I am trying to choose between KO2 or duratracs?

[sjappers]

I have had the original KO, but not the KO2, never had duratrac. I want the snowflake rating which both of these have. Want a good quiet ride on pavement and good year round all terrain traction. so for those who have had experiences with these tires which do you prefer and why?

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[Dynomite1371]

Duratracs' are loud, from my experience. KO2's are not at all. I believe the KO2 is a perfect tire for all four seasons on a suv and they wear well.

 

[wanderer]

There are some who belive that the duratrac is the end all be all. Others say have weak sidewalls and back it up with pictures like a 3/4" branch sticking through the side wall. In my view KO2 are the way to go. but saying that I had much better experience in terms of mileage and traction with falkens. Alas they don't make that tire anymore I got 88,000 out of aset and they weren'e even down to the wear bars. Right now running Cooper atp Very nice.

 

[galleywinter]

I prefer Duratracs but will rock the KO2's until they wear out. I'm just happy they got away from those god awful Goodyear MTR's on the Rubicons. Rock Throwing, rough riding SOB's. I have 38K miles on my 2015 Hard Rock and they are worn out. Looking forward to the KO2's for a change when my JL gets here.

 

[snelldogg]

No my thread and don't want to hijack but where would you all put Nitto Ridge Grappler in this conversation?

 

[wanderer]

Rock Throwing, rough riding SOB's.

Gotta agree there rough enough to wear out ball joints

 

[Dynomite1371]

I put about 50k on my KO2's on my jk and at trade in I was told they looked new! (5 wheel rotation, btw)

 

[ccarrico29]

I have 315/70/17 Duratracs on my JKU now and they are not loud by any means. With that said, I won't be putting them on my next Jeep and will likely do the KO2s. Good tire, but by no means the end all that I thought they would be based off what I read on another forum.

 

[Dynomite1371]

I believe that certain tires are better fit for some vehicles vs. Others. The KO2s fit the jk well , I can only assume that will be true Jl. And so far good work mine. My buddy bought a GMC with Duratracks and they are loud! But like I said some tires are a better fit on some than others.

 

[Mattyp1214]

No my thread and don't want to hijack but where would you all put Nitto Ridge Grappler in this conversation?

second ridge grapplers

 

[MBurgJL]

I had 315/70/17 Duratracs on my JKUR and got 90,000 miles out of them (5 tire rotation). They were the best tires I ever had. They were not loud at all. That being said, I love the K2O's on my JLUR. I don't think you can go wrong with either.

 

[sjappers]

No my thread and don't want to hijack but where would you all put Nitto Ridge Grappler in this conversation?

they dont have the snowflake winter rating do they? thats was one of the qualifiers to post. Both duratracs and KO2 do.

 

[Jason]

I have heard the K02s run small, any truth to that?

 

[Mattyp1214]

I have heard the K02s run small, any truth to that?

My KO2s that came stock were 32" so fairly close. Ridge grapplers are 34" at 30psi.

they dont have the snowflake winter rating do they? thats was one of the qualifiers to post. Both duratracs and KO2 do.

No snowflake rating. I bought mine based on a ton of research for best all around tire and snow performance (live in Maine so snow performance was very important, but also all around for highway too etc).

Had the stock KO2s on until I swapped a week ago. It was good on snow, we just got 7+" two days ago and the ridge grapplers performed awesome too. Probably won't go wrong either. I'd look at some threads on Jeep forum regarding people talking about long term with all of them. Problem with jeep people is we are so loyal to our products and prideful so I find it hard to find an unbiased view sometimes. I have only had ridge grapplers for a week so no expert, but I can say that I chose them on my extensive research.
http://www.trucktrend.com/how-to/wheels-tires/1705-nitto-ridge-grappler-hybrid-theory/

http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/wheels-tires/1611-testing-nittos-new-ridge-grappler-tire/

 

[DanW]

I think you'll be happy as heck with either tire. I went with the KO2 for several reasons. First, they were the choice of Jeep's engineers. I've had great luck with BFG tires. I was deeply impressed by the ride, handling, and wet and snow traction on the factory KO2s. I also spoke to Dan Grek, who is circumventing Africa in a JK Rubicon for 80,000 miles over 2 years. He has 34x10.5 KO2's, and has been through some amazing extremes witht them, including thick, deep mud, sand dunes, broken pavement, packed dirt, and torrential rainfall. He raves about them and said he highly recommends them.

As for comparison, I have a set of 285 KO's on my F150. They wear forever, and have good snow traction, but their wet traction is abysmal. The KO2 simply blows them away. The KO2's are MUCH quieter, too. I'll be switching to KO2's on that truck in the next few weeks, too.

One last reason I went with KO2's is completely personal. They are made right here in the Hoosier state!

That said, I've got a buddy with Duratracs and he absolutely loves them. They are two or three pounds lighter per tire, too, than the KO2, if both are 315/70/17.

Btw, Dan Grek's web site is theroadchoseme.com . It is fascinating to follow him on his adventure. He has some amazing pics and videos.

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