Switching from M/T to A/T results

[Jteakus]

Don't underestimate a mud tire in the sand.
Huge fan of BFG KO's on a daily, will not compare to a KM on a difficult trail but trade offs.
I will get 50K miles out of the 315's on my JLRUD with 3K mile rotations, 4-tire rotations as spare was deleted.

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[Sunnysideup]

I have ran KO2's two different times... got over 50,000 on them both times. Never had a flat with either. They run small and seem lighter than most tires in the size group...less weight means better mpg and less chance of snapping something. BUT the reason they weigh so much less is because they run small. For those who want a 36 inch tire? Get a KO2 37 and you will have a new out of the box tire close to what a 36 inch tire would be. They air down well for grip on the trail or in the snow... and stay balanced without a lot of weight. I rotate every 3000-3500 miles. The Ko2's do much better in mud than the old Ko's... the side grip helps- but they are not a mud tire at all. I've been looking to get the 39's to get a light 38 inch tire... just waiting to hear a good review....

I ran Falkens in AT... good tire but not as good on ice as KO2. I think you could get good miles out of them too with good rotation.

I am currently running nitto ridge grapplers... they are wearing much faster... I think they will be about slick when I get to 35,000 on them. They did not do good in ice- not as well as either of the other two. BUT they did better in mud!

So... I think what I'm gonna say is All of the tires have ups and downs to them. My son does the same trails I do - ALWAYS on MUD tires... ice kills for the most part is a scary experience for him. His longest set of Mud tires were just under 30,000 miles and they were loud and shot. He has had to by about 2.5 sets of tires to my one set for the last dozen years. So...for economy's sake I'll probably keep using AT's. My wife hates the howling of the MUD tires so its a win for her as well...

 

[chorky]

I will offer a different opinion here. Currently still on the stock wild peaks on the JTR. They have done well this winter, with the exception of the wonder that for some reason they produce - others have reported it as well.

Previously, on my OBS F350 I had duratracs. Lots of people hate those. But they were quiet, and had amazing grip. The sidewalls are supposedly a failure point but personally I never had a sidewall slice. And I am in some nasty sharp shale rocks often.

Now. The KO2's. Last year I put some KO2's on my TJ, because everybody raved about them. They are by FAR the WORST tire I have EVER had! So bad, I am practically willing to give them away for free just to have an excuse to get something different. They are a terrible tire. yep I know I will get so much hate for this and that's fine. But in my experience, they made everything about the TJ at least twice as bad. Vibration, noise, harshness. They wonder so bad I don't dare drive it in the winter anymore. They cannot stick to the road worth a crap in the ice.

Now, rant over, previously to the KO2's I had Cooper STT Pros' on the TJ and they did far better in every aspect. This goes so contrary to everything which is crazy, but I absolutely love the cooper's. They were nice and quiet, rode good, super tough, lots of traction. Being a M/T they didn't seem like it on the road. 2 years ago before the gladiator I was commuting in the winter in terrible ice and snow in the TJ with the coopers. Obviously had to slow down but never felt dangerous. The KO2's on the other hand are, IMO, total garbage. I really don't understand why so many people like them.

But I digress - based on all the reviews, I'm going to take a stab at the new Baja Boss probably sometime this summer.

All that being said I've seen plenty of folks with a A/T do the same stuff as folks with a M/T off road. It may be harder in some instances, but it's all relative I think.

 

[Lost1wing]

Well THIS post did not read the way I expected. Tires, really? Nothing to do with transmissions. Sheesh!

I picked up on this thread thinking the same. I did a A/T to a M/T swap on my TJ. I was thinking by the title, someone was doing it on JT.

Tires are like a baseball glove. You have different gloves for different positions played. You can buy a China Walmart glove or you can buy a quality name brand glove. I have BF Goodrich m/t on my Duramax. Great in sand where I live but not real good on the highway, plus they are noisy. The truck came with an A/T, I want to say Firestone. They were great on the highway but awful in mud, sand or grass. Yes, I would get stuck on level grass in 2wd.

 

[Steven_B]

I have been running the Nitto Recons just shy of 20k miles. Living in Washington State, the Jeep sees snow and ice and a lot of rain. Couldn't be happier with them.

 

[Uparms]

I worked in a Jeep rental shop for a couple of years and we ran Falken M/T and A/Ts as we had a sponsorship. My rig had BFG A/Ts...more on that later.

I went to Falken Academy in CA and ran a lot of miles on both types of tires. Both sets are quite quiet, but the A/Ts are better in a variety of road conditions, where the M/T excels off-road in a greater set of dirt conditions. That's just the compromise between the tires.

In Moab, we have a lot of seasonal mud and I often wish I had M/Ts on my rig, but this is my third set of A/Ts and I find them to do will in all dry conditions, both on and off-road, wet conditions on-road, like rain and snow are good, too - all except muddy trails. The shallow tread packs up quickly and can be dangerous depending on conditions. The BFG A/Ts were no different in this regard.

Wear on both types was good, but the A/Ts did last longer, even with heavy off-road use in the rental fleet. I've had such good experiences with my Falkens that I probably wont run anything different (unless I get some magical sponsorship!). Depending on your off-road frequency, you will like the A/Ts and not miss the M/Ts.

On BFG A/Ts - the soft compound wears fast! Every set I've seen used around here gets ground down pretty quickly. People love them, but I would never pay my own money for them. Just my .02

53 K miles on my 35x12.5 BFG AT2s, Regular rotation, still a whole heck of a lot of tread, quiet. 20 MPG Highway with auto, 17 mpg combined. Only suggestion I have is avoid E rated tires if you are 90 street, 10 % off road. I will go to a C or D next.

 

[Ogre_FL]

It's a fact that the typical M/T is not as quiet as the typical A/T.
MPG will usually be lower (brands and tread design matter, as does WEIGHT of the tire, width and so on)

The more aggressive the tread, the more noise.
The more aggressive the tread, the lower the MPG.
The heavier the tire, the lower the MPG.
The wider the tire (all else being EQUAL) the lower the mpg.

My wife's Wrangler has KOs on it - I'm shocked at how quiet they are. The vehicle itself is a lot louder than her Grand Cherokees were - but the road noise is actually very low, it's quiet if you don't count the wind and roof noise. I think my Generals COULD be a tad louder than her KOs are.
I really like the looks of the tires on her Wrangler, too.

I've had the Falken A/T tires (they were Rubicon take-offs) and while they were ok, I feel the General and the KO tires we now have beat the Falkens in sound and winter ice and snow grip.

Wranglers pick up a LOT more tire/road noise than the Gladiator based on the fact the rear wheel wells are inside the same space you are.

So I would bet if you think a tire on a Gladiator is a tad louder, it would be a notably louder on a Wrangler

 

[SPACEMAN5000]

1. The annoying mountain bike-like shudder at 1-4 mph is gone. I truly began to find that unbearable.
2. The noise on the highway reduced considerably, and I cannot stress how nice this is. The Milestars began to create a horrendous din as they wore down, and I HATED it.

I have the milestars and the shudder has had me scratching my head for a month! As a mountain biker myself, you hit the nail on the head lol. These things are also LOUD.

I cant wait until my current MTs wear down enough to replace with ATs. On my last JK and F150 I ran the Toyo AT2s. They are likely what ill switch to if I dont go with the AT3s.

 

[Orange01z28]

I'm curious.. I read way... wayyyyyyy to many posts about different tires, kinds, who recommends what. I came to the conclusion that my initial need has changed a bit. I am going to be driving in more sand and also more highway driving. I have decided at some point to change out my M/T's that came with the Glad to the FALKENWILDPEAK A/T3W or something like it. I read some posts that talked about MPG improvements going from M/T to A/T and also a lot more quit but, those post are a bit old now.

I am curious for those that have switched from an M/T tire to a A/T tire. Have you noticed results in how much more quit the ride is and have you "really" noticed any difference in your MPG's or any other differences that or worth noting?

I went from Toyo MTs to Patagonia XTs

I can't compare mileage because I went from 35s with stock gears to 37s with 5.13s (actually, MPG only changed 1/2 mile) but the ride was way smoother and quieter

They're super planted in the rain, and during some snow wheeling I couldn't even tell there was snow on the ground while other Jeeps couldn't even make it up the hill

 

[vital04]

I went from Toyo MTs to Patagonia XTs

I can't compare mileage because I went from 35s with stock gears to 37s with 5.13s (actually, MPG only changed 1/2 mile) but the ride was way smoother and quieter

They're super planted in the rain, and during some snow wheeling I couldn't even tell there was snow on the ground while other Jeeps couldn't even make it up the hill

interesting this is the first I am reading about this tire and from a good search these tires really received out standing reviews.

 

[PlayfulBird]

Tbh there is a difference (but so is there between the same type and then between different brands or models).
Is it huge? I dont think so, unless they are hard old tires or you go up sizes.
If it is mpg or noise I feel like a gladiator or wrangler is the wrong vehicle. If it is the kinda noise you need an engine swap and or an upgraded speaker system, and stop caring.

 

[vital04]

Tbh there is a difference (but so is there between the same type and then between different brands or models).
Is it huge? I dont think so, unless they are hard old tires or you go up sizes.
If it is mpg or noise I feel like a gladiator or wrangler is the wrong vehicle. If it is the kinda noise you need an engine swap and or an upgraded speaker system, and stop caring.

For me that does not matter as much I didnt buy it for the possible great mileage lol. Was more so curious of those that switched what was the impact of the change. But even with the research I have already done this forum is so awesome I already learned a few more things to consider and also some other brands I didnt even consider. Each brand has there pro's and cons but, trying to limit the amount of cons based on peoples experience with a particular brand with direct usage. I dont know about a lot of you but, its not like I can buy a set, then say, eh I dont like these, then buy another set from a different manufacturer.

 

[PlayfulBird]

For me that does not matter as much I didnt buy it for the possible great mileage lol. Was more so curious of those that switched what was the impact of the change. But even with the research I have already done this forum is so awesome I already learned a few more things to consider and also some other brands I didnt even consider. Each brand has there pro's and cons but, trying to limit the amount of cons based on peoples experience with a particular brand with direct usage. I dont know about a lot of you but, its not like I can buy a set, then say, eh I dont like these, then buy another set from a different manufacturer.

Our solution for that is jeep meets. Get to try out other peoples setup, ride along, get the real life feel.

 

[vital04]

Our solution for that is jeep meets. Get to try out other peoples setup, ride along, get the real life feel.

That would be awesome and would love to attend something like that!! I have to look for a group in my area.

 

[Bjeepz]

When it comes to tire quality it is so subjective, I still hear ppl saying duratracs are the best tire they've had, then get weird or annoyed if asking what they're comparing to in past experiences! Just buy a quality name brand tire you will likely be happy. Don't shop to save cash on cheap tires, as they will cost you more in the end when you're shopping again sooner than later

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