Have Duratracs, Want Grabbers, Thoughts??

Last post and I'm out of this cluster.

KM2's have definite downside that I would say is relatively well documented. They suck in the rain/snow, have a debatably weak sidewall and some suffer from molding issues where the tread separates from the sidewall over time.

Personally I couldn't get them off my truck fast enough after I bought it. They had dry rotted badly, separated after only 4 years on the truck (checked receipts), and were terrible in the rain/snow as advertised.

 

I will chime in on this one since I currently have both Duratracs and BFG KM2's installed on my trucks. I have the Duratracs on my duramax and I love them. The reason I chose the tire is that it has a good aggresive tread design, and ALSO because of the their performance on snowy/icy roads. I live in central Colorado and make trips over mountain passes all winter long and the duratracs have performed perfectly for the last 10k miles or so. I do not expect a long life out of the tires from the reviews I read, but that is OK for me. I only put on about 5k miles a year on that truck so they will last me long enough and I will be able to replace them before they get all hard and weather checked. As far as road noise, they are definitely noticeable compared to a more highway type tire, but they are quieter than the KM2's.

Now for the BFG KM2's, I have those on my Tacoma. They have been great tires for running around the mountains, but when it comes to driving on snowy/icy roads, they are terrible! I have about 12k on my set of these tires and they are fine. I would actually like to upgrade to a larger tire size in the near future, at that point I will either stick with the KM2's or go with the Goodyear Kevlars. I had great luck with the old style Goodyear MTR's that I had on my old Jeep.

Sorry, but I do not have any experience with the General Grabbers.

 

Agree with this. Like has been pointed out, the Duratracs do well on snowy/icy roads. The KM2's since that has entered the discussion are dismal in snowy conditions unless you have them siped. I had mine siped when I had a set of KM2s on my Tacoma and it definitely helped but they still were not a great winter tire. I did like them a lot in the rocks and on the trails. I currently have Goodyear MTR Kevlars. They are more noisy than the KM2s and I like them better offroad than the KM2s. They're about equal on the road other than the noise. Also not great in the winter. Siping helps and I've siped the MTRs also.

For a tire that gets used mainly on the roads I love my BFG AT KOs. They are surprisingly good offroad here in Utah. Acceptable in the snow (not as good as Duratracs in icy stuff). They main thing here is the have great road manners IMO and treadlife is outstanding. I'm on my third set of them on my Land Cruiser. The last set got 70K miles. The current set has almost 60K miles and they still look good with good tread left and I'm running them for the road tires on my Tacoma right now.

 

I had duratracs on my truck at first and felt that they were wearing quicker than they should so I sold them and got km2s. Despite the extra weight I like everything about them more. I have about 15k on them now and they look new. The duratracs only had 5k and I could tell they were wearing already. Coming from a civic with ht tires before that I have no complaints about the Km2s in the snow and mine aren't even siped. If it were me I would stay away from the duratracs unless you want to buy them frequently.

 

To the OP, don't get grabber reds. You live in Baltimore, those are designed for sand.

 

OP, Where you're mostly doing On-Road stuff, look more into dry, wet, and snow traction the tires. Usually those are decent indicators of how a tire's going to be day-to-day in the Northeast.
Cheers.

 

Wait, so the Duratracs are a newish tire because they intro'd in 2009, but the KM2's aren't because they were intro'd in 2008?

A whole year's difference, oh my god!
And most of the reviews that you see about tires are first impression. Unless a set are either exceptionally good or exceptionally bad, typically people don't post in-depth long-term reviews about them. Kudos to you if you did, but that's one review among hundreds, and honestly I haven't read it yet. So yeah, most of the reviews I've read have been first impression.
Maybe I'm dating myself, but I still consider the Duratracs and the KM2's to be fairly "new" products.

 

OK, thanks to everyone who chimed in. But no more arguing guys, Just no need for arguing over some rubber. Boxocket, thank you, as you have been very helpful showing a few different angles. The reason I am thinking of going away from the Duratracs is how badly mine have worn, and as a cause, they shake my truck and are actually very loud on the highway.

Besides the Duratracs, is there any other aggressive looking tire that does well on road? I just don't want to loose that "mean look".

My truck is no mall crawler, so I want my tires to be able to perform as well as the rest of the truck does. Basic mods really ,the best being the Arb Bull Bar on the front, but the truck is pretty set up, 5100's Lights, Bumpers, Hi-lift, Spare Carrier, really really love my truck and I don't want to loose the look of a badass rig. With all I have done to her I can't see myself going to a less aggressive tread design to match!

 

Look at the Cooper ATP. Handle well in the snow and are quiet on the road.

 

Just was looking at the General Tire AT2's. They look good, and the reviews are alright. Anyone have experience ?

 

I'd look at these if I were you. I've been impressed with these on a few friends trucks. If I were to get them I'd have them siped before the winter.

Nitto Trail Grappler

 

Another one that has killer winter performance is the Interco Trxus

 

I really like the Duratracs for my 4Runner, however, I'm now concerned about the weak sidewalls. I had a set of KM2s on my FJ and the older gentleman that I bought my FJ from swore up and down that he never lost a tire while running the KM2. Arizona rocks would gash the sidewall, but the gashes weren't deep enough to cause me or him concern. Now being in TN, it rains more and sometimes snows so I went with the Duratrac. As soon as I blow out a side wall I will have 4 285 Duratracs up for sale! I think all tires have pros and cons so you just buy the one you feel most confident in. I'm not a fan of the MT/R even after having a good friend recommend them.

Reagarding the wear on my first set of Duratracs for my T4R, I have been impressed with the wear.

 

I'll throw my 0.02 in the pot.

I just installed trail grappler on my truck, 33x11.5. They're relatively quiet for a mud tire, with good on road handling. No snow here, but driven in rain, I have to purposely do something to get them to break loose, but they do well and are predictable. The sidewalls are very thick, which makes this a heavier tire. I feel confident that the sidewalls will stand up to abuse. This tire has a wide footprint, which helps in the sand. It looks pretty good too, but has squares off edges, they aren't as round/ bubbly shaped as other m/ts. It takes a lot of airing down to get the sidewalls to budge, since it is so thick. I have no complaints yet, tread has taken some abuse and had had no chunking or missing lugs.

As for duratracs, I agree that they are a good street tire with an offroad look to them. Sure the can be taken off pavement and do fairly well, but they are no comparison to and actual m/t with 3 ply sidewalls. Even the E load rated ones have a thin sidewall. I have had 2 sets, on a f350 and a WJ grand Cherokee. The siping does well in wet weather and the tread design provided good traction. People here love to put them up on a pedestal, but they have their weaknesses. Tread blocks chunk off as the siping rips away, and at around half tread, they were just as loud as my Mickey Thompson MTZs. They are good for what they are, though. A lightweight all terrain, with some aggressive styling cues. One set was sold with the truck and the other made it to 30k.

 

Nitto Trails or Hankook MTs



Goodyear Kevlars are decent tires too. I currently have BFG A/Ts. The tread life is amazing but that's about it haha.

Agressive tires and tread life is an oxymoron IMO

 

I also have the love for the Hankook MT's

 

Yeah, they'll more than likely be my next tire. Now to decide what size...I'm over 285s

 

I wish they came 255/85/16 or 255/80/17

 

Hell yeah! I'd give that size a try

I'm gonna go with 295/75/16s or 315s...trying to decide if I wanna choo up my fenders lol