Goodyear Wrangler Authority, The Ranger's Review

My apologies, I ordered Duratrec SLs off Tire Rack, not the Authority model.

 

So with the new tread pattern, what's the opinion of these vs the duratracs?

 

I like these better especially since they're about $30 less per tire. Other than the tread pattern its very similiar spec wise. Noise is less but I'm just remembering the worn Duratracs that got loud. IIRC about the same when new.

 

Ill input my .02 on the Authority's.

I ran them on my tacoma for 40k miles. I took them off and sold them for 200$ on craigslist. These tires saw 40k miles of hard abuse from snow wheeling, to rock bashing, to long road trips, and even driving aired down for extended periods. I absolutely loved these tires. They performed great, wore great, and were extremely durable. I ran these in a 265/75/16 load range C for reference. I recently bought a 4runner with 285/75/16 Duratrac's in load range E. Duratrac's are highly talked about and praised a lot on the forums. Personally I prefer the authority's for a couple of reasons. The authority's are affordable and and excellent tire. They are a harder tread compound than the duratrac which I prefer for longevity. I have about 10k miles on my duratrac's and they chunk extremely bad when compared to the authority's. The chunking wouldn't be bad on the duratrac's if I didn't wheel in the rocks but its something to consider. Based on expierence, the Authority's hold up much better in the rocks. The fact that I sold my old authority's for the amount that I did just makes them that much better.

The only real complaint I have about the authority's are the shit service at Wallyworld. Aside from that, I would buy these tires again in a heart beat. I wish they offered a larger size because I would sell my duratracs and put these on my runner. I also believe the authoritys out performed the 235/85/16 Cooper Discover STT Maxx that I ran on my Tacoma for 30k miles before I sold it.

The authority's are a great tire and this thread is nothing but living proof. If your on the fence, I say try them and if your unhappy, sell them for something else.

 

I agree with everything above.

I've got 10k on mine and they still look new. They're definitely not sheltered tires. I've even done power brake burnouts with them My alignment isn't even that great(I really need to get that done). As time goes on I'm starting to abuse them more since they're wearing so well.

 

I totally forgot to mention my alignment. My trucks alignment is never good. Between the F'ed up rack, ball joints with over 200k miles, and shitty tie rod ends, the Authority's still wore excellent. I really wish they offered this tire in a 285 and a 255. Id run these tires until Goodyear stops production.

 

Looks like I'll be gong with these then! Any idea what I could expect to get from selling a set of rugged trails with 20k on them? Probably not a whole lot. Lol

 

I have no idea what some rugged trails would be worth used. I always start with my price set high and see where that goes. It takes two seconds to drop the price on CL.

 

Just picked up a set today. 265/75/16 they should fit without rubbing but these things look huge.

 

ouch. They will say that cant be patched.

 

For now I'm leaving it and get fresh plugs.
Or turn it into my spare.

 

Almost 2 years later.

 

I'm impressed with how sharp those edges on each block still look. How many miles is that?

 

Yea I forget how many years ago I got mine. I know it's low miles. I don't drive much.

 

They look great. No off road abuse it appears? Have they gotten much louder? Happy Easter everyone.

 

They've been off-road, but definitely more street miles. That tire was on the front left. I rotated them once, but didn't balance. They have gotten louder, but nothing crazy. I'm guessing around 13k miles. I don't get to drive it much.

 

I finally got to do some real Off Road driving with these tires. I have to say I'm very impressed. I worried about tearing to side wall on a sharp rock, as there were plenty of those in Berdoo Canyon trail. I had them aired down to 20 lbs and that seemed to be good for the trails I was on. We were camped in Joshua Tree for 3 nights with the family and a couple of friends. We were fortunate to have great weather. Only one night got a bit breezy but perfect otherwise.



Full Stuffage on this ledge.





My daughters love all the rocks to climb on.





Right now its beautiful up there.



Sunrise over our camp Saturday. We brought our Trailmanor and our friends now have our beloved Jayco pop up. So we took over those
two sites in Jumbo Rocks CG.



Still some water at Barker Dam.


Petroglyphs at Barker Dam trail some color enhanced

Sorry had a great time and wanted to share some other pics, but back to the tires they are Awesome.

 

What tire pressure are you guys running? Just checked mine today and they had them inflated to 40 front 42 rear. I dropped the pressure by 10 all around. Seem about right?

 

Gorgeous photos, man. Thanks for sharing!