Are "Expensive" Tires Even Worth It?

[JeepinJason33]

Almost all of the alternatives mentioned are on the higher price side. Take a look at the Milestare Patagonia reviews. They are less expensive and at first everyone raved about them. Then once people started putting miles on them, they noticed they wore quicker than the more expensive tires. If money is not an issue for you, I would just try another brand like Toyo or Goodyear. The KO2 is not really a hard core off-road tire, it is more of a jack of all trades. I like that tire and run it on my all three of my daughters Jeeps as they spend more time on the road than the trails. I ran Goodyear MTR's for a long time and recently switched over to the KM3's and really like them. They seem to wear well and as mentioned by another poster, are great on the rocks which is where my Jeep spends most of its time.

Everyone will have a strong opinion here, just try something different and see how you like it.

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[CarbonSteel]

Nary a trace of information here as of yet ?
The post was about service life and minimal maintenance and not even the OP gave any actual data on his own experience - mileage, treadwear evenness, premature failure, maintenance ??? - wtf is minimal maintenance on a tire ? - do some get rotated less ? do some need the air changed out ?
How many miles did everyone get out of the different tires ? miles per $ would be nice
How do they really perform on and off road - not wild guesses
Which ones dry rotted after a year and which ones ran strong 10 years later
And, oh yeah.... on a Jeep... not a Camaro, not a Subaru, not a Yugo... but on a Jeep
"Brand X tire sucks" is not actual data unless your 4 years old ?
But thanks to the OP as these posts are fun and besides, we've got plenty of other real tire posts if we wanted research - lol

Well, let me see:

I have had these BFGs for 35K miles and they have been rotated and rebalanced every 5K miles without exception--sometimes rebalancing more than once between rotations. They cost upwards of $2,500 for a set of 5. They will not stay balanced, the ride is rapidly going into the toilet, they are becoming less stable in the snow, and they do not do very well in the rain. So yeah, it begs the question of are they worth it.

While I totally get my "sample size" is miniscule, the BFGs have me questioning given the service life of many of these tires, are they worth it? I am leaning towards no, they are not.

I created a spreadsheet a while back when I was researching 35" tires and added 37's and 40's to it as well (pricing is outdated thanks to COVID and inflation). Looked at hundreds of reviews and at the time I was going for M/T Baja Boss A/Ts, but supply chain issues caused me to buy BFGs.

I am going to change them in the near future and was looking at the M/Ts again, but at $3000+ for a set of 5, I am highly skeptical that they (or any other tire) in that price range is worth the cost.

Oh and minimal maintenance would mean not having to have them rebalanced every 2K-4K miles just to have a decent highway ride.

 

[Whaler27]

…. There is a reason people pay a premium for example, a Michelin tire. When it comes to debating the brand and which is best, everyone will have their own opinion so you’ll need to try out different ones.

Sure, there’s a reason, but it may not be a valid one, or one that matters to you. That’s kinda the point of the original question.

People buy Rolex watches for a reason too. In 1968 they were the gold standard for dive watches, but today a $10,000 Rolex submariner is less accurate, less durable, AND less feature-rich than many of the MUCH cheaper alternatives, like Seiko, Citizen, and others, and the Rolex requires a $700 service every few years… I think modern tires are a bit like modern watches: there are good economical alternatives — so no, you don’t always get what you pay for in tires (or watches).

Since most of us can’t try out tires like we can try on shoes, pre-purchase research makes sense. There are many chatty tire threads on this forum, and opinions vary as dramatically as they do on this thread. I find the summary customer review data available on Tire Rack and elsewhere most helpful, because you can see patterns emerge over tens of thousands of customers. On the question of snow and ice traction I also found YouTube helpful, as there were multiple test videos demonstrating traction, or lack of it, in many environments.


Tire Review Summaries

“Maximum Traction Tire” reviews

 

[Zandcwhite]

Nary a trace of information here as of yet ?
The post was about service life and minimal maintenance and not even the OP gave any actual data on his own experience - mileage, treadwear evenness, premature failure, maintenance ??? - wtf is minimal maintenance on a tire ? - do some get rotated less ? do some need the air changed out ?
How many miles did everyone get out of the different tires ? miles per $ would be nice
How do they really perform on and off road - not wild guesses
Which ones dry rotted after a year and which ones ran strong 10 years later
And, oh yeah.... on a Jeep... not a Camaro, not a Subaru, not a Yugo... but on a Jeep
"Brand X tire sucks" is not actual data unless your 4 years old ?
But thanks to the OP as these posts are fun and besides, we've got plenty of other real tire posts if we wanted research - lol

I literally posted my experience, on JL's, with multiple tires both on and off road? As far as dry rotting after 10 years, how would any of us know, the JL hasn't been around that long not to mention we actually wheel ours, and drive them all over the country so there's 0 chance the tread lasts long enough to dry rot. As far as life of the KO2'S, I'll likely never know that either as I usually can't stand their underwhelming off road performance for more than the 1st year tops. The yokohama x-mt's had nice even wear but were worn down to the point I replaced them at 37k miles. If you're the type to run tires all the way to the wear bars they probably had 10-15k left in them. 2 moab trips, hundreds of trails, mud, snow, sharp rocks, sand, they performed great in all types of terrain. Never a tire issue out of them of any kind. They were loud for a modern tire, but nothing like an old super swamper or the like. Wet traction was slightly worse than the ko2s. The wife preferred the Patagonias we went to from there as they were quieter and slightly smoother on road. They also had better wet weather traction. They seemed to be wearing very well after 15k miles and had no problems on our 5500 mile cross country road trip at freeway speeds. Their traction in the mud (Alabama and Arkansas were sloppy when we were out there) left a bit to be desired, although I'm not sure anything would have hooked up in those conditions. That Jeep was stolen before we could wear them out. Current 2022 xr is still on the stock ko2s...for now.

 

[3TV]

I just went through the 37" tire buying process yesterday. I didn't find any low-cost tires. Instead, what I found was that Falken Wild Peak MT, Cooper STT Pro, Toyo MT, and Nitto Trail grapplers were all within a few dollars of the same price. BFG KM3s were $90 more per tire than any of the other brands. I think it is debatable whether the BFGs are a better tire. Personally, I don't think they are better than some of those other brands. But even if they are better, they are not that much better ($450 for a set). BFGs are overpriced.

 

[CarbonSteel]

As far as life of the KO2'S, I'll likely never know that either as I usually can't stand their underwhelming off road performance for more than the 1st year tops.

This is my experience more or less in a nutshell. They started out great, but exponentially have been circling the drain as time and miles are stacked on. Maybe I am being unreasonable to expect a tire like this to last more than 40K miles...

While "I am that guy" who will spend money to try something new that may not be mainstream and share that here (as I have done many times on various things), I am questioning the sanity of paying $2500-3,000 for a set of tires that will last about as long as a $1700-$2000 set.

My needle is leaning towards the Kanati Trail Hogs (37x12.5x17 - LRE) given the good experience I had with them in 315/70/17.

A few reviews on the Kanati's:

 

[Rubi SoHo]

I've been as happy as a pig in shit with my Goodyear Duratracs.

I bought a YJ with 33” Duratracs on it recently, like the tread pattern but they wore very unevenly and are loud as a result, and produce a horrible vibration on the street at low speeds.

Would consider buying more though, they probably weren’t rotated properly by the previous owner, and the tread looks like it’s probably a lot better in mud than the KO2 on my JL

 

[Zandcwhite]

This is my experience more or less in a nutshell. They started out great, but exponentially have been circling the drain as time and miles are stacked on. Maybe I am being unreasonable to expect a tire like this to last more than 40K miles...

While "I am that guy" who will spend money to try something new that may not be mainstream and share that here (as I have done many times on various things), I am questioning the sanity of paying $2500-3,000 for a set of tires that will last about as long as a $1700-$2000 set.

My needle is leaning towards the Kanati Trail Hogs (37x12.5x17 - LRE) given the good experience I had with them in 315/70/17.

While we don't agree on gears, it seems as though our tire experience is similar.

 

[CarbonSteel]

While we don't agree on gears, it seems as though our tire experience is similar.

LOL - Touche!

 

[No IFS]

You get what you pay for. There’s more than tire wear. there’s balance, traction and safety. Love, my BFG. Tires that lasts a long time suck for traction. Cheap tires usually last longer than good tires.

 

[DEdney1775]

I'm pushing 30k miles on my 37" Kanati Mud Hogs.. I'll be replacing them soon. I've been considering some A/T's for my next set, but I've always just loved the look of the mud tires on Jeeps. Mine spends 90% of the time on the road.
The Kanati's have worn evenly, and are actually on the lighter end for a 37. For the price, I'm probably just going to get another set of the same..

 

[Rodeoflyer]

I've run a bunch of tires over 20 years on trucks and jeeps. BFG, Toyo, Kanatis, Cooper, Goodyear duratracs and mt/r's, what else.. I would have to think a bit, that's just the last decade. I haven't tried mickey thompsons or maxxis brand.. yet. Not that I wouldn't love to.

Nitto Ridge Grapplers have been the best, hands down, tires I've ever owned. To be fair, they are a hybrid and I value noise levels, wear, not having to rotate every 2.5k, and (of course) off road grip in ALL seasons. I don't swap winter/summer tires. The Toyo MT's I ran on my current jeep jl prior to the Nittos were great in summer and spring/fall but terrible in winter, and they wore out in 20k miles. The Cooper STT's I ran wore out in 20k miles and sounded a helicopter at 15k. The ridge graps now have 20k on them with 50 percent tread life left and they've been all over Colorado off-road, snow, four wheels spinning offroad on rocks etc. They're wearing unlike any tire I've used and once you spin them a bit on snow/ice they actually grip fantastic in those conditions.

I haven't run trail grapplers but I'm sure they're louder once they wear.. maybe not. My next tires will be these or the trails graps. I think I'm a nitto fan for life now.

 

[unsavory]

No love for Falken Wildpeak AT3W? I was thinking of trying these next if I can find them in a load range C or equivalent.

 

[Rodeoflyer]

I haven't tried falkens wildpeaks either but don't they put those on some stock JL's or did on the JK's

Those are like AT3's. never run at's before personally. If a fairly aggressive hybrid does snow/ice as well like the ridge grapplers, I don't even need to experiment with an AT on a truck or jeep. Maybe if I owned a subaru. And if I did have subaru it would get the tires shown below.

And now they have a tire which fills the middle ground between AT's and MT's even more so than the ridge grappler, the RECON grappler which is specified as an AT.. looks interesting.

https://www.drivingline.com/article...r-at-vs-ridge-grappler-real-world-comparison/

Tires make the most difference of anything else you can do to your vehicle. You can spend $10k on suspension and run cheap tires.. you're cheating yourself imo

If I'm going to buy large, expensive tires, I want them to last, I want them to endure abuse, I want them to remain balanced over their entire lifespan, and I want them to be a somewhat all purpose tire that performs in all conditions if I spend $2000 every other year. That's just me, you might be different. I'm not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, otherwise I'd be running 40'' trepadors on the street 6 months and tiny little 37'' AT's all winter.

 

[blnewt]

Have Patagonias for the last 30k miles, they are a decent tire for the bargain price I paid, they were only $124 each (295/70/17s) back in late 2018, and are now priced similar to top tier tires.

I wouldn't buy them again at the current pricing, they have worn better than I expected and are a great tire on dry rocky terrain. They are not a good tire in wet &/or cold conditions and this is the main reason I wouldn't buy them again.

I currently have Mickey Thompson ATZP3 (315/70/17s) in my shed waiting to be installed, probably in the next 30 days. Most all the reviews on these tires are excellent, they no longer make this tire, it's been replaced by the Baja Boss AT, but that tire also gets great reviews overall.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Yokohama Geolander MTs, these seem to get great reviews and are popular around here. Maxxis tires also seem to get good overall reviews as well.

Nice to hear the Trail Hogs have been good, seem to check a lot of boxes w/ the 3peak snow and lighter weight.

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