2005 gx470

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Nothinghead

Nothinghead

Joined
May 25, 2012
Threads
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Location
Heber City, UT
I finally convinced the misses to ride with me in my 4x4. I just had to buy one that is 40 years newer than the Fj40 to get her to do it. Hopefully, the coming years will see some enhancements to help what seems to be a fairly capable SUV (think ARB lockers, coil-overs, etc.) and I'll share what I do, here.



image-3312371166.webp

First dilemma is tires. Duratrac or LTX M/T2? E or C range?

image-3312371166.webp
 
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Duratrac E range. Best tires I have ever owned.
 
Nothinghead said:
I finally convinced the misses to ride with me in my 4x4. I just had to buy one that is 40 years newer than the Fj40 to get her to do it. Hopefully, the coming years will see some enhancements to help what seems to be a fairly capable SUV (think ARB locker’s, coil-overs, etc.) and I'll share what I do, here.
Click to expand...

Put her favorite beverage in a spill proof cup, crank up her seat heater and take it easy while off-roading with the 'misses'.

From personal experience: Sometimes, it's not the 4x4 that turns women off, it's the way the 4x4 is driven. What's fun from the driver's perspective, may be sheer terror for the passenger(s). (Same for motorcycles!!!)
 
DanKunz said:
Duratrac E range. Best tires I have ever owned.
Click to expand...

Yeah? How does the E compare to the C on these vehicles? Stiffer ride? more treadlife? Less body roll?

I don't plan on using this for carrying heavy loads.

470reasons said:
Put her favorite beverage in a spill proof cup, crank up her seat heater and take it easy while off-roading with the 'misses'.

From personal experience: Sometimes, it's not the 4x4 that turns women off, it's the way the 4x4 is driven. What's fun from the driver's perspective, may be sheer terror for the passenger(s). (Same for motorcycles!!!)
Click to expand...

Very true. She says she doesn't like the smell of the 40 but I think she just doesn't get the thrill of doors off, off camber, metal mashing wheeling that I do:steer:. However, on one of our first dates, she was the one who wrecked our two person snowmobile on a jump, nearly ripping my foot off at the ankle.:whoops:
 
I have E because of the extras I have on mine. Never had a C so dont know.
 
Cs would wear out really fast. I'd get a D or E. E is really more for heavy duty trucks. That's what I have on my Tundra.

BTW, the load range is basically akin to the number of "plies" the tires have. They don't actually have 10 ply tires any more but that's what an E load range is. So E=10ply, D=8ply, C=6ply... You get the idea.
 
Sam Stewart said:
Cs would wear out really fast. I'd get a D or E. E is really more for heavy duty trucks. That's what I have on my Tundra.

BTW, the load range is basically akin to the number of "plies" the tires have. They don't actually have 10 ply tires any more but that's what an E load range is. So E=10ply, D=8ply, C=6ply... You get the idea.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I figured I would go with E but I'm just curious about others' experience. It seems these came with P(assenger) tires from Lexus but I imagine the Prado 120s really deserve and are designed to ride on LT (light truck) tires.

FYI my father's 03 tundra got over 100,000 miles out of a set of E rated Michelin LTX M/S2s.
 
Sam Stewart said:
Cs would wear out really fast. I'd get a D or E. E is really more for heavy duty trucks. That's what I have on my Tundra.

BTW, the load range is basically akin to the number of "plies" the tires have. They don't actually have 10 ply tires any more but that's what an E load range is. So E=10ply, D=8ply, C=6ply... You get the idea.
Click to expand...

I've got 265/70/17 C-load Duratracs on my GX, put about 30,000kms on in the last 13 months, measured yesterday and there's 16/32 tread remaining on all 4, new is 18/32, I'd call that pretty good wear. I rotate them every 8,000kms or so (oil change interval), so I'm sure that helps, but I'm very pleased with the tires, and the wear.
 
How do Duratracs handle in the rain?
 
RCsGX said:
How do Duratracs handle in the rain?
Click to expand...

Really well IMO, I've never experienced any hydroplaning or that kind of thing with them on my last 3 trucks. Where they REALLY shine over other AT's though, is in winter driving conditions, they make dedicated winter tires redundant.
 
I have DuraTrac's on my 05, which is completely stock and sitting at 145k miles. The only rubbing I have is at full right turn lock, while backing out or into parking spaces. The rub occurs on the front driver side fender liner, about the first three inches from the bottom, closest to the front bumper. It doesn't really bug me and I could trim the liner with a Dremel in 10 seconds if I really needed to.
 
After adding a simple 1" square steel framed roof rack with expanded metal and some Yakima accessories, we took the new puppy out for some snow wheeling.

FullSizeRender.jpg

After the sun set, we found some college kid and his girlfriend stuck in a ditch in their Explorer throwing everything they had in the car under the tires trying to get unstuck. We yanked them out before heading back home and passed a spotless '86 Xtra cap pick up with flatbed on the way. I was almost envious but then I put my seat warmer on and that envy went away.
 
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