285 Goodyear Duratracs - performance in the snow

[KurtKuhn]

Reporting back after 4 months of Duratrac use.

Good background thread here.

You may have read / heard the news about the snow fall that's run through the mid-atlantic states recently.

Before (1st storm over the weekend yielded around 1.5-2' of snow):

After (2nd storm during the week yielded an additional 1-1.5' of snow - snow mounds in the back are accumulations from both storms):

Putting some tracks down in a neighbor's driveway after the second storm - the truck sits on a well packed base:

With the 285 Duratrac's, I was able to run through +20" of snow @ 35psi without a problem. The performance of the tires in the snow is the real deal. I am now limited by axle / chassis height. Perhaps there is a lift in my future. We'll see what the tax man says this season.

I waited until the blizzard was over to take the LX out since there was no reason to put myself in danger. But it's nice to know that I could have gone through the thick of it only in case of an emergency.

I couldn't be more pleased with these tires. I would buy them again in an instant.

Hope this helps.

-KK

 

[Cañonero]

These tires are on my top five list to replace my BF Goodrich A/T

I really wanted to go M/T, but the snow performance is as well important for me, and I see these ones are great on that.

I wonder how worse they are on the mud vs a pure M/T like BF Goodrich M/T or Cooper Discoverer STT, definetly an improvement over the BF Goodrich A/T, aren't they?

 

[Marc311]

nice to hear about the snow performance. I am going to go with either Duratraks or Wrangler Silent Armors when I get new tires.

I would have thought my LTXs would have been pretty good in the snow, but I have been disappointed. For my next tires, I planned to go with an AT anyway, but would have thought a M/S tire would have been better in the snow. Not bad, but certainly not great - the rear end slides pretty easy.

 

[2manycruisers]

How about off-road? They are a load range E, while BFG A/T is a D. Are they really stiff aired down?

 

[KurtKuhn]

How about off-road? They are a load range E, while BFG A/T is a D. Are they really stiff aired down?

No "hard core" mudding exposure. I had it off road in a previously harvested corn field. Lots of ruts with soil condition that was moist to muddy. My buddy's H2 with half worn BFG ATs got stuck. Zero issues with the Duratracs. Also had it on ATV trails in the woods, uphill through moist soil / wet leaves. Zero issues with the Duratracs. Finally, I took it across a creek. Zero issues with the Duratracs.

I ran 35 psi throughout since traction was not an issue. No need to air down since I wasn't crawling.

Load range E isn't too stiff on the highway at 35 psi. I run 35 psi since that pressure showed good with a chalk test when they were new.

Hope this helps.

-KK

 

[KurtKuhn]

nice to hear about the snow performance. I am going to go with either Duratraks or Wrangler Silent Armors when I get new tires.

I would have thought my LTXs would have been pretty good in the snow, but I have been disappointed. For my next tires, I planned to go with an AT anyway, but would have thought a M/S tire would have been better in the snow. Not bad, but certainly not great - the rear end slides pretty easy.

It's been my experience that Michelin's get really hard when they get old. Hard = poor traction...especially in the wet. Also, low tread depth from an old tire is going to hurt you in the snow.

-KK

 

[Marc311]

They are fairly old - the PO didn't use it a whole lot before selling it. Decent tread left, but only about 50%. But I don't need much of an excuse to buy new (and bigger rubber). I guess i just need to decide between the duratracs or the silent armors.