrac. But they just stopped production. If I have to replace them it will be with 255/75 Goodyear Wrangler MT/R with Kevlar sidewall. For me, I'm really paranoid about sidewalls popping on rocks. I did do the finger test trying to bend the sidewalls at Discount Tire and found the Silent Armors much stiffer than the P- rated Duratracs. But I'm mainly overland type travel on rocky trails. YMMV. For mainly on highway the Duratrcs look really nice. FWIW, BF Goodrich is now available in C-rated 255/75x17LT with a 3 ply sidewall. I'd check it out.
Only have a week on 315 70/R17 KO2's but... They are the quietest AT I've ever run. I have used Duratracs on lifted Duramax trucks before and liked them but not loved them. Duratracs are very good in the winter but mine seem to have a drone. For me the true test for the KO2's will be in the snow and on ice. For now I'm very impressed.
I just got some KO2 in 235/85r16, will get them mounted on Monday. I had Firestone Destination MT, looked at them this morning, while there is still plenty of tread left on them, they didn't look good to me anymore, looked at the DOT label, and saw that 4 last digits were 5107, almost 9 year old tires, time to change...
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Ask a question
Ask a question
Jeep Wrangler Forum
9M posts
468K members
Since 2005
A forum community dedicated to Jeep Wrangler owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about reviews, performance, trail riding, gear, suspension, tires, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, for all JL, JT, JK, TJ, YJ, and CJ models!