I know it's been beat to death...KO2's but here's the rub

This. I have load E KO2s and haven't been bothered by them. Road noise isn't bad (better than Duratracs IMO) and I haven't had any complaints as far as stiffness goes. I'm running 6112s in front and 5160s in the rear. Duratracs definitely do a better job self-cleaning, but I have yet to encounter issues with that either (this includes snow-wheeling with my KO2s).

OP, I think ultimately you'll find that the Duratrac/KO2 discussion is going to be much like whether to do a diff drop or not (for the love of god, no one reply to this part here, lol). People are going to argue pros for both, people are going to argue cons for both.

 

That doesn't necessarily mean they are snow rated, it just means they are designed for liberals

 

Both are great tires, you can’t go wrong with either.

 

So you are moving around ok on OE tires?

(Have family in Seabrook NH, so I'm familiar with the weather. Good road programs help a lot, but sometimes you just get 'caught' before the crews can get cleared, or they just can't keep up.)

Michelin Defenders LTX M/S for the replacements.

Another option (if you were more snow/ice concerned) is to roll the Defenders as 3 season daily tires, and have a 2nd set of wheels with actual winter tires, like Blizzacks, Nokians, etc.

Forget looking kewl, go with function for how you use the vehicle. Keep yourself, your vehicle and the rest of us safe.

 

Nitto Ridge Grapplers

 

I have ran studded Duratrac, unstudded duratracs, studded cooper discoverer M&S, and BFG at KO2’s. So far the KO2’s have been the best in snow, ice, slush, and mixed conditions. All of these in North West PA (Lake Erie lake effect snow) and the hills of WV.

If you buy the KO2’s you will not be unhappy.

Bonus- run KO2’s all year around and still have a great tire for summer conditions.


In fact today i did a short overland trip to a fire tower in a nearby national forest with unmaintained roads. The tires even with 20k miles did outstanding.