Life with Duratrac's.

That's what i'm afraid of. The shaking isn't too bad; I can deal with it. I didn't even notice it until my father drove my truck and pointed it out. Other than that, it has been a great tire.

 

Taking the bad with the good. We had a small group that was going to drive up in the woods, pich tents and see how many empty beer cans we could create. Then it turned into a big group. Then it started raining. Now we're back to a SMALL group that will be building tents in the dark. I've been in on worse.

Anyway, on the way home from work, I dropped in the tire shop where the Duratracs were mounted and balanced. I spent about an hour practicing my speach for the store manager to hear. I mentioned the one tire that ended up where I feel a vibration. (left rear) It took 4 tries before they got it to balance. Or did it? Anyway, the manager stops me, says we can check 'em right now, re-balance all 4, and if there's even the slightest issue, he'll order as many new tires as it takes to find 4 perfect ones.

I'm golden with that plan.

The shop has a crew of about a half dozen. The one guy that stands head and shoulders above the rest as far as obviously knowing what he is doing.....He does the re-balance. He said all 4 were off. 3 by just a little, but off none the less. #4, the left rear, was off over 2 oz. After they finished, I took it out on some open road outside of town and let 'er roll on up to about 80mph. I don't drive that fast very often these days. There was not the first HINT of vibration. So...I stopped by to let the manager know things looked OK. He left it with the offer to replace any problem tire with a new one. He tells me Goodyear is one of the best when it comes to replacing any sort of defect.

OK....As soon as the wife gets her boots on, we're out the door! Goin' wheelin'!!!

 

Note to self; Owning Duratracs does NOTHING to cure a hangover.

Put a tent up in the rain. Bon fire struggled but was very popular. It's been a long time since I had a breakfast consisting of beer and slim jims. It's going to be a looooong time before I do THAT again.

Anyway, about the tires. It's been a wet year here, but the lasy 6 weeks have been dry. The road back to where we camped was dry and dusty. We've had a couple rains in the past week. So. Ground hard with slop (watered down dust) on top. The first 1/2-mile off paved roads is kinda rutted up. Not fun with tires that are allergic to mud. With the old Geolanders, this was a "turn around and go home" moment. The Duratracs did OK. It was a litlle tackier this morning on the way out. These tires are a good match for the Tacoma's power, gearing, overall capabilities. I'm pleased with the results.

Again, I'm no expert....but I do know I like these tires so far. 8 days and 1200 miles in......

 

The Duratracs are available in C load and E load in that size. E will have a harsher ride and a bigger hit on mpgs and performance. Which tire do you have?

 

I went with "C"'s. Lighter weight helps with gas mileage. That was a big consideration because of the highway miles I have to drive daily.

 

Just remember that if you put spacers on, you might have rubbing where you didn't before. I ran 265/75/r16s for years, and then this year I got new rims that stick out 1/2" (12mm) further than stock and a new set of the same tires (Hankook Dynapros). The front flaps had to go because they rubbed on the turn. This is assuming no lift on your truck.

 

My Taco is lifted 3" in front. I THINK I'll have all the clearance I need. If NOT, you'll see a set of 4 Bora spacers up for sale shortly. I don't "need" them, but do like the look of a slightly wider stance. The reason I went with 265's instead of 285's was all about that.....NOT RUBBING.....

Mud flaps may be going anyway. I like what the DO, but I cannot STAND how the look. Just looking for an excuse to pitch 'em in the garage with 3 OTHER sets of 'em buried in their.

 

You should ok with 1" spacers. I'm running the same size equivilant and my offset is about 1" wider, 6 vs 30. No rubbing.

However I am running Rokblokz flaps, which are lower profile (and look way better). Maybe something to consider.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/flexible-aftermarket-tacoma-mud-flaps-by-rokblokz.377255/

 

I may look into those flaps. I do NOT like the looks of the OEM flaps, not one bit.... I have seen a couple sets that were cut down considerably. They don't hurt my eye nearly as bad. In a perfect world, I'd take 'em off and forget about 'em. But we all know the world isn't perfect.....and that rocks knock off paint....

 

Slowly....A piece or 2 at a time. When I pulled in the driveway, I could see a box our UPS route guy had crash tested. Oh well. Nothing he could hurt. The box was my Bora wheel spacers, 1" variety. Being the laid back person that I am, I never went in the house until it was time to go get the camera for a picture of the finished product. Every picture I've ever taken of the truck was a "before". I need "afters"!

Overall, the stance is now what I wanted. Fronts are just a tic past the fender....Rear pic is a little wide and doesn't show exactly how much past the fenders, but slightly less than the front. FYI, the 3/4" spacers (Bora) would have cleared the stock lug studs.

This is how the Duratracs will go forward for a while.

Took 'er for a test drive. About 15 road miles. You (well, me anyway) cannot tell anything is any different than before the spacers.....And I cannot get the tires to rub no matter what I'll be doing with this truck. Right now I'm thinking the tire choices have been good. 265/75/r16's C rated instead of 285/75/r16's. D/E. There will come a day when you see this truck with 35's" For now, I'm liking what I got!

Alrighty. Time to go wear these suckers out!

 

Today was supposed to be one of those boring, nothing happens worth talking about kind of days. So much for that plan. On my way to work @ 4:30AM. I'm driving along at 75mph on the interstate. I hear what sounds like a gunshot. Then the front end starts to vibrate. A lot. I slow to about 50. That lets the front end settle down. I'm almost to work, so I just limp on in. Once I had daylight, I find out that the left front wheel chucked a 2 oz. wheel weight. Instant out-of-balance.

So....Back to the tire store after work. They re-balanced that wheel ONE MORE TIME. BAck home after that. I've been on the phone since. Working on a plan for a few Kentucky Tacoma Hillbillies to go on a 4-wheelin' trip in late October.

 

I have the "E" rated Duratracs on my PreRunner and I've been considering the "C" rated Duratracs on my 4wd, so I've been paying close attention to this thread. I definitely appreciate your ongoing review and analysis of this tire.

 

Busy weekend! And a number of observations with the Duratracs. Too much "on roading" for my satisfaction here of late. More accurately, not near enough OFF roading. Saturday, the wife and I drove to Warsaw Kentucky to watch a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Kentucky Motor Speedway. 90 miles each way, almost all interstate highway, 75mph driving.... I'm happy with the highway performance now. No more balance issues. There's still a bit of "rumbling" that's typical with any aggressive tread tire. I can live with that. Took another road trip today. We visited the Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center State Park in Indiana, followed by a ride in the country. On the way home I had one of those OH SHIT moments when a teen age girl, busy texting, decided to pull in front of me. I had to slam on the brakes hard enough to make the ABS do it's thing. There was a brief squall of the 2 rear tires, but panic braking is just fine. Nice even stop. Credit most of that to the truck but the tires held up their end of the bargain.

I'll be scouting a hunting spot later this week. Supposed to rain monday night and most of the day tuesday. Looks like some muddy dirt roadin' coming. Stay tuned!

Oh, And it looks like I've been photobombed! No clue where that guy came from!

THat's the Lewis & Clark statue (@ the Falls Center) behind the truck. Besides being an incredible fossil site, this was the launch point of the Lewis & Clark Expedition.

Also worth noting; On the trip to/from Kentucky Motor Speedway, I used this as a gas mileage test. Before I put the Duratracs on, I could get between 20 and 21 MPG on highway driving with cruise set at a constant speed. I did that Saturday. Mileage calculated to be 19.895MPG WITH Duratracs, @ 70+ MPH, including sitting in traffic for 25 minutes getting out of the speedway parking lot. I'm golden with that!

 

Spacers are on my list too..1" borla correct? - looks nice

 

1" Bora.....That's what I used. I was told the 3/4" would work with the stock lug studs, but I just wasn't convinced. Turns out they would have worked just fine. If I had it to do all over, I MIGHT have gone with the 3/4". I like the looks of the 1" now, but 3/4" would give me better clearance on turns with wider tires. By the time the 265/75/r16 Duratracs are worn out, this truck is gonna have 35"'s. Justw asn't ready to kill my gas mileage as of yet.

 

OK! Fun day @ work. Now that's over. Today is the first time since I put the Duratracs on that I was able to drive on really REALLY wet roads. It's been raining since 8AM, and on the way home it was dumping water. AND, to make it really a test, I pumped 'em up to 38psi to see how that worked out.

For the inflation....I'm finding that the higher the psi, the smoother they run. That's contrary to my first thoughts. But there is less road noise and less vibration at higher inflation rate. I'm going to stick with 38psi for a while. There is very little "squat" left, and I'm not convinced higher air pressures would be benificial. I'll give this a fair shake and see if 38psi is good to go before experimenting any further.

About the wet road traction; Seems to me they're gripping as well as could be expected. I tried to break 'em lose on a turn into my road. (slick asphalt) They stuck like glue until I really stomped on the skinny pedal. Then they caught traction as soon as I started to come out of the turn. Yep. Still a new tire, and with that, I'm seeing them at the best they have to offer.

I can't wait until there's a chance to put 'em to the snow test.....!

 

MTRs are tough tires but get ready for some road noise. Thanks to a mistake by Discount I got to abuse a set for a month on my 2009. They offered to let me keep them at the Duratrac price and it was tempting. Saw no need on a Prerunner so exchanged them for Duratracs.

 

After a couple days of running at 38psi, I'm more convinced than ever before that these tires NEED higher pressure than I was running in order to get 'em quiet and lessen vibration. The wife and I are on the move this weekend, headed towards Chicago for a wedding. I'm going to raise the pressure to 42 psi before we hit the road. I can always stop and let air out if I'm not pleased with the results. As noted in this thread, I started @ 34psi, dropped 'em to 30, then back up to 35, and now 38. The softer tire dealt with harsh bumps better at 30psi, but shook like a bowling ball in a blender. (not to mention killing gas mileage) 35 was better, 38 better yet....So let's see where the point of diminishing return is....The thing is, @ 38psi, they're riding as vibration free as the Yokohama Geolanders did prior to the Duratracs. They LOOK better....And they perform circles around the Geo's off the road. All with just a bit "firmer" of a ride overall.

Win----Win!!!!

It sure is nice when you spend money and find yourself being happier and happier as time goes by!

 

I ran 42 in my Duratracs per Discount Tire.

 

Same here. Pump em up.