I Jeep is going to become a daily driver again. Currently I am running SS bias ply but they are nearing the end of their life and I will need new tires.
I still want a more aggrieve tire and a strong sidewall.
I am wanting to stay with a 33X10.5 15r.
It seems the choices are limited to Dick Cepek Extremes and the BFG MTs.
I don't go "muddin" but muddy trails are common out my way. Winter driving is also a concern.
I thought there were some Swampers on that size also. Between your choices I'd go with the Dick Cepeks. I think KM2s are probably the most overrated tire on the market.
I should have been more clear about "more aggressive". I don't want an AT or highway style tire.
I have SS bias ply and they don't seem to be lasting as long as other tires I have had and they weren't the best rain or winter tire. Do their radial tires last? Are they decent in the packed snow and rain?
no experience with cepek tires but have had the original mt good rich and the km2. both did well off road and wore pretty good. Bit loud and poor on icy roads but any mud tire will be. Km2s are the favorite target for bashers. Someone allways wants to knock down the big dog. They think it makes them look a bit more knowledgeable. I'm sure theres just as good mud tires out there. Buddy runs cooper pros and likes them. But theres nothing wrong with a km2 if a mud tire is what you want. Probably a good reason there the best selling mud tire on the market.
While KM2s have the mud tire label, they barely qualify. It's not just that there are "just as good" options. It is that there are dramatically better. They sell so many because they aren't an actual mud tire, but are a glorified street tire and have the look, but still work for all the vehicles out there that never really leave the road.
ive had 4 sets of the old mt and one set of km2's and one thing I will say is for a mud tire ive got good milage out of them. Last set I had on my 06 Silverado made 45k and thats a lot heavier vehicle. My biggest gripe with them is there loud and get louder with wear. I probably could have got another 10k out of those tires but just couldn't take the noise anymore. But about any tire gets noisy with wear. I went with ridge grapplers on the new jk because I'm getting old and just don't 4 wheel like I used to and when I do its usually in the razor. On my 2017 Silverado I had them put a set of bfg ko2s on it before I picked it up new. I was looking for an aggressive looking tire but probably wont put that pretty truck in the mud for years. I went with ko2s mostly because there decent in snow and quiet. I put many a mile on bfg mt and ats and I wont say there the best because ive haven't put many miles on others and don't bad mouth something because of what I gleam from the internet by other internet experts.. I know ive gone through the same stuff that others with me go through with different tires and seldom was the one stuck. Bottom line is if you need a REAL mud tire you need something like a set of ground hawgs or swampers like you run because all of the radial mud tires compromise somewhere. Bottom line is going into a mud hole with two identical jeeps with bfgs, nittos, coopers or fill in the blank brand one tire isn't going to get you through substantialy better then any of the others. LOTS MORE has to do with whos holding the steering wheel. If you think some brand name on your tires magicaly makes you much better in the mud or anything else ive got this bridge. Where the major differnces come into play is on the street. Some just ride better and are quieter then others. Like I said there must be something to it because bfg mt have been the best selling mud radial for probably over 20 years and not by a little margin. You might not like them but apparently more people agree with my opinion then yours.
well goodyear is a much bigger company the Goodrich ever was if you want to talk size and advertising. So why don't mtr's outsell km2s and why don't duratracs hands down outsell ko2s? they've both been on the market for over a decade. Youd think if they were better tires you wouldn't have been the only one that figured it out. Thing is I'm not claiming Goodrich tires are the only brand to buy or the best dammed tire on the market. What I'm saying is the difference in mt radial tires (quality mt tires) is very small. One does one small thing better then the other and the other does a different thing a bit better.
There is no magic brand that shows you are more intelligent then me or others because you choose it. Its like claiming one cat back exhaust or air intake is hands down the best to buy. I don't really care for the original bfg mt tires that came on my jeep. Back 15 years ago I thought different because they were one of the best options out there. Today theres better and even bfg makes the km2 which is better. Id bet in a couple years when we see km3 or some such thing from bfg I will say the same about km2s. One thing about bfg is there allways researching and changing. Whens the last time you saw something new from goodyear? Seems like to me anyway bfgs first concern is there off road tires and goodyear on the other hand cares more about making tires for buicks. Companys like cepek and mickey Thompson make a good product but don't have the research and development money that goodyear and goodrich have.
In my opinion it leaves 3 choices for top dog in the off road game. Bfg, cooper and nitto. All three make a great product. As do some of the others but I'm not an engineer I'm an retired electrical lineman. Ask me about electricity and I can give an educated answer. Ask me about tires and all I can give is a testimony to what has worked for me. Probably at least half the buyers of mt tires are posers anyway. I used to kind of be one myself. I lived through the 70s when we all had short box trucks with 8 inch lifts and 40 in plus tires that were about useless in anything but deep mud. Even then they were so big they sapped the power right out of our rigs. I grew older and tired of living with what looked cool instead of what really works for what I do. I live in a tourist area and constantly see lifted jeeps with 38s on them that probably have never seen more then a dirt road.
Ask what tires are best on a fourm like this and what you mostly get is wet behind the ear 20 year olds that are trying to look like they've been there and done that. Not guys on there 5 or 6 jeep or truck that have hundreds of thousands of miles on them. You get guys bashing a brand just to look cool that haven't even owned a set of them. Or a guy that had a set of x brand tires 20 years ago and bought a set of newer tires and claims there a better tire. While id sure hope so. Ill back out of this now because I know that the internet lets everyone no matter how little they really know be an expert. Buy what you want. Ill buy what I need.
well goodyear is a much bigger company the Goodrich ever was if you want to talk size and advertising. So why don't mtr's outsell km2s and why don't duratracs hands down outsell ko2s? they've both been on the market for over a decade. Youd think if they were better tires you wouldn't have been the only one that figured it out. Thing is I'm not claiming Goodrich tires are the only brand to buy or the best dammed tire on the market. What I'm saying is the difference in mt radial tires (quality mt tires) is very small. One does one small thing better then the other and the other does a different thing a bit better.
There is no magic brand that shows you are more intelligent then me or others because you choose it. Its like claiming one cat back exhaust or air intake is hands down the best to buy. I don't really care for the original bfg mt tires that came on my jeep. Back 15 years ago I thought different because they were one of the best options out there. Today theres better and even bfg makes the km2 which is better. Id bet in a couple years when we see km3 or some such thing from bfg I will say the same about km2s. One thing about bfg is there allways researching and changing. Whens the last time you saw something new from goodyear? Seems like to me anyway bfgs first concern is there off road tires and goodyear on the other hand cares more about making tires for buicks. Companys like cepek and mickey Thompson make a good product but don't have the research and development money that goodyear and goodrich have.
In my opinion it leaves 3 choices for top dog in the off road game. Bfg, cooper and nitto. All three make a great product. As do some of the others but I'm not an engineer I'm an retired electrical lineman. Ask me about electricity and I can give an educated answer. Ask me about tires and all I can give is a testimony to what has worked for me. Probably at least half the buyers of mt tires are posers anyway. I used to kind of be one myself. I lived through the 70s when we all had short box trucks with 8 inch lifts and 40 in plus tires that were about useless in anything but deep mud. Even then they were so big they sapped the power right out of our rigs. I grew older and tired of living with what looked cool instead of what really works for what I do. I live in a tourist area and constantly see lifted jeeps with 38s on them that probably have never seen more then a dirt road.
Ask what tires are best on a fourm like this and what you mostly get is wet behind the ear 20 year olds that are trying to look like they've been there and done that. Not guys on there 5 or 6 jeep or truck that have hundreds of thousands of miles on them. You get guys bashing a brand just to look cool that haven't even owned a set of them. Or a guy that had a set of x brand tires 20 years ago and bought a set of newer tires and claims there a better tire. While id sure hope so. Ill back out of this now because I know that the internet lets everyone no matter how little they really know be an expert. Buy what you want. Ill buy what I need.
Goodyear is a bigger company? Goodyear has USD3.6B of equity, USD1.3B of income and 67,000 employees. Michelin has EUR10.6B of equity, EUR2.7B of income and 111,700 employees. Nothing wrong with having opinions, but lets get the facts right.
When was the last time Goodyear came out with something new? Easy, the MTR with Kevlar which is a much newer design than the KM2. And its a dramatically better offroad tire in any terrain, both tread pattern and compound. It isn't going to sell in the numbers the KM2 does because it is an actual offroad tire, rather than an aggressive appearing onroad tire. If the only thing you can express an opinion about is the old MTR then you should probably take your own advice.
As far as Duratracs and KM2s do you have actual sales numbers for comparison? It'd be my guess that they are pretty comparable.
As to your last paragraph, I agree with most of it. But it doesn't describe me.
I have run TrXus MTs and SS for years but my jeep wasn't used as a daily driver. My work moved closer so I will be driving my Jeep more.
Above somebody mentioned cooper and not to but I can't find them in the size I am looking for.
BFG ATs have a good reputation as cross over tire, how are their sidewalls? They used to be weak, have they improved? Are they real bad on muddy trails?
On the net there are allot of reviews about the BFG KMs, good and bad. But not many about the Dick Cepek Extreme but the few that are out there are good.
I think overall there are a lot of good tires out there. Depending on your needs I always recommend buying what you like. That's a subjective measure. I'm happy with my Coopers and I have recently gone with Fierce Attitude MT. It's made by Goodyear and reportedly does better on wet and snowy roads than most MTs. I'm pleased with their on and off road manners. It has very heavy duty sidewalls and is E rated. I am seldom in mud, but see a lot of winter conditions and they do fairly well.
My jeep hasn't been a daily driver for a long time. I had been running TrXus MTs and Super Swampers. Before that old school MTRs.
There isn't allot out for narrower 33s on 15 inch rims. From what I have read people seem to like the Cepek extremes but there aren't allot of reviews. There are mixed reviews on the BFGs. Last time I bought "daily driver" tires was about 2005 in SoCal. Since 2005 I have but maybe 40k on the Jeep, but I plan on driving it more now.
I like Cepek tires. No experience with them, but i have heard good things about them and they look great.
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