DuraTracs....What have your experiences been with them. Mine...MEH (1 Viewer)

[dubitup]

Great in the snow, mud and such....but I'm not very happy with the softness of the sidewalls

Over the last weekend at HIH5 I punctured a sidewall pretty easily. Some folks that attended mentioned that they have heard of this issue with this tire. I had read great reviews on them which is why I purchased them to being with.

Also during the same HIH5 trip we had another mud rig take a sidewall puncture. When @bluecruiser was leading Poughkeepie gulch we witnessed a JK on top of the wall take a sidewall puncture as well.

Was this a case of blue shale being very sharp in the area or are these tires just that soft sided

Your experiences?

 

[CreeperSleeper]

I loved mine until I sliced three sidewalls on a un-maintained gravel road... The sides are very thin. I replaced them with Falken WildPeaks. They don't look as good, but the sidewalls are better, they are quieter, and I haven't noticed any lack of traction. I am very pleased now!

 

[paflytyer]

You can slice a sidewall with a business card.

 

[spressomon]

Typical Goodyear carcass/sidewall construction. Although I haven't run the DuraTracs I had 4 GY MT/R Kevlar sidewall failures. As much as I liked the on trail attributes...the anemic sidewall construction, Kevlar or not, was a deal breaker for me.

 

[AimCOtaco]

I had 2 DT sidewall failures in about 6k miles and returned them pro-rated and ended up with Cooper STMAXX A/T... so far so good.
I will not buy another set, it was an expensive learning experience. I recall the last 6 or 7 tire failures I have been around on trails recently have all been DT's, sure they are popular but not that popular.

 

[ntsaint]

Pretty sure @Cowboy59 sliced a DTrack sidewall on California pass as well...

 

[Fallon 40]

Inside sidewall issue after a side trip up Jail canyon to the cabin in DV.
Picture does not show how big of a bulge there was, about the size of a fist and I did not see it until I drove home.
Luckily no blow out on the highway.

 

[TwiceWithHair]

Well s***! I'm all shoed up with 5x 295/65/18 duratracs. I thought I loved em... Now I'm nervous to use em!


...via IH8MUD app

 

[DanInDenver]

I have had them for 3 years. Not a heavy wheeler but I have had them on many trails in CO. So far so good. I rarely air down.

 

[Enigma]

Never had them (BFG fan), but know quite a few who have had horror stories about them. I'm sure @asutherland would love to recant his stories about them.

 

[half k cruiser]

I don't think they were designed with maximum sidewall protection and rock crawling in mind. Its a very solid all around tire. If your going to be in the rocks a lot get the cooper PRO or something similar.

 

[highonpottery]

I've had mine for like 50-60k. Taking them out into sharp terrain has me very concerned, so I just don't. On the road though I have no complaints and they have worked well in everything I've done. I will say though, that the sidewall failures are not reassuring for this tire and to me the aggressive sidewall lugs are really only for show and don't have any actual function other than add weight and aesthetics - at least that's what I observe when I compare them to the Toyo MTs on my truck parked next to the Hundy. For me, I will not be replacing with the same tires when the time comes (I'm at maybe 35% tread, so getting close). I think my next tire will be something that comes in a 255/85-16

 

[yeti in ga]

I have liked mine also and they have been a great tire so far, wheeled better then the BG AT they replaced but the next set I will try the Coopers. I have been on rocks but nothing like shale..

 

[nakman]

Best tire I have ever run for highway manners, being quiet, and traction on the road in snowy conditions. Then I sliced a sidewall. Then I sliced another sidewall. Then I went to Nittos.. I still miss how quiet those Duratracs were. But don't miss the flats.

 

[mcgaskins]

I had them on my 100 and really liked them a lot and never had any issues. The 100 series with Duratracs was the most solid feeling vehicle I've ever had on a snowy/icy road, and that includes several Audis with snow tires (though my A6 wagon with Blizzaks was amazing too). I wanted to put 35" KO2s on my JKUR, but Discount wouldn't mount them on my stock wheels. They would however mount up 35" Duratracs on the stock wheel (which I'm still bitter about - I think they just simply have more profit in the Duratracs which is why they push them), so I went with those again. I've been wheeling the JKUR much harder than the 100, and so far knock on wood the Duratracs have still been great. I've done several rocky trails that are 7-8 on a 10 scale with no issues including in one scenario where I bet my buddy $20 I was about to pop a bead which didn't happen.

All that said, I'm still likely to switch them out to KO2s soon because I'm looking to go to a 37" tire and will swap out wheels then. I think the Duratrac is a fantastic tire for most applications, but I do wonder if the extra weight of the 100 is too much for their sidewalls. Aesthetically I think it's the best looking tire apart from a Super Swamper, but after the issues I had with my Swampers in the past they're not worth the trouble for the incremental gain in off road traction.

 

[Tigerstripe40]

I'm on my second set of Duratrac's (40k on the first and if I had the front end aligned they would have lasted much longer) and haven't had any problems. I tend to bomb down desert roads at Mach:Retarded. Never an issue.

 

[asutherland]

Never had them (BFG fan), but know quite a few who have had horror stories about them. I'm sure @asutherland would love to recant his stories about them.

On BC's coast, 5 brand new load range E (315/75/r16) tires didn't last me 2,000k. I slashed 3 of the 5, one by one, over the 2 years. Went to Cooper Discoverer SST and haven't had a flat since (it's now been more than 2 years since I switched)

I got so desperate to get rid of my Duratracs together (because I never knew when I'd lose ANOTHER one and have an incomplete set again) that I sold all 5 tires, in varying states of treadwear (ha) for $750 CAD.

They also wore quickly compared to my Coopers. That's probably because of the freak'n land tank this cruiser is, at 6,700 lbs.

People say they are good snow tires, Mountain Snowflake symbol and all.. but after getting rid of them and getting the SSTs I had to get a snowflake tire for our winters (by law) so I got dedicated 33" snows. The difference between a Duratrac and an actual dedicated winter radial is like the difference between a Pathfinder and an 80 series.

 

[MountNGoat]

I've been running the 33x12.50R15LT Load Range C DuraTrac's on my 60 for a year now and couldn't be happier - great all around manners, from the hwy (it's my DD to the tune of 50 mi each way) to wet rocks. And supposedly the load range C tires have very weak side walls. Between the diesel, armor and 38 gal fuel cell it's pretty heavy. Trails have been Sierra Nevada rock, including Rubithon this year, and I've had no problems. My son (@JohnnyOshow22) was behind me on the Rubicon much of the time and had several "cringe" moments when he saw something that he was sure would result in tire damage, but it never happened. I also noticed that TLCA Toyota Trails Technical Editor Robbie Antonson was also running 35" DuraTrac's on his 80 this year on the Rubithon, and I'm not aware of him having any problems. I have no doubt that some of you may wheel in situations that are really hard on side walls, it just hasn't been a problem for me. I need to put new 35's on my wife's 80 in a few months (we've been wheeling that on the Sierra Rocks, too) and for me it will be DuratTracs.

 

[mr jits]

I ran 315/75/16's on one of my 80's for a year before selling the truck. Snow, mud, rocks, highway, and never an issue. In my experience the best tire I've ever driven on. That being said, I've seen multiple duratracs with cut sidewalls.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

I had good luck with a set of Duratracs in Utah and Sierra trails. I thought they wore pretty fast though, and went through a set in about 30K. No sidewall issues though. My replacement was BFG ATs. I think it's my 6th set of these. I have had great service from these over many years. They are very quiet on the road and are hard to wear out.

For dry off-road (where I live) the Goodyear MTRs have been great. Never a flat, great traction, really impressive.