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Tires, yet again, BFG AT or Duratrac or ?

CyberSniper

CyberSniper

1/2 ton status
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Apr 21, 2003
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Location
Chelsea, MI
I'm looking for tires again.

Last spring you guys helped me out. I'm looking for a tire for a different purpose.

1994 YJ, 2.5L 4 banger and an AX5 with 4.10 gears in a stock HP30 and a D35 with LockRight converted to rear disc. Stripped to the minimum so it doesn't weigh much.

It has a 4" lift on it, but it's not really necessary for 31" tires. I think 33x10.50s will fit with a 2" lift. It needs shocks (rusty bodies that probably want to blow, the bushings are rotted) and tires (31x10.50s due to age) plus it could actually use new springs.

It's been sitting since 2011. All the stuff on it is stuff I bought my Dad when I was in college. It's been sitting in a shed rusting for 13 years and it's very apparent the shed was a bit moist.

I've been out of the predominately offroad world tire game, and all tires are expensive now.

I was eyeballing 33x10.50r15 BFG ATs. 33x12.50r15 Duratracs are on the list also.

I'm familiar with Duratracs and their limited self-cleaning ability but they've never disappointed me. I'm unfamiliar with modern BFG ATs. Not really looking for a true mud tire for this Jeep because it can't clean them anyway unless you bring a toothbrush. It's mostly going to get used for a yard truck (getting rid of my golf cart) and an ice cream getter. So it's not like it needs to comfortably go down the expressway at 70mph (double digit hp... haha).

I can get a set of 33x10.50r15 BFG ATs with low miles made in 2022 for $700. I was eyeballing those, but I'm not sure if modern BFG ATs age well? Old ones would take a decade before they weatherchecked...

If I were to get 33s, I could put them on a TJ. I do not foresee wearing them out before they age out.
 
I've got a set of 31x10.50x15 KO2s on my S10 Blazer with 25,000 miles on them from 2017. They have been wearing excellently, and I can tell you that they have a softer tread compound than previous versions, as this is my fifth set in different sizes from over the years. You can see some dry rot between the treads forming.
I would choose the BFGs over the Duratracs, as I've seen a lot more Duratracs with blown out side walls.IMG_20240313_140218351.jpg
 
BFG or even the General AT.
 
Has General fixed their dry rot problem? I have some General Grabber APs with moss growing on them for rollers for the truck in the picture from the 90s that still haven't cracked but my last set of AT3s cracked like humpty dumpty in 3 years.
 
I got a set of Cooper Discoverer Rugged Trek as a Christmas present to myself. Very quiet at highway speed. Can’t say anything about how they wear yet since they only have about 500 miles on them. Cost for tire/mount/balance was $320 per.
 
I really like BFGs. Got like 70k from a seldom rotated set on my wife's yukon xl denali. Ran a set of duratracs after that and they were nowhere near as nice and didn't last as long. I run Firestone Destination XTs on a bunch of my work trucks. I really like them too. There is a Cooper All Terrain available only at WalMart that I am currently running on my wife's yukon. Super cheap compared to anywhere else.
 
CyberSniper said:
I'm looking for tires again.

Last spring you guys helped me out. I'm looking for a tire for a different purpose.

1994 YJ, 2.5L 4 banger and an AX5 with 4.10 gears in a stock HP30 and a D35 with LockRight converted to rear disc. Stripped to the minimum so it doesn't weigh much.

It has a 4" lift on it, but it's not really necessary for 31" tires. I think 33x10.50s will fit with a 2" lift. It needs shocks (rusty bodies that probably want to blow, the bushings are rotted) and tires (31x10.50s due to age) plus it could actually use new springs.

It's been sitting since 2011. All the stuff on it is stuff I bought my Dad when I was in college. It's been sitting in a shed rusting for 13 years and it's very apparent the shed was a bit moist.

I've been out of the predominately offroad world tire game, and all tires are expensive now.

I was eyeballing 33x10.50r15 BFG ATs. 33x12.50r15 Duratracs are on the list also.

I'm familiar with Duratracs and their limited self-cleaning ability but they've never disappointed me. I'm unfamiliar with modern BFG ATs. Not really looking for a true mud tire for this Jeep because it can't clean them anyway unless you bring a toothbrush. It's mostly going to get used for a yard truck (getting rid of my golf cart) and an ice cream getter. So it's not like it needs to comfortably go down the expressway at 70mph (double digit hp... haha).

I can get a set of 33x10.50r15 BFG ATs with low miles made in 2022 for $700. I was eyeballing those, but I'm not sure if modern BFG ATs age well? Old ones would take a decade before they weatherchecked...

If I were to get 33s, I could put them on a TJ. I do not foresee wearing them out before they age out.
Click to expand...

I've got 33" Duratracs on my 94 YJ.

yj2.jpg
 
I can't say enough good things about the KO2's. Had a set of KO's in 31x10.50R15 on a 4 cylinder YJ years ago that never had any trouble getting around, and I've got a set of 285/75R16 KO2s on my Duramax that are closing in on 30k miles with excellent tread wear still.

Also have nothing but good things to say about the General Grabber AT2s, have a set of them with probably north of 40k on them, have been on 5 different trucks, and are over 10 years old. (Really need to retire them just from age, but wear and rot would never show it)



I've also had Duratracs on three different work trucks, and I don't think I've ever been as disappointed with a tire as I was with them, at least on the traction front. I can't speak to how they wore, but I've had plenty of other Goodyear tires that have had slipped/broken belts, and ive watched two Goodyear semi tires explode while being aired up.

I have nothing good to say about Goodyear.

20240204_142203.jpg

20240128_160006.jpg
 
I have the ko2s on my DD... Came on it. Had them on stuff in the past too. And always liked them.

The last few sets I've bought for other things have been Falken wildpeak AT3. Due to the price and wanting to try new things .
I'll be replacing my ko2s with them when these wear out.
So far the wildpeak AT3 has been the best tire I've bought hands down.
 
I've been running the BFG AT's (33x10.5r15) for decades. I get about seven years out of them before they start cracking. They sit a ton, so mine are probably a bad example.

With current prices, I hate putting tires on the thing, but the AT KO2's have been really good. I normally air down to 20PSI for a better ride and traction, they've done very well in snow which is usually the worst condition I drive in. I hit a bit of mud and they do well there too.

KO3's are apparently out now.
 
Duratracs are my favorite tire I've ever had, but they're pretty much junk at 7/32nd and you have to rotate them constantly. So for a DD, you pretty much need two sets so in the winter you have full tread and in the summer you can run the 9/32" and less ones.

Duratracs and BFG ATs are the only two tires I've ever bought a second time in my life. I like the BFG ATs, but I *feel* like they aren't as good in the mud we have in Michigan as the Duratracs. But again, the Duratracs are pretty much junk at 7/32" and I've run BFG ATs in the rain at 5/32" and not be skeered.

You guys have pushed me to BFG ATs.



I think I'm going to look at getting some Rubicon takeoffs. Set of five 285/70r17 (32.8") BFG AT KO2s on Rubicon wheels for ~$1550 locally. Does that seem reasonable? I can get a set of five 317x70r15 (34.4") BFG AT KO2s on XR 392 beadlock wheels for around $3k locally.

Oh, and due to me being a believer in turd polish, I bought a bunch more parts as I've been working on the YardJeep and finding more things wrong like seized ujoints.
I'm at:
Full set of body mounts and I keep breaking bolts
Front brake calipers/Z36 pads/Wagner Chinesium rotors
4.88 cogs in the HP30
Zip locker in the HP30
Yukon 4340 27 spline shafts in the HP30
New factory cover

Rear TJ backing plates and rotors, Explorer Rotors, Z36 pads in the D35
4.88 cogs
Powertrax Lockright
New threaded plug factory cover
Stock shafts

It has a 4" lift on it I bought ~20 years ago, but I can't remember whose it is. I thought it was Skyjacker but now I'm not sure. I was thinking about getting the Rough Country 4.5" military wrap kit that costs like $700. It needs new shocks anyway and the springs are tired. Rust really got to the U-bolts so if I wanted to pull the axles to do the gears I'd need to spend $80 on new ones anyway.

I have a SYE I bought for it back in 2006 from PORC I never put in. I was eyeballing the Teraflex 2low kit but at $335 it seems pricey. I need a different mode selector anyway because I want neutral (YJ NP231 has the front and rear outputs tied together in neutral). I partially tore apart the second NP231 I bought for it 15 years ago. What do you guys think?




TurdPolish.jpg
 
I new the original owner of PORC Pasadena Off Road Center. He sold it and bought a 31 flavors franchise store.
 
That's wild, always wondered what happened to him. Bought a ton of stuff from him back in the day. Same with the Seabass44/12voltguy, always wondered what happened to him also.
 
don't think we are talking about the same thing. Are you referring to a CK member when you say PORC ? I mean a 4x4 part tires and wheels shop on Colorado blvd Pasadena Ca direct competitor to Dick Cepek's 1st store in South Gate Ca.
 
Nope, you're right, different person... had to hunt him down. Performance Offroad Center, used to be porc on pirate.
 
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