GY Duratracs vs BFG KO2 for my Rebel... help

[bfill_rebel]

I’ve read reviews of both and even considered the Falken Wildpeak AT3W as a 3rd option. The reason I’ve narrowed it down to the Duratracs vs KO2s as these seem be two of the better wet conditions, especially snow/winter ATs there are. The reason that’s snow/winter ability is so important to me is that I work in healthcare (nurse practitioner) and work in an area that takes call and 10-12 days a month I’m on call 24hrs for any emergent procedures (Stroke related) that a patient may need or get transferred to us for. I live in SW suburbs of Chicagoland area. So snow traction is important to me as I need to get to work within 30 min of a call and if roads haven’t been plowed at 2am it doesn’t matter as I need to be able to get through. Being a little newer I’m not sure the Falkens are as snow proven as the others. I’m open to reviews from people who can argue that point.

If anyone has used Duratracs and KO2s in snow. Or Duratracs and Wildpeaks or KO2 and Wildpeaks; I would appreciate your opinions on which was better in snowy/winter conditions.

I’m thinking either 315/70 or 35x12.5 on my stock Rebel Rims as I will be doing level links and wheel spacers likely at same time.

Sorry for a topic that’s been discussed a lot but when I read reviews of each I don’t usually see people who have had the others. I’ve also been researching for months and may have over researched as I feel like I’m back to square one lol. There was a period that GY was my choice , then others that BFG was my choice, and even a period of Falkens haha.

Thanks in advance.


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[rule18]

I have had good snow/wet pavement experiences with GY Duratracs over the years (multiple Jeep Wranglers). I have not had them on my Rebel, although I'm currently looking at Duratracs and the BFG KO2s as well..

 

[Wayne E]

I've used Duratracs the past 2 years and I can't see any reason to put anything else on my truck. I do a lot of ice fishing in winter and driving in lots of snow. Only time I got stuck, it was really deep, and needed a tracked suburban to pull me out. I've pulled many out with mine. Love them

 

[Alexander Wardlaw]

I ran Dura Tracs on my Jeep, had over 60k miles on them when I went bigger.. I then went to the BFG Ko2, because the duratracs dont go up to a 37.. GREAT TIRES.. I Will prob be putting on my Ram in the near future.. Just make sure you ROTATE OFTEN to ensure good tread wear.
The BFG KO2 are GREAT too.. HARD choice... depends on how aggressive of a look you want..
good luck

 

[bfill_rebel]

I've used Duratracs the past 2 years and I can't see any reason to put anything else on my truck. I do a lot of ice fishing in winter and driving in lots of snow. Only time I got stuck, it was really deep, and needed a tracked suburban to pull me out. I've pulled many out with mine. Love them

Thanks. This info is helpful.


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[stbear007]

I ended up with the GY duratrac myself and not a fan of GY at all. After 6 months research and asking a lot of guys as there are a ton of rams around me about their tires. Well straight from the source many loved the ko2 a few years ago but the new ones are not as good and tend to slide more on wet roads. They made them harder compound to last longer I was told from a few tire shops when I asked. Many I asked loved the GY as they had ko2s took them off new sold them online and went to GY. Although there is so much to read on reviews I also took the general consensus of strictly ram truck and what tires they had reveiws. What sealed it for me was asking directly so many other ram guys here locally.

 

[Reddington]

I live in Western New York and we get a lot of snow here. I run the BFG KO2s and they have been very good in the wet and snow. I cannot comment on the Duratrac as I have no first hand experience with them. But the KO2's have been great.

 

[corneileous]

I think my vote would be for the BFG all-terrain’s. I’ve run those on a couple trucks and know of a lot of others who ran those as well up in the Colorado winters and they’re pretty good. They’re hard to beat.

But I don’t know about adding those longer links to your air suspension, though. Its your truck, you do what you want but I’ve seen not only here, but on other forums as well where people have had problems with their air suspension because of those things. Not to mention the fact that the four corner here air ride on these trucks is already extremely temperamental enough as it is without even doing anything to it.

I don’t even want oversized tires on my truck but I’d kinda like to pick the front end of my truck up just a little bit to level it out because to be quite honest, this is the first ram halfton that I’ve had that doesn’t even look like a four-wheel-drive. It looks like a 2WD which is why I thought about putting the links on the front of my truck just to raise it up a little bit but even with my lifetime warranty I have is something goes wrong, I’m still afraid to mess with it.


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[Tim Garceau]

Nitto G2 Grapplers.

/Thread

 

[corneileous]

Nitto G2 Grapplers.

/Thread

Since those have an amazingly similar tread pattern as the toyo open country, I wasn’t happy at all in wintertime road conditions with those.


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[Tim Garceau]

Since those have an amazingly similar tread pattern as the toyo open country, I wasn’t happy at all in wintertime road conditions with those.


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The same goes for all AT treads, more aggressive knobs on the outside for rugged terrain and highway close pattern inside. You pay the extra for Nitto on their elite rubber compound. Regardless of Corporate ownership, Nitto is a class ahead of Toyo for their R&D.

Toyo is manufactured in US. Nitto is Japan and hold Toyota like standards. No offense as I'm in manufacturing, but we are not near their level.

Edit-Sounds like their scientists beat us to the punch on an important vaccine as well.

 

[corneileous]

The same goes for all AT treads, more aggressive knobs on the outside for rugged terrain and highway close pattern inside. You pay the extra for Nitto on their elite rubber compound. Regardless of Corporate ownership, Nitto is a class ahead of Toyo for their R&D.

Toyo is manufactured in US. Nitto is Japan and hold Toyota like standards. No offense as I'm in manufacturing, but we are not near their level.

Edit-Sounds like their scientists beat us to the punch on an important vaccine as well.

I could’ve sworn at one point Toyo tires were made in Japan but I guess somewhere back in the years that changed but they still are a Japanese owned company so just despite the fact that Toyo tires are made in Cypress, California, you would think that they would still be held to the same standards as if they were still being made Japan, I would think anyway.

But maybe Nitto’s rubber compound is something to be accountable for but I can’t see that really helping a whole lot for icy and hard packed snow covered roads unless it was an extremely soft rubber compound that was that of an actual snow tire, which is pretty much, along with the extra siping, that makes snow tires so extremely well on ice, even the non-studdable ones.

But oh well, maybe they are good, I’ve never had a set. I just know that the Toyo open country II’s that I once had a long time ago that had the same similar tread pattern as those terra grappler’s, they were fairly useless in snow. Even the Cooper Discover AT-3‘s I had on my last truck were about the same as the Toyo’s.

Pretty much the only all terrain tires I’ve had that were good on snow and ice was the BFG’s and a Sears brand tire I had put on a Ford Courier I had way back in the day that were really narrow, but they had a very tall similar tread pattern to the Bridgestone Dueler AT Revo 3’s. Even for only being 2WD, that truck handled exceptionally well when the roads got bad. Very rarely did I ever have to chain it up. Wish I could remember the name of them. I wanna say they were the Sears Trailhandler but don’t quote me on that.


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[bfill_rebel]

I think my vote would be for the BFG all-terrain’s. I’ve run those on a couple trucks and know of a lot of others who ran those as well up in the Colorado winters and they’re pretty good. They’re hard to beat.

But I don’t know about adding those longer links to your air suspension, though. Its your truck, you do what you want but I’ve seen not only here, but on other forums as well where people have had problems with their air suspension because of those things. Not to mention the fact that the four corner here air ride on these trucks is already extremely temperamental enough as it is without even doing anything to it.

I don’t even want oversized tires on my truck but I’d kinda like to pick the front end of my truck up just a little bit to level it out because to be quite honest, this is the first ram halfton that I’ve had that doesn’t even look like a four-wheel-drive. It looks like a 2WD which is why I thought about putting the links on the front of my truck just to raise it up a little bit but even with my lifetime warranty I have is something goes wrong, I’m still afraid to mess with it.


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Thanks for input. Links will likely be front only. Just to sort of “level” it a little. Thanks for input on tires.


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[BWL]

For winter traction in an at I'd say bfg a/t is the best in an all terrain, but they still aren't as good as a true snow tire. I've put on thousands of snow/ice miles and run a lot of different tires. I had minimal problems getting around on all terrains, but once I went to snow tires in the winter I quickly learned how much better they are.

 

[corneileous]

Thanks for input. Links will likely be front only. Just to sort of “level” it a little. Thanks for input on tires.


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Like I said, I’ve been kind of kicking around the idea myself of adding those links to the front of my truck, I just don’t know how the lift is gong to affect the other modes. Since they are essentially “tricking” the system into thinking the front’s too low all the sudden when you take it outta jack-mode after installing them, how is that gonna affect the other four modes(three if it’s a Rebel)? Is it all the sudden gonna be how ever much taller those links raise normal ride height to in the front when you bring it down to entry/exit mode? I guess I could see your new aero mode being what it is without using aero mode and the links but since the off-road modes actually level your truck out, are those modes gonna give it that pre-runner stance?

I’m assuming that since the air ride system will pump up to a certain amount of more air in your rear bags to compensate for heavy loads and keep in the back of the truck level, that adding more air to the front bags due to the lift probably wouldn’t hurt it.


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[corneileous]

For winter traction in an at I'd say bfg a/t is the best in an all terrain, but they still aren't as good as a true snow tire. I've put on thousands of snow/ice miles and run a lot of different tires. I had minimal problems getting around on all terrains, but once I went to snow tires in the winter I quickly learned how much better they are.

Well yeah, no non snow tire will ever be as good as a bona fide snow tire. That’s what makes snow tires so great for those folks who deal with a lotta snow is because of that soft rubber compound. The soft rubber coupled up with all them tight sipes all over the tread gives snow tires an astonishingly well grip on ice. Only bad thing is having to mount/dismount tires twice a year, or you spend the money on a cheap set of wheels for your snow tires and swap them out yourself.


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[ram1500rsm]

I've tried all 3 models you won't go wrong with any of them for the tasks you're looking your truck to do. They're great for AT, and perform very well in wintry conditions. The Duratracs will be lighter at just 62 lbs in 315/70/17, the KO2's will be 64lbs, and the AT3W will be 73lbs. Big difference if you're looking at MPG, acceleration, braking performance etc.

I like KO2 and AT3W more in the terms of ruggedness and offroading prowess. Sidewall strength is better in this two compared to the GY's. GY's will be better in terms of weight and MPG, all 3 will drive great on wintry like roads.
They're all quiet when new, but as you start racking miles GY's will be noisier with miles, and i meant it. What i liked about the Falken before was their price. they used to be a lot cheaper than the other 2, now the difference seems to be $20 or so cheaper than the other 2 , but they're 9-13lbs heavier. That weight matters when you factor price. If you were offroading where your tires have to rub their sidewall against obstacles often i'll say get BFG or Falken. If that type of offroading is not the main concern, any of the 3 will work to your advantage when it comes to wintry traction. The Falken in 315's will last the longest as they have a deeper thread. You can expect 1/32 every 5k miles with them in that size under the RAM 1500 truck weight, same with the KO2's. They GY's go a little faster, i just don't recall the wearing down rate i had with them. I had 2 blow outs in the trail so i got rid of them a little quicker than normal lol. That's why i don't like them much when i have to rub them against rocks

Have fun.

 

[BWL]

Well yeah, no non snow tire will ever be as good as a bona fide snow tire. That’s what makes snow tires so great for those folks who deal with a lotta snow is because of that soft rubber compound. The soft rubber coupled up with all them tight sipes all over the tread gives snow tires an astonishingly well grip on ice. Only bad thing is having to mount/dismount tires twice a year, or you spend the money on a cheap set of wheels for your snow tires and swap them out yourself.


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I just keep mine on a cheap set of wheels.

 

[corneileous]

I just keep mine on a cheap set of wheels.View attachment 204148

Those are a cheap set of wheels?? Them’s the same Limited wheels my truck rolled outta the factory with...lol.


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[Konrad]

I think this is kind of "which oil is better" question, but my vote definitely goes to KO2. I think I'm on my 5th or 6th set and I don't see a need to put anything else on my truck. Great for Chicago's winters (I'm in NW burbs). For me these are most versatile tires ever.
Had Duratracs once - good tires, but they were loud compared to the BFG's. Slightly, but noticeably worse mpg, too.
For me it's KO2 all the way.


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