Grench
SILVER Star
I WAS planning to tame down my 80 & get Duratracs in time for winter this coming 6mo out - but with all the flap over the wear issues I may just stay with MTRs again.
...
I kinda would have liked the Duratracs for teh severe service/snowflake icon & better snow grip than MT-Rs, but I have a full set of mini-skidder chains I can toss on in under 20mins, so really rethinking Duratracs from all the posts of guys who wore out Duratracs / tread cupping out. IDK, not my only rig.
Wear issues?
I put 5 of them on mine (315/75R16E) and my wife's (265/75R16D) trucks each in October of 2009.
She puts on more miles than I do and I replaced 3 of her's and brought the spare into the mix last year. (Relegating the best of the other 4 as spare.) Her old ones didn't cup or wear unevenly (much). There was a bit of outer tread scrub on the front tires - normal for a 5800 lb truck getting cornered hard. She got just under 40,000 miles out of her's. But - she did wear them down to where there wasn't much left for discernible tread. I kept her's at 45 psi. Looking up the specs, Goodyear doesn't sell this size in D load rating anymore. Only C or E - pity.
Mine now have 37,000 miles on them. They are not as worn as her's were, but they're to the point where they have noticeably less traction in anything that isn't paved. Maybe 3/32 or so tread left. They aren't cupped and have no abnormal wear. I run mine at 50psi in the summer, 40psi in the winter, 15psi on trails.
Something to maybe consider... If you're thinking of using Duratracs for a winter-only tire - they have stud holes. I haven't ever studded any of mine. We get far more snow than ice. But if you're in a zone where it would be appropriate - it could be a factor.
So - I have no complaints about wearing out Duratracs at 6 and 7 years in the 40K mile zone. Yeah, Goodyear warranties them for 50K miles or 6 years whichever comes first. I ran out those on time before miles.
If I like them so much, then why have I been considering options? I would really love to have a narrower 35" tire and keep my factory 16x8 wheels. My 315 Duratracs have a 12.5" wide contact patch - I would like to have an option to try something closer to 9" wide tread, 35" tall with a stronger sidewall. There are some swampers that meet that spec - but those tend to fail on the road manners and/or cost side of the equation.
So, it looks like I'm going to be buying my 4th set of Duratracs (5 Wifes, 5 Mine, 3 Wifes, 3 Mine) later this Summer. In 6-7 years I'll be re-evaluating options again.