jordan96xj

I really want to get the advice of a few folks on here that really know their tires and applications.

For about 1.5 years I have been on 30x9.5/r15 Hankook Dynapro ATMs

My application is a 80 miles/day highway daily driver. With summer family camping on dirt roads (no challenges). A lot of fishing, but areas are mainly dirt roads/gravel with no challenges. But with occasional much more challenging camping in the snow.

Up until now, I have been more than please with the Hankooks. For the price, and my general usage patterns, they have been stellar. They have also performed well in the constant snow and ice we get here, provided I'm on the main roads.

The last few weeks I have been snow camping and a little bit of off-road snow driving. This is where things changed a little. They just didn't provide the confidence I was expecting. Even in what I consider fairly shallow snow, I just didn't have the bite I was hoping for. On my last adventure my buddy was in a stock Cherokee (the new ugly kind) with all season radials, and I felt that we performed about the same. Which was deflating (no pun intended).

I know it is challenging to find a tire that does it all for a highway daily driver.

My question is:

Should I be happy that the Hankook tires are meeting about 90% of my normal application with flying colors and learn to live with them? Or is there a tire that can get me to that 99% spot?

The ones on my mind of course are the BFG KO2s and the Duratracs. But there may be others I'm not aware of. My concern is that if I spend up on either of those, that I may find that I've spent a lot more money, but not really increased my capability all that much. But just from looks alone, I can't help but think that the Duratracs would be better in 12-14 inches of snow.

I'm especially keen to hear what the tire professionals here have to say (you know who you are, and I respect your opinion on the matter).

Thank you.

Gunmetal Pearl XJ

I would say to look at General Grabber AT2, they are basically the same as KO2's and are winter rated. I've had mine for 6 months and haven't had any issues with them yet.

Tbone289

Any tire will have its trade-offs. You should feel pretty good about selecting a tire that fits the vast majority of your needs well. I certainly wouldn't steer you to the Duratrac, as I don't think that is going to fit your "highway daily driver" status, and would be more toward "great offroad tire that is OK for the street", rather than "street tire that is good offroad" like you need. I think the next logical steps up for you would be the Cooper Discoverer AT/3 or, if you want to spend a little more, the BFG KO2. I would lean more toward the Cooper for a highway tire though, and I agree that the KO2 might be a bit past the ideal price/performance ratio for your uses (and mine).

I know you mentioned before that you would like something that looked a little more aggressive on the sidewall... The closest thing to your Hankooks that fits that requirement would probably be the Falken Wild Peak A/T3W, but I don't think they would overall be a better tire than the Hankook.

At this point, I love my Hankook ATMs so much that I plan to buy another set when they're done. I haven't lived with mine as long as you have though, so my mind might change after some more miles.

EZEARL

So far I've been really impressed with these Yokohama's on our Blazer. We have a fairly steep shale road to climb that can vary from talcum powder dry,sloppy shallow mud,~6" snow(I keep it plowed),ice. I have the AT3W's which are good but wouldn't recommend them for as much highway driving you do.

https://tirereviewsandmore.com/yokoh...-g015-reviews/


Cruiser's big on these:
https://tirereviewsandmore.com/kumho...-at51-reviews/

Bugout4x4

Unless one is still upset about Pearl Harbor, Yokohama and Sumitomo have been top of the line quality tires for years now.

jordan96xj

Thanks for the thoughtful responses so far. I have read them all.

Tbone289, particular thanks for remembering some of the things I've mentioned before in other posts and incorporating that into your response.

I would still recommend the Hankook Dynapros without reservation. They have been a truly excellent tire for about 20k miles now. They don't bite in the ice quite as nicely as they did when they were brand new, but I trudged through some very nasty winter drives home (in the dark) this year, and never once did I have to doubt the tires.

And I may very well stick with them when the next set is needed. But of course, you always have that feeling that maybe you could do a little bit better. But I just don't have the experience with the various brands and models to know if something should be on my radar screen.

The Yokohamas are attractive (looks and reviews), and I remember being on the fence between them and the Hankooks when I went through this process. So I'll keep them on the list. My tire guy didn't really steer me away from them, he just thought the Hankooks would be a great fit for my needs and his pricing on them was very good at the time.

Bugout4x4

As a tire guy I like Hankooks too. He did you right with quality/price with those. I currently run them on mine in fact.

Martlor13

barely logging in again today. Super busy. Imo, I think the hankooks are doing the job for you. I mean, the upper tier all terrains like the bfg, general and Cooper may do better in the snow, but they cost more. You could make a lateral move to say the khumo at51 or falk3n at3w, but you'll be in the same boat. I say just rock witg the hankooks until new tires are needed and then decide if you shoukd get another set or not.

some people may say to get some mud terrain to go play in snow. That's not sound advice. Mud terrains will dig more then they will move you forward. All terrains also have the more tightly compacted tread blocks and more siping so snow can't pack in as easily.

Bugout4x4

I run Dynapro H/T's and have never had a problem off road even in sand. they float on top.

Martlor13

And that's what you want. I get hardcore mud tire guys that say their current set I sold them sucks. I ask them why and they said they get stuck in the Arroyos (dry, sandy rivers that only run in monsoon season) and in the snow. Gee wonder why. Your huge aggressive lugs are digging like a shovel haha.

Bugout4x4

Yep, they get a crust about 3/8 ths of an inch thick and as long as you don't break through this they don't spin at all. But once a lug bites down through this you are in the soft stuff under the crust and spinning the whole time. Best sand wash tires are almost worn out. They will leave about a 1/4 inch track that is even hard to see.

jordan96xj

Thank you. Yeah, not thinking of replacing them for no reason (I'm not rich). Just making sure I know all of my options before the time comes when they need to be replaced. With my mileage, that time will come fairly quickly. I'm at 20-30k miles/year right now.

I don't mind spending more, if I'm really getting more. But I don't want to buy-up thinking I'm improving things and then just be disappointed.

I had the original BFG KOs (with near full tread) on my XJ for about 6 mos. when I first bought it. I only removed them because they were cupped and pretty annoying to listen to (and some vibe) because of it. But otherwise there was a lot to like about them. However, I think my Dynapro's out perform on the whole. Though I never got to try them in deep snow. And I don't know how much the KO2s would differ.

But now that I think about it, I pushed bumper high snow in the XJ with the Dynapro's last winter (for fun) with my brother and nephew in the car. We didn't come close to getting stuck. It tractor'd right through it. I even stopped and restarted without momentum. Maybe because of our recent melt/snow/melt cycles we've been getting, the ice layers under the snow were adding to the lack of confidence I had when we were out over the last few weekends (and what got me thinking about all this). I was getting a lot of slipping and spinning. Maybe it was more snow over solid ice than it appeared. I don't remember digging up any dirt at all.

EZEARL

IMHO? Stick with what you already know works for you. With the Hanhooks already doing 90% of the yeoman's work I don't know if you could do better. No tire covers 100% of all driving conditions. There are those trade-offs like Tbone mentioned.

Around here we're better off with a more aggressive or should I say the most aggressive A/T tread. The General Grabber AT2 mentioned above may still be the most popular around here but I have been noticing quite a few of the Cooper AT/3's lately. Trade-off with the AT3W's is not the best highway manners.

Martlor13

The Cooper handles fantastic imo....sone of the best highway manners out there I think.

Gunmetal Pearl XJ

Only reason why I got the AT2 over the AT/3 was because I got a discount for the General Grabber's. Both tires are very good and I think they both would work well for what they would be used for. If you already have a good experience with the Dynapro's I would consider sticking with them just because you already have experience with they can do.