BFG T/A KO2 Advice

I'm looking at purchasing new tires for my 06 TJ, I need something that'll be just as good on pavement as they'll be in 6-8 inches of fresh snow and ice. Up until recently I was set on the Goodyear Duratracs, my friend brought up the option of the new KO2's since they've been updated for better snow and mud performance.

Anyone have any experience with these new tires in similar conditions?

What size tire? The Duratrac is a proven winter tire but only goes up to 35s. I've been looking for a winter tire in a 37 + and found the only winter rated tire is the KO2. It's new so there is not much winter feedback on it yet.

I can't tell you about snow yet, but my ko2's have been great in the mud. I used to have the bfg mud terrain and I feel that these stack up nicely. Hope I helped! Keep on jeepin.

I'm thinking 30-33" haven't quite decided yet.

Thanks for the input guys, I appreciate it

Renagade119 said:

I'm thinking 30-33" haven't quite decided yet.

Thanks for the input guys, I appreciate it

Click to expand...

With the 30-33 tire size, you can definitely find a good winter tire. Before my jeep build, I ran 33 duratracs. I live in the Idaho Panhandle, about 2 hours from Canada. We get a decent winter. My jeep did great during winter with the Duratracs. Never had issues on the street with snow, slush or ice. I can't comment on the KO2s since I've never ran them.

You will probably wish you went with 35s. Most guys end up wanting larger tire sizes.

You certainly can't go wrong with the Duratracs. The companies that run the ice roads up here swear by them for their pickups, so that should say something about how well they perform in snow and ice. They're really decent on rock and mud too, and they're quiet and have good road manners. The only complaints I've heard about them is that they tend to wear quicker than other tires (which is pretty common for winter tires in general, since they use a softer rubber compound that keeps a better grip in low temps), and they have weaker sidewalls than most off road tires (the "E" weight rating has a three ply sidewall, while the lower rated ones are only two ply).

I've yet to try out the KO2s, but they are a much newer design that first came out a year ago. They are very comparable to the Duratracs in most respects, but they're also advertised as being very durable and having excellent tread life. The only possible disadvantage (if you're considering this and it's legal in your area) is they aren't designed to be studded like the Duratracs are.

You might also want to take a look at the Nitto Exo Grapplers as well. They are another new winter rated off road tire that just came on the market last year, and they are very comparable to the Duratracs in design, strength and tread life, etc, and they can be studded if you need it too. Mel even used them for a race last year, and it sounds like they worked really well for him in the rock and mud. They don't have as wide a variety of sizes available though, so I'm not sure if you'll be able to get them in the size you need.

There are several people on here running those tires. I haven't 100% decided, but I've narrowed it down to the Exo Grapplers or the KO2s. The newer tires seem to have a bit of an edge on the Duratracs.

The only other winter rated off road tires I know of are Toyo's Open Country C/Ts and some sizes of General Grabber AT2s. I really haven't seen much about those review wise, and I don't think anyone on here runs them either.

Just curious, what part of the country are you in? Do they salt in your area?

I ran the regular KO's on my old chevy and loved them in the snow and dirt, only slipped out when I wanted it to. Got great milage out of them on the road as well (dont remember exactly how many). On my jeep currently im running the BFG KM mud terrains and got 63,000 miles out of my last pair which is not bad at all for mud terrains if you are looking for something a little more aggressive

The original KOs worked great in the snow. I just replaced a set of KMs with KO2s but can't comment on winter driving yet. I expect them to be better than the originals in snow and rain which is perfect for me.

Ive heard nothing but good about the KO2s

My ko2 have been all good with no issues off road. They have been everywhere my km2 has been and love the highway handling as well. Had a buddy just get back from rubicon and jeeps were running ko2's with no problems.

I always hear good things about the winter traction and performance of Duratracs.

Do it. I just got new T/A KO in a 33.5 inch size. Workn out real well in the mud. They dig that stuff plus they are snow rated which is great for up here in Canada!

I'm also not talking a little mud I was pretty well up to my bumpers and they where grabbing. So if the new K02s are anything like the generation before, then get em.

We ran KO2s on our one work wrangler all last winter. They worked very well. As good as the duratracs if not better. One thing the duratracs do have going is they are molded for studs if you really need crazy ice/snow traction.

The KO2s have also worked well in the mud, not as good as a true mt tire but close. They worked great in moab too.

Ko2

I’ve been researching these as well, looking to put a set on my truck real soon either 275/70T17 or 285/70R17

Great tires. I've had them on 3 of my trucks, sand/snow/etc. Good tires.

EDIT: I've had great luck with wear on them too. Two of the sets I had lasted 35K with rotations at every LOF.

I've had several sets of the original BFG ATs and loved them. I would definitely buy a set of the new ones.

I had a set of the new ko2's mountain up for 1,000 miles. Drove through a heavy hail storm that left a nice layer of hail on the road with absolutely no issues. We returned them because bfg's stating sizing was way off, their 34x10.50 measured out to be 32x10.50. All manufacturers tires are slightly off on fire size, but this was to much of a difference for me.