PSA: Goodyear Duratrac are getting “sunsetted” as the computers / local Discount Tires think. (1 Viewer)

[LINUS]

I swung by the local Discount Tire to debate / try to decide between tires for my Tundra & Duratrac & BFG MT3’s were my 2 “finalists”, but here’s something funky:

As the guy & I got friendly enough for him to not worry, we went out to the bays & tire racks where he rolled out a MT3 for me to look at along side a Duratrac.

We talked a minute about the “severe service” / snowflake icon & he showed me a new tire in store that he understands is replaceing the Duratrac.
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Clif Note version:

Duratrac is getting “sunsetted” in their computers, meaning the sizes in the main hubs are available, but if it isn’t a size you’re after, they are going to need to talk to Gooodyear directly - like the days when there were those “NOT FOR HIGHWAY USE” MT-R’s in G2/Kevlar that were a ‘secret squirrel’ item to get.

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The longer story was the DuraTerrain (don’t quote me on the name exactly) - he had on the shelf was going to replace Duratracs.

The tread pattern was more ‘street’ than Duratracs (by me that means the lateral tread became more longitudinal), and the 2 longitudinal groves were slimmer than Duratracs.

Think the overall lazy “Z” -Shaped tread of something like a Toyo O C A/T

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/BigPic.jsp?tireMake=Toyo&tireModel=Open+Country+AT+II&noReturnSidewall=true&sidewall=Blackwall

That was semi-similar to this new Goodyear they had.

If all the above is old news to you who may know, then OK.

The big caveat to buying any new Duratracs now means if you need a replacement for say sidewall cut or whatever - it may not be there in a few months.

That’s what Discount Tire was showing by way of their coding in their computers - the guy said it was a “roll of the dice” how long Duratracs may be around.
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His shorthand, longterm vehicle owners may want to avoid DT’s - they aren’t looking hopeful as far as longevity of supply/production.

I can’t find that new tire on tirerack.com website yet, so this may be news to some.

HTH - and that’s all I know short of going back & taking a pic of the new tire.
It is “snowflake” stamped - that was the selling point Duratracs had going.

 

[LINUS]

So I may be right, or I may have jumped the gun. IDK.

I did find the tire that I’m 99% positive was the tire that may replace the Duratrac:

https://www.discounttiredirect.com/buy-tires/goodyear-wrangler-ultraterrain-at/p/44183

I remember him saying the DT’s are problematic keeping round & all the issues we can find on the web, and someone on T4R.org said (guessed?) -this is a Discount Tire exclusive (all posts (dozen or so) - were all dated in Oct ‘19, so maybe this is just Discount quitting DT’s.

IDK. But at least now I found the tire that may be the replacement & not just playing “Chicken Little”.

 

[NateMob]

The Ultraterrain is a cool terrain and looks excellent in person, but its only available as a 2 ply tire. Great for a street truck and even dirt roads but it wont ever find a home on my 80. Unless they release it in a 3ply version. I keep thinking GY is gonna release a new MTR since the current one debuted in 2009!

In regards to you looking at tires the Duratrac and the KM3 arent really in the same league or category. You want a MT or an aggressive AT?

 

[LINUS]

In regards to you looking at tires the Duratrac and the KM3 arent really in the same league or category. You want a MT or an aggressive AT?

I wrote up the details of how I came to my 2 very different “finalist” tires in the Tundra/Sequoia forum - basically I wanted a tire to hold traction while towing the boat out of salt when the back tires hit the algae ring on the concrete ramp at one specific ramp - guys with worn down mild Goodyears (think generic OE spec on 1/2t GMC trucks) -need to wait until a few guys “track through” the ring after each high tide/low tide cycle where it gets slick again.
That or they try not to get both axles in that span of algae, at least 1 axle out lets the 4WD guys still get up/out.

KM3’s will hold up & stay round & get good life, but it’s just a mud tire & on the back of the Tundra & in snow - it’s going to act like a mud tire.
Any BFG AT will hydroplane on HWY101, just a proven fact - so you need MT’s if you BFG a truck & ever go out on the peninsula.

Duratrac’s would wear out far faster, but the rubber is softer & frankly for WA the compound is right/same as MT-R’s - I have had 3 total sets of MT-R’s (1 of 1st gen, 2 of G2 kevlar) -all on the 80’s & I love them in all but snow, and they are hard to keep round after the ~20K mark.

And the 80 is better balanced than the Tundra (actually expect I’ll use a Sequoia TC swap to gain AWD & lock the TC like the 80).

So it came down to keeping up ultra-reg rotation of Duratracs, or KM3’s where it would still need rotation but last longer & the new compound is softer than before - so I have landed on KM3’s.

Really I just street drive the Tundra, but 100% its’ job is to get the boat into & out of wherever I want.
Some boat launches on our rivers are just inclines of sand/river rock so you need traction - why I may well Sequoia box & add a rear locker on top of KM3’s.

I’m not selling the 80, and have legit chains for it - so I’ll just keep the 80 as the default snow vehicle.

 

[NateMob]

@LINUS my man, there are so many great tires available now that would fit the bill for you better than either of those two tires i think. I have never been a duratrac fan but the KM3 is a nice tire, albeit i dont understand the shallow tread depth or the total absence of any siping. Check out either of the new Yokohamas if you havent pulled the trigger on the KM3s yet. The Geolander MT gets rave reviews as a more civil MT that has full depth siping on every lug. And on the Duratrac style front check out the Yoko X-AT. (I think this will be my next tire.)

The new compound Yokohama is using is awesome, softer but with all the modern chemistry mix-ins to make it last.

 

[LINUS]

^^^ You’re not the first to recommend Yoko’s & there were a few others, I get indepth over in the Tundra/Sequoia forum.

I put very few miles ( <5k / yr ) - so if I pick a loser tire, it may be 3yrs before I start catching out-of-round, etc. BFG’s are proven to stay round so while there could be better tires, I’m not going to ‘guinea pig’ myself.