Thanks for everyone who put in their input! I have narrowed it down to 3: General Grabber AT2, BFG KO2, and Mickey Thompson Deegan 38. I hearing great stuff from the general grabber so I may just go with those. Once again, thanks for all your input!

 

Old thread here, but does anyone else wanna update their opinion or add to the list?
Any new tires out there that should be considered? I'm getting tires ASAP when I decide what I want. The XJ will be my DD, driving right at about 16 miles to and from work with most of that being in a straight line. I would have to guess my tires will last a good while since I only have an 8 mile drive to work.... so if they're a little more aggressive than an A/T, that'll work. I dont want a knobby mud tire though. I'm going to have a 4.5" lift (new 3.5" packs with 1" shackles, 4.5" coils) and I will be taking it to the mountains mostly on nice days, but could run into snow or mud. From what I have read so far, the KO2's sound like the tire for me (more aggressive than the BFG A/T, but not a "mud tire") . I have a 2 & a 4 year old and they will be with me a lot of times when I go out so there wont be any hardcore wheeling for the next couple of years, but I would still like a good tire in case I get froggy and wanna go out with the group and attempt a few things I wouldn't do with the kids and wife on board.

Thanks everyone!

BTW, I was wondering why we dont have a smiley face emoji that shows an XJ off road..... or swimming through mud....

 

I had the Kenda Klever RT on my JKUR in a 35x10.50r17 and was really impressed by them. The only place they didn't do well was really sticky mud...but it's also not a mud tire so...

 

So I didn’t actually end up going with the BFG’s, so I dont have experience with those. However, after i went through my first set of AT’s I found the Milestar Patagonia M/T tires and WOW are they a dream! With them being mud tires they are insanely quiet on the road and performed amazing off-road! They aren’t any louder than my previous AT tires and perform just as good, if not better, than the AT’s did on the road. The added siping also helps out alot and does very well with icy roads, and wet roads are no issue at all with these

There is also an A/T model and a “X/T” model of the Patagonias which I believe are similar to the KO2’s where it’s a good in-between type of tire.

Another plus is that they are very affordable and from my understanding perform and wear just as well as any other tire (BFG, goodyear, etc.). I strongly suggest checking out Milestar.

 

Pats are a good budget tire, sadly they've started to climb in price due to their popularity. They've continually sold out or been close to it for many months

 

there’s definitely a reason why they’re gaining such popularity! I personally love them and they are still cheaper last time i checked than the bigger names like BFG, Toyo, firestone, etc. Hopefully by the time I need tires again their prices won’t be up there with the rest of em 😂

 

I'm not exactly brand loyal when it comes to tires, but I also want to make sure I get a tire that I dont have to worry about at all. With the lower numbers of Patagonia tires on the road and lack of sufficient data showing the tires are manufactured to the highest quality standards, I would almost rather spend the extra $120 or so to get a set of KO2's.... Even though the vast majority of reviews are positive for the Patagonia's, I'm still a little leery about it and how well they last. I'm not worried about longevity because it would be minimal daily use, but its just the entire aspect of a tire that is "amazing" according to the reviews, but is substantially cheaper than the brands we are familiar with i.e. BFG, Nitto, Cooper etc... I know I dont need an aggressive M/T, but would be nice as long as I know I'll have them for a few years with no issues. Like they say, you get what you pay for..... but I suppose in some cases that saying doesn't apply....

I was looking at the Mastercraft tires as an option also....
I believe RidesDirt has a set of those on his newly built XJ...

 

The largest complaint when it came to wear was cupping or downright uneven wear when mounted on a known "good" setup. These concerns were addressed by the manufacture stating that the tire was never designed to run the same contact patch as other tires. Many many people were running them underinflated for many thousands of miles before these issues were addressed. Due to that underinflation they also saw owners getting horrible mpg since they were pushing around a typically 12.5 wide tire on pavement aired down at least 10 psi below recommended spec

 

I have Patagonias on my truck, They are a pretty good tire, but my favorite A/T I've had (and I've had quite a few) are Hercules A/T II tires. Great wet, off road, mud, sand, etc. Just a really good all around tire. Going from them to the Patagonias lost me almost 2mpg (even inflated correctly). My only complain with Hercules is that they are not as common, and the places that sell them are usually small independent shops, and they are not always great to deal with.

 

Check out "Matt's Off Road Recovery" on Youtube. He recently switched to Patagonias and they work great for sand, snow, and mud in southern Utah and he runs them at about 14 psi highway and 8 in the rough. He runs a much modified XJ in most of his recovery work and had to eventually go to bead lock wheels because of the low pressure. Also check out the Corvair station wagon rig he's building to replace the XJ for the really tough stuff.

 

Patagonias are a great tire for an exclusive off road rig, I wouldn't put them on a daily. But I think that's true with just about any M/T vs an A/T, in that an A/T will perform better on pavement, especially in poor weather.

 

Pats seem to do quite well as a daily tire that still has an aggressive pattern. My brother runs them on his LJ in a 35x12.50R15, they're pretty damn quiet and handle well with our central FL rain that leaves standing water everywhere

 

I'm not a tire guru or anything so, not sure what's good or not. Right now I'm running GoodYear Wrangler Radials and they seem to do fine here in Oregon weather. Now I don't go mudding or much off roading so, can't give to much info but, they do ride great on the highway.

 

General Grabber AT2 used to be my choice, but I switched to the Kumho a few years ago, and I won't go back. Great tire, good price. I have them on two vehicles now (including my WJ), not counting the all-weather highway tires on my family van. I also have two grown sons and a daughter who have them. One has the HT, the van has a "city" tire, and all the rest are the HT.

These tires are outstanding.