MTR or KM2

[aheiser]

I'm so torn as to which tire to run. I'm looking at a new set of 285/75s to run on my 2004 Taco DC. Price is comparable. Both seem to be strong competitors in mud, rocks, and sand. I mostly run in dirt and rocks throughout CO, though I'd like to make some trips to the slick rock too.

Does anyone have any suggestions that would help me finally make a decision? Anyone have any pics of what the MTR's even look like on the first gen Taco's?

 

[gearbox]

Does anyone have any suggestions that would help me finally make a decision?

Price.


People seem to like Treadwright, so I'd just as soon get these.

 

[SilverBullet]

Between onl ythose 2, I would go with neither. The KM2 does not look like it will handl eroads too well with even wear (just my thoughts yet, never ran them) and the MTR are just too expensive. Have you considered Cooper SST?

 

[Loober]

No question about it go with the KM2's had mine for a couple months and love them off and on road. Very quite considering on the road and ive air down to 10psi with no problems and they look great. MTR's are ridiculously expensive, i got 5 tires at discount mounted, etc for 1250 w tax

 

[xcmountain80]

Know many folks with KM2's with nothing but praise for mileage and noise and thats on 33" and up. The cooper STT is great bu might not last as long as the KM2. The KM2 will wear evenly and for some time from my understanding.

A

 

[FishPOET]

I am currently running MTRs right now and it will be the last set I ever own. Terrible wear and weak sidewalls.

Next set I will be going with KM2s

 

[aheiser]

I am currently running MTRs right now and it will be the last set I ever own. Terrible wear and weak sidewalls.

Next set I will be going with KM2s

Wow no kidding? How many miles do you have on them so far?

 

[goodtimes]

I am currently running MTRs right now and it will be the last set I ever own. Terrible wear and weak sidewalls.

Next set I will be going with KM2s

Interesting. I am on my 3rd set of MT/Rs, also my last.

But -- I get great life out of them (currently over 36K, and have ~30% tread remaining. I have never had a sidewall failure (or puncture), on any of them (knocking on wood), even after driving down the road at 50mph with 10psi after the gas station at the end of the trail closed up and I couldn't get air (15 mile trip to the next gas station). They work great in the rocks here in AZ (which tear the old BFG MT tires to shreds), they work great in the sand (beaches of Mexico), and generally put up with more abuse than any set of BFG tires I have ever had. Not so great in mud though.

Unfortunately, they are friggin' heavy, and damn hard to balance. As they wear, the balance changes significantly -- even though the tread wear is nice and even across the tire. Long term driveability just isn't there. I'll be looking elsewhere for the next set.

 

[FishPOET]

Wow no kidding? How many miles do you have on them so far?

I have less than 10,000 miles on them and of those miles less than 1,000 highway miles. They are already half worn. I have had 4 sidewall punctures and 2 sidewall cuts. The lugs chunk and the tires lose balance.

I can take pics alter in the week.

My last set was BFG muds and the sidewalls are much stronger and I had much less chunking.

 

[theksmith]

i have had KM2's on my WJ for 1.5 years now and probably 30k miles, they have some chunks missing from rock krawling but overall have worn extremely even and i love them. they have about 1/2 tread left.

they are my first set of mud-terrains, before that i always ran all-terrains (Nitto Terra Graplers), so i can't comment on road noise except that they are quieter than some other mud terrains i've ridden in other vehicles with (older verions MTR's and older BFG MT's). i won't be going back to all-terrains for sure.

the other tire i considered was the Toyo MTR's, but they are even pricier than the KM2's. Nitto has a brand new Trail Grappler out that i want to find out more about before it's time for me to buy again, otherwise i'll stick with the KM2's most likely.

oh and they look agressively awesome i think anyway... those new kevlar tires everyone is hot for are fugly!

 

[336wheeler]

I've owned both. I had my MT/Rs for about 10k miles. Be prepared to rotate them religiously if you choose to go that route, but my 2 cents says KM2s... no questions asked. You will have to rotate the KM2s at every oil change as well, but they work better in every offroad situation (in my experience) over the MT/Rs.

 

[Applejack]

Are you talking the "new" MTR? They are going to be a different animal than the old. I'm thinking a lot of the replies you are getting from MTR owners are from the older style.
That being said, I ran KM2's in the 265/75 flavor on my '05 Taco and loved them. The wore nice and even, they didn't even need to be rotated until 11k, and were relatively quite for a mudder.

 

[aheiser]

Interesting results. Seems like most are recommending the KM2's. Yeah, I am looking at the newer MTR's with kevlar.

 

[336wheeler]

I've only ran the old style MT/R. That being said, I don't particularly care for them as a daily driving tire... but I do run a 235/85 MT/R as my spare - they are pretty tough tires. As for the new kevlar MT/Rs, I cannot vouch. They look neat. Between the old style MT/Rs and the KM2s, it's not a question which is better (in my opinion), but the new tires do look like should work better than the old ones (and resist odd wear patterns better). I don't see how some people rotate their MTs every few oil changes... but then again I do drive my pile like a roadster (on 255s).

 

[just eric]

I have less than 10,000 miles on them and of those miles less than 1,000 highway miles. They are already half worn. I have had 4 sidewall punctures and 2 sidewall cuts. The lugs chunk and the tires lose balance.

I can take pics alter in the week.

My last set was BFG muds and the sidewalls are much stronger and I had much less chunking.

I think you must have gotten a bad batch. I have over 20k on my MT/Rs and still have 16mm of tread left. I had them siped by Les Schwab at around 2k miles and haven't had a problem yet. That is to say no chunking and they have been wheeled on rocks and trail in the PNW. They are great in the rain (for a mud tire) and I have yet to have a balancing issue. I have them rotated every 5k miles or so. Oh, and I run them on a fairly heavy FJ cruiser ~5500 lbs.