Help me and pick a tire!

Alright community. Please help me out with a tire brand, size, and tread pattern.

A quick summary for you, I'm new to the game and will only doing some off-roading. The new JK is a DD for now and travel 50 miles round trip a day. I'm not sure what Colorado has to offer for trails, but for the time being I am more interested in trails and less on huge rocks and beating up the new ride. I'm looking to retain MPG as much as possible, but have the ability to go explore with the wife and kids when it's time to play.

I will be adding the RK 2.5 Flex lift kit and 17" wheels. Right now I'm thinking Nitto Terra Grapplers at 285/75/17 so a little less than a 34" tire. Is there a better A/T out there or less aggressive M/T that won't get too loud on the highway? I'm on the fence if I want to bump to a 35 due to power loss (running 3.73), cost, and strain on parts. Is the 285/75/17 too narrow of a tire and not good for off-road traction or will I be ok?

Thanks for the help!!

I had mickey Thompson ATZ on my pick up at one time they were nice and quiet lasted a long time and looks kinda aggressive

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Nitto makes a good tire, but rather heavy imho. Look to the Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac in LT315/70R17 size (approx a 34.5"). It's the lightest of the bunch (good for mpg's), has decent road manners, is quiet on highway, and a lot of folks have had great things to say about the tire and its ride quality.

KPM171 said:

Nitto makes a good tire, but rather heavy imho. Look to the Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac in LT315/70R17 size (approx a 34.5"). It's the lightest of the bunch (good for mpg's), has decent road manners, is quiet on highway, and a lot of folks have had great things to say about the tire and its ride quality.

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This.

I have duratracs and they are taking very good care of me. Barely noticeable hum. I suggest looking at a 15 also. The tires are much cheaper than a 17. So much so that you can buy new wheels and not increase your budget for 17's!

For what you need I'd agree with the other guys about the duratracs. Everyone says they do great in the snow and are great on & offroad.

I ran the duratracs and liked them. I bought them because of their claimed performance on the snow. A lot of people in Colorado run them for that reason.

Do know that they have a weaker sidewall. I sliced one while driving on a very easy run (practically a dirt road) last year before I moved to Nittos.

For MPGs you might check out the Falkens too. I think someone recently posted up about liking their Terra Grapplers. I've ran neither so I cannot give you any first hand knowledge opinion.