Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac long term ?

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toynut

toynut

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these tires have been out for a while now does anyone have any long term feed back ? i need to put some meats on the suburban and these are one of the tires i am looking at in a 265/75 R16 size . most of my coworkers have gone to michelins LTX M/S 2 on their daily drivers and love them one on a dodge 1 ton that pulls a 27' trailer and my other co worker has a chevy dually with a big assed camper and a 16' boat . I want a slightly more off road suitable tire that I will not to compromise substantially on highway performance for .

Of course there are allys my standby BFG AT's or the cooper Discover A/T 3's that our works tire guy is recommending for guys that dont want to $pendy on the Michelins.
 
You might want to consider how much off pavement driving you really plan to do in the suburban. If it's the occasional trip only, stick with a good pavement driver. On my GMC I had previously, I really liked the LTX for long term wear. Just my 0.05.

:cheers:
 
ok , thanks I get a pretty good price on tires through work and the guy comes to our shop and installs them while I am working plus he will take a couple of payments over a month. I may go with the Michelin's as that's what he is recommending .
 
That is what I would recommend. You can also air down - if necessary.
 
We've run duratracs on all our crew trucks for one year now, and only one sidewall hit when a girl ran over a metal rod in the parking lot. they don't go off road, but they do see lots of oil field mud roads and a lot of the alaska highway. They work really good and I would say 60% of the work trucks up here run them. they do well in the winter too.
 
Still got the Spork King ATs I bought in 2007 for my rig on my wife's truck. Just balanced them again (they don't stay in balance well). Even Troy at Country Tire was amazed at how well they wear - right up there with the M55s. I wheeled them a lot and also put on close to 200,000 kms on them. People laughed at them at the time compared to BFGs. They took a lot of sticks and rocks to the sidewalls but never chuncked out or punctured. Perhaps just lucky but I do think there was more to them than luck. When I bought them, the shop owner had me compare how much thicker and harder the side walls were to flex than BFGs. Too bad they stopped making them about 5 years ago. I don't think the company exists now. I heard it was bought out by Micheline and they just shut it down. I guess that is one way to get rid of competition.
 
Must be a hard as hell rubber compound for high pavement mileage -- which means they have poor offroad traction - can't have both - conflicting objectives.
 
Glenn-BJ74 said:
Must be a hard as hell rubber compound for high pavement mileage -- which means they have poor offroad traction - can't have both - conflicting objectives.
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The only real advantage for a soft tire is for rock crawling and winter. So yes, not good for rock crawling. However, there isn't a whole lot of rock crawling around here. For winter, I have always bought a second set of dedicated winter tires. The M55s, another AT tire, are also very hard but also very desirable. I was lucky to score a set of 5 M55 from a club member on stock 81 alloys. For the wheeling I do (use to do), I prefer a good hard tire. If I had the money, I would also buy a set of MTs for the odd time I might need them. I do have a set of Geolander MTs that will be done soon. I will be glad to see them go. They are way too noisy for my liking.
 
its a full size chev, buy the mich's. soft tires are over rated buy people who actually need them, unless its on a bike or ice. canuck didnt know you were into the sport kings ,should have bought them off me too,they were new. you got 200,000 km out of a tire, i can barely get that out of a truck
 
soft = traction on wet/dry rocks, logs, slippery surfaces, slimy rocks, steep obstacles, dirt banks, creek beds, log decks, -- so I guess there is not much need for traction on the wet coast.

Examples I have have had - Truxus - they are very soft - stick like glue on wet rock - wear and balance like s*** on pavement. MTR/ Kevlar - hard rubber, long mileage, chunk out bad on sharp rock. Cooper - seem like a better compromise. All depends what you do with them
 
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Glenn-BJ74 said:
soft = traction on wet/dry rocks, logs, slippery surfaces, slimy rocks, steep obstacles, dirt banks, creek beds, log decks, -- so I guess there is not much need for traction on the wet coast.

Examples I have have had - Truxus - they are very soft - stick like glue on wet rock - wear and balance like **** on pavement. MTR/ Kevlar - hard rubber, long mileage, chunk out bad on sharp rock. Cooper - seem like a better compromise. All depends what you do with them
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When it comes to slimy rocks and wet logs, it really does not matter how soft the rubber is. They are like driving on grease until you dry them out with wheel spin. Chains are also useful for the times you need some extra bite. All I can say is despite the hype, the Sport King AT tires have been an excellent compromise for hwy and off road driving. I went with the advise of over 40 years of tire experience when I bought them from the old man who owned James Tire in Mission. I am glad I did. The was true for the M55s: best tire for the buck. Until they sky rocketed in price, almost all the logging companies were using them on their service trucks in the Princeton area while all the 4x4 were chasing the next hyped out tire.
 
Your first sentence is incorrect (please elaborate on your experience here) - I have had two sets of Truxus on Vancouver Island, which has just a few slimy logs, creeks and rocks to get over- I don't comment on tires I have not owned (e.g Sport King).
 
noise at speed is something to consider . once again he is driveing a chevy suburban capable of passing on the coq. not some bush buggy that you have to air down when you hit gravel.
 
I have the Duratrac's and have put 40k kms on them they are at 80% tread and seem to be doing fine off road too. For your needs though I would go with the LTX's.
 
The Duratracs are winter rated. Kinda nice not to have 2 sets of tires. I've found the noise level totally acceptable in my HDJ, they were louder with my 4Runner.
 
You might also consider these tires: http://tires.canadiantire.ca/en/tir...product/0052335P/goodyear-wrangler-territory/

Just read the reviews and you'll see how much people like them. I bought a set two years ago in the 235/85R16 E-rated size, and could not be happier. Build quality is right up there with the more common Wrangler tires. They have excellent on road manners, and have been surprisingly good and tough with wheeling. They are Mud and Snow, and Snow Peak rated. I've been very happy with them in snow/ice. They are wearing slowly, and the rubber is still soft. They have not chunked at all even though I've driven on a lot of sharp rocks while wheeling. I also tow with them, and keep them at 55psi for on road driving (the e rated can take up to 80psi). Most of my driving is on road, with occasional logging road and wheeling.

I highly recommend them as an excellent all round tire. Only draw back is they are a little bit noisy because of the large tread lugs
 
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