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Duratracs or KO2s?

6K views 31 replies 25 participants last post by  arqgalan 
#1 ·
What's the general consensus? Which is better for on road/off road performance, longevity, ride, road noise...all aspects that make a GREAT tire?

Looking to upgrade to 35s pretty soon and these are the two contenders.
 
#3 ·
Way to soon to give you a detailed review. I've had mine on October 30th, so far I'm very happy. But the real test comes once I've hit some snow and some trails. So far on the highway and heavy rain I'm very happy with them.
 
#6 ·
Like many others you seem interested in the new generation of hybrid AT/MT tires. Both of those tires are in that category as well as others like the Cooper Maxx, ATZ P3 and the latest Dick Cepek Fun Country. The common design features are an AT tread in the center, a wider void shoulder tread and siping. All of them are great tires but as usual they differ in the details.

It really depends on what is most important for you: ride quality, tread life, relative off road traction, quietness, etc. You can't get the best of all them but there is no doubt Goodyear has created a hit with the Duratrac which provides a great balance. For starters road and off road performance are add odds with each other. Those of us that run on MT make the deliberate sacrifice of road performance for improved off road traction. The KO2 may outperform the DT in certain areas (but it's yet to be seen) such as treadlife and toughness.
 
#8 ·
You are comparing a true MT to an AT tire so it will depend where you spend most of your time--off road the BFG will perform better in mud and where stronger sidewalls are needed. If pavement is your terrain of choice with less off road and mud conditions then the Duratrac or similar would be the way to go
 
#9 ·
You are comparing a true MT to an AT tire so it will depend where you spend most of your time--off road the BFG will perform better in mud and where stronger sidewalls are needed. If pavement is your terrain of choice with less off road and mud conditions then the Duratrac or similar would be the way to go

The KO2 is a hybrid just like the DT, it's not the KM2
 
#12 ·
I wont bang on KO2 because I only have driven on stockers and my Duratracs. I have 315-70-r17 and love them. I have 10 K on the tires and they look and act brand new. Great in all weather and I know because we get all weather here.
 
#21 ·
I had Duratracs and now I'm running Cooper AT3s. I can't say enough good things about the Coopers. The Duratracs were better in the nasty mud, as one could expect, but the Cooper AT3 is otherwise the best tire I've ever used on any 4x4 in the last 20 years.
 
#22 ·
I have the coopers as well after some Yokohama ats and a brief stent with BFG MT KMs. I love my coopers as well. I'm just running 32" tires but They wear like steel and get really good traction on snow and ice. It goes through 30" of snow better than my yokos and the ice traction when I'm out on the lake is much better than the yokos. I don't like to do much muddy off roading and would rather do trails and rocks and these tires have held up really well. I replace my tires prematurely due to how much I drive in the snow but if I replaced them like a normal person I could easily get 60k out of them. I already have 20k and very little wear
 

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#31 ·
Sometimes I think it would be easier to place strips of paper with the names of all tires in a hat and pick a tire that way.

Trying to compare a 2 ply to a 3 ply sidewall can be meaningless. How thick are the plies? It is very possible for a 2 ply sidewall tire to be thicker than a 3 ply sidewall. Is the sidewall rubber chemically EXACTLY the same? Are the plies made using the same material in the same proportions?

How about the thread lugs getting chewed up. Did the owner of Tire A drive on the exact same route and exact same line at the exact same speed as the owner of Tire B?

As far as posters with personal experience or "know a friend with BFGs" who has suffered sidewall damage, did the BFG owner take the EXACT same line as the DT or ATX or whatever owner that did not suffer damage? I've wheeled with people that had their tires deflate due to sidewall damage. Sometimes if the driver had turned 1/2 second sooner or later, no damage would have happened. So owner experience could be a factor regarding these personal testimonials.

Even having an "expert tire tester" drive on a closed course doesn't help completely. Again, did this expert driver drive within 1/2 inch of the same line each time with each tire brand/model? Same speed? Same braking force? Same outside temp? Same wind conditions?

I certainly hope everyone figures out what they want.

Regards,
 
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