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Written by: The DIY Hunter

Category: Technical

Published: 23 June 2020

Hits: 15412

When I purchased my 2008 Jeep Wrangler in 2018 it came with a set of BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 tires. I have liked the tires and felt they performed very well on the road and on the mountain. As the tread life wore down to two 32nds it was time for a new set of tires and I wanted to try something new.

I have been studying tires for my JK since the day I bought it. While I really like the look of the aggressive mud-terrain tires, the road noise and winter road traction had me a little nervous. While the Toyo MT tires have been my favorite to look at, price-wise and their reputation of not doing well on icy roads turned me away from them. Since my JK is my daily driver it was important for me to have some decent winter driving traction.

Given where I take my JK the primary function I wanted was better off-road traction than an all-terrain but near all-terrain road traction. One of the big reasons I bought my JK was because I spent two different nights on the mountain being stuck in my old Montero. So my Jeep needed to have some decent mud-clearing tires.

In the end, it came down to two tire choices, Milestar Patagonia MTs and Hankook DynaPro MT2 tires. As you can see the Hankooks won out. While the price, winter road traction and off-road traction were great for the Milestars I preferred the look and hopefully longer tread life of the Hankooks.

Finding the Hankook MT2 was a little harder and I ended up ordering 5 Hankook DynaPro MT2 tires off Amazon for $311 a piece and having my local mechanic mount and balance them.

Since my BFGoodrich KO2 spare had never been driven on I decided to do some comparisons.

• Measured Weight: MT2 = 75 lbs and KO2 = 68.4 lbs
• Measured Tread Depth: MT2 = 18.5 32nds and KO2 = 14 32nds
• Measured Diameter:  MT2 = 34" and KO2 = 34" (at 29psi both tires run at 33" on my SuperChips tune to get the speedometer correct)
• Measured Tread Width: MT2 = 10 1/8" and KO2 = 10 1/2"

I only have a few thousand miles or so on my new Hankooks so far and so far I can only hear a little road noise. They have a more aggressive look than my KO2s but I am hopeful they will be fairly decent on winter roads with the siping in the tread blocks. We will see in a few months.

I will update this blog entry and let you know how they are working as I get more miles on these tires.

April 1, 2021 Update
I now have 10k miles on these tires and used them through hunting season with plenty of driving in the snow.

• The tire's tread depth ranges from 15 to 16 32nds. This is with a 5-tire rotation every 2K miles. (I rotate frequently because my camber is off by 1.6 and 1.9 degrees in the front. Long story...)

I have been very happy with these tires. While cow elk hunting I made a half dozen trips up the mountain with amazing traction in snow that was over a foot deep in places. I didn't even air down and they climbed right up the steep sections of ATV trails cutting fresh tracks through foot-deep snow with ease.

I felt plenty of confidence on the snow-packed roads through winter. Not once did I feel like I was slipping any on the snowy roads. Now I know they can't be as good as AT and heavily siped snow and road tires but I felt very comfortable in the snow with them. 

They perform awesome on loose gravel trails and in the mud. I haven't gotten into rock crawling so I'm not sure how they would perform at Moab but for a hunting rig that is my daily driver, I love them.

May 7, 2021 UPDATE
I took the Jeep to Moab. These tires are great!

April 23, 2023 UPDATE
I'm coming up on almost three years of driving with the MT2s. The tires are at 28,000 miles (although a little less because of the 5 tire rotation). The tread depth is now between 11 and 12 32nds. The tread is wearing evenly. I'm still really liking the tires. In the past year, I have had the tires balanced again. I have also been getting tire vibrations in the 35 to 42 mph speed range. If the conditions are just right the treat vibrates like I'm driving over a rumble strip. The "conditions" are when I'm at a constant speed in the 35-42mph range. If I let off the gas or push on the gas the rumbling stops. This has been my only real dislike I have had with the tires so far.

October 26, 2024 UPDATE
I now have 40,000 miles across these 5 tires. The tread depth is now between 8.5 and 10 32nds. The wear looks very even across all tires. Other than the rumble strip vibration I often get between 35 and 40 mph I have really liked these tires.

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Written by: The DIY Hunter

Category: Technical

Published: 26 April 2020

Hits: 10658

In this article, I discuss using the Misch BigBoy seat bracket to get 2 extra inches of legroom in my son's JK and I drill holes in stock JK seat brackets to get an extra inch of legroom for my JKU.

In 2020 we added two more JKs to our family. My daughter bought her first vehicle a cute black 2011 two-door Jeep Wrangler Sport and I purchased a 2007 two-door Rubicon for my 7' tall teenage son.

Aside from just how cool and functional Jeep Wranglers are they offer decent headroom and pretty good legroom for taller drivers. However, not the most optimal legroom for really tall drivers. 

I am 6' 7" and have been driving my 2008 four-door JK for a couple of years now and have found that often my right leg is getting cramps as I have to rotate my right foot at a 45-degree angle on the gas pedal with my right shin jammed up against the console. It's bearable but has bothered me to the point that I wanted to spend $175 for a Misch BigBoy 4x4 seat brackets.

With my 7' tall son, there was no question, it was time to get the extra legroom in his 2007 JK, so we ordered the Misch BigBoy bracket.

The process of unbolting and bolting in the new Misch bracket was fairly easy and quick. The only thing that I had to do was place large washers under the front of the bracket and the floor. The side closest to the console would not bolt flush to the floorboard because the floorboard starts to curve upward to the console so I added the thick large washer to get the bracket to mount flush and not just dig into the console side.

 In the process of removing the stock brackets and comparing them to the Misch brackets, I realized that the stock seat brackets have just enough room in them to add exactly one inch of legroom. To get this extra inch of legroom I drilled two 5/16" holes exactly one inch back from the two rear holes on each of the stock brackets. There is a larger hole already behind the front mounting hole on each of the brackets so no drilling is necessary for the front bolt. However, I used a washer on the two front holes when I mounted the seat onto the brackets. If you drill the holes back farther than an inch there is a slot on the console side bracket that a bar mounted on the seat will not fit within. 

So when I removed the brackets from the 2007 JK I cleaned up the brackets, drilled, deburred and painted the new mounting holes then I replaced these stock brackets into my personal 2008 JK and it works great. I now have an additional inch of legroom in my 2008 JK all for the cost of a little Rustoleum paint and an hour of work. 

I do really like the Misch brackets and my 7' tall son needs all the room he can get but for really no cost at all the extra inch I am getting out of stock brackets feels great in my 2008 JK.