Goodyear MTR vs BF Goodrich KM

TJim

TJim

TJ Addict
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Dec 23, 2019
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1,201
Location
Athens, Greece
Hey Guys!

I am looking for 31 inch r16 MUD tires.

My TJ is my daily driver so I care a lot about the on road behaviour etc, and my off road trips are mostly rock and mud. Less snow and sand.

So I want to compare Goodyear Wrangler MTR with Kevlar vs the BF goodrich KM2 or KM3
 
Goodyear's MT/R is not designed as a mud terrain tire, it's really designed for other types of terrain like rock crawling where its kevlar reinforced sidewall resists cuts and punctures. Its MT/R stands for maximum traction/reinforced.
 
This is what Goodyear says about its "MT/R with Kevlar" tires:
  • All-Season
  • All-Terrain
Our best tire designed for extreme off-road expeditions, featuring DuPont™ Kevlar® that helps resist punctures when powering over rocks, mud, and sand.
  • DuPont™ Kevlar®
    DuPont™ Kevlar® reinforced sidewalls help increase sidewall puncture resistance by 35%.** (DuPont ™ and Kevlar® are trademarks or registered trademarks of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.)
  • Off-Road Traction
    Hardworking wraparound tread helps to deliver sidewall traction in deep mud, sand, and rocks.
  • Confident Handling
    Innovative asymmetric tread design helps provide aggressive off-road traction and enhanced handling on the road.
  • Wet Traction
    The advanced silica rubber helps provide superb off-road and wet traction.

 
i had mtr's on a pickup and road manners were very well behaved. cant speak much of off road use but overall i would buy them again if need be. mine were also silent throughout the life of the tire but they wore out faster than i would have liked.

passed them on to a coworker and he was also impressed with how they handled on road too.
 
I've been on 35" MTRs for 7 years with kind of a love/hate relationship. They're really not great on the road. Icy roads are a definite problem. They're pretty good in loose snow or even somewhat packed. I've never had problems with rain but standing water at highway speeds gets your attention. The stiff sidewalls make for a rough ride--even at 22 psi where I run them.

Off road they're really fun. Deep mud? check. Steep sandstone? check. Sand? check.

The tires have become impossible to balance over time. Shop just told me I had to replace them--even with a lot of tread left. I didn't replace them but I added 11 oz of airsoft pellets (0.25 gr each) to each tire. That really helped smooth out the ride. I got a nail in one tire at the corner near the sidewall. Shop told me I had to replace the tire as it would not be fixable. I put the tire back on and aired it up. That was several months ago and it doesn't lose air.

So, in my experience, the MTR is a great tire but I don't think I will be buying them again when the time comes. The on road performance has too many compromises for the way I'm using my TJR now. I'm not sure what I will be replacing them with.
 
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