Duratracs VS BFG KO2
- Thread starter jmv7680
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I've owned both tires, well kind of..I had the original KO's on my tundra before i sold it, loved them, did great in snow, never wheeled it, and road noise was hardly noticeable. I have Duratracs on my 04 Runner now and love them also, haven't gotten to use them in snow yet as the snow is taking it's time to get to Missouri this year, and I will say they have a slight hum to them compared to the KO's, but nothing obnoxious at all. The KO2's were just a bit out of my price range when i bought new tires and went with the Duratracs. Both are GREAT tires from everything/everywhere i've read online. Just really comes down to the style and sidewall design you prefer. I'm guessing you won't be wheeling regardless with these since i see your Runner is 2wd.
WI_4Runner
New member
www.tirerack.com
...or the search function will lead you to plenty of threads within T4R that have hashed this subject.
Information is at your fingertips
...or the search function will lead you to plenty of threads within T4R that have hashed this subject.
Information is at your fingertips
Mushroom_Cap
New member
I'm in the same boat!
Current Cooper Discoverer AT3 tires are nearing the end of their life. They've been decent tires but I do not plan to buy them again. Pretty crappy in the rain and snow/slush/ice even when new! On the highway and off-road pretty decent.
I'm between the KO2s and Duratracs as well. Seems hard to go wrong with either.
I'll have to check out my local preferred tire shop and see what's available in both for 265/70/17. I'm running 265/65/17 but want to go one size up.
Seems hard to go wrong with either. Will likely come down to load/ply choices for the size I want and price.
Current Cooper Discoverer AT3 tires are nearing the end of their life. They've been decent tires but I do not plan to buy them again. Pretty crappy in the rain and snow/slush/ice even when new! On the highway and off-road pretty decent.
I'm between the KO2s and Duratracs as well. Seems hard to go wrong with either.
I'll have to check out my local preferred tire shop and see what's available in both for 265/70/17. I'm running 265/65/17 but want to go one size up.
Seems hard to go wrong with either. Will likely come down to load/ply choices for the size I want and price.
jmv7680
New member
I have the 18" limited wheels and I was planning stepping up to a 265/65R18. I would like to go up to a 275/65R18 or 275/70R18, but I'm afraid they might rub too much. I'm leaning pretty hard on the Duratracs, still undecided on the size though. I'm gonna keep trying to search this forum and figure out the max size I can run. I don't mind trimming some plastic.
WI_4Runner
New member
Do not mean to derail but would you mind expanding on your AT3 experience? You can send me a PM if you'd like - from what I hear people love them in the rain, and perform solidly in winter weather too.
bagelsjustbagels
New member
Ko2. Seriously. Looks mean, performs well, and is quiet on the street and shows very little wear.
Styer
New member
I'm of the same opionion as Mushroom_Cap about the Cooper AT3s. I purchased them with about 1000 miles on my 5th gen to replace the crappy stock highway tires. I went with them because they were rated well and very affordable. he mentions issues in the rain. I have had good traction on road, rain, ice/snow and offroad from them. What has been the problem for me is that the tires are very inconsistently weighted and seem to be very hard to balance correctly. when they were first installed they were fine. then about 10k miles something went awry when I had them rotated and I had a bad steering vibration at 60mph. Had to go back and have them re balanced. I just put my new wheels on at 12K miles and had the same shop, Discount Tire w/ Hunter road force balancer, do the work again. And I have a very slight vibration between 62-67mph. But I don't want to go back and wait for them to fix it again. Seeing as the tires only have ~10k miles on them it will be awhile before I can change them up. I'm pretty much dead set on the new KO2s for my next set of tires. May even dump the Coopers before they wear out. The KO2s were just coming out when I purchased my Coopers and I was cheap and didn't want to spend the money for something that was untested at the time. Next time I won't be cheap and will just buck up and buy the BFG KO2s.
Mushroom_Cap
New member
No problem. I'll write it up here. Have about 50,000miles now on these tires. They're at about 5/32-6/32 so time to start thinking about what to buy next. Next spring/summer will be looking to get rid of them.
So the AT3s...bought from Discount Tire in Bellingham, WA. Decided on these based on advice from the staff, my own online research/reviews, and looks.
On the highway they are pretty good for an AT tire. Pretty quiet, fairly smooth ride. Now that they are getting worn out the road noise is up a bit but not much. Our fuel mileage dropped about 1 liter/100km with the AT3s, not too bad. The all-seasons that came with the vehicle were awesome on the highway but sucked off-road.
Off road the tires are pretty awesome. Been through tons of muck with these tires and they always performed well.
Where the tires do not shine, at least on our vehicle, is in the rain. They suck! Do not evacuate water well at all.
They seem to do well in deep snow around town, but on the highway if there was a fresh dust of snow, esp a bit of slush, the tires sucked. Our car has winter tires and it handles slush and light snow better than the 4Runner!
So, I like the AT3s don't get me wrong. But they have not performed well enough that I would buy them again.
I should mention, that I have 2 buddies that also run the AT3s. One is an older F150 and the other is a 1500 Dodge, and they both LOVE them and find them fine in the rain. So, I guess the same tires will perform better on some vehicles than others...
wadle5
New member
Interesting you say that I am coming from BFG A/T's and was thinking the coopers would a be a step up? You don't believe the traction to be that great in rain/slush/snow?
snivilous
Senior Member
My dad's Tundra and mom's 4th gen Runner both had Duratracs for a pair. They seemed like good tires, they never did any extreme offroading besides overlanding and some mild slick rock trails and they did good. Once they wore down they were INSANELY loud, like louder in a limited 4th gen than my MTs on my 3rd gen. They switched out to AT3s on the 4Runner since we've had good luck so far with the AT3s on my sisters 80 series, and switched the Tundra to ST Maxx which are a lot quieter and seem to have lots of traction and look pretty gnarly. I had original KOs on my 3rd gen for a set and wasn't impressed, they did good with tread but once worn down a bit it felt like there was nothing there.
If you're 100% street I would go off of looks since any tire will give you the function you want. Not like you're comparing tires for 2ft of powder and commuting on dirt roads. Also, personally, I'm not a big fan of KOs and (now) Duratracs since everyone and their mom (literally) has them so I usually look for a tire that's not as common and stands out. Food for thought.
If you're 100% street I would go off of looks since any tire will give you the function you want. Not like you're comparing tires for 2ft of powder and commuting on dirt roads. Also, personally, I'm not a big fan of KOs and (now) Duratracs since everyone and their mom (literally) has them so I usually look for a tire that's not as common and stands out. Food for thought.
jmv7680
New member
Thanks for the input! Does anyone have any experience with Nitto or Toyo A/T's, they are a pretty good looking tire also! I'm going from Michelin's to whatever I end up buying. The Michelin A/T's aren't aggressive enough (look wise anyway). I'm always on pavement, so I'm just trying to toughen up the grocery/kid hauler! LOL!
