Goodyear Wrangler DURATRAC's

Got a set of 235-85-16's locally last week. I price shopped a little and ended up at 804.00 out the door,mounted, roadforce balance, and road hazard guarantee,plus lifetime rotations. Today we have a foot of fresh snow to try them in.

 

I got mine for $782.00 in November 2013. 265/75r16 load range C. They're pretty good in the snow.

 

i got my duratracs back in sept of 2010, I can see the prices are going up, but still I like the duratracs way better than BGF A/T tires. I have a load range C on my tacoma now, is it worth it to go to range E? Tire direct prices is only $2 difference... I mean load range E is heavier and i assume it will eat more gas? Better support on payload? also there are rebates and other savings too...

 

I am reading researching tires right now, and am reading A LOT of older posts. I know this is a year old, but could you give a long term update?

I am torn between BFG Muds and Duratracs. Could you give a little more details?

 

Have you had any issues towing with these tires?

 

Paid $254 apiece at Discount Tire in December for 285/70/17's.......and they are a beast in the snow....

 

Could you compare the two? How do you like the KM2? I am torn between the two.

 

After reading close to 60 pages of this thread, it seems like 2009-2010 had the issues with punctured sidewalls? Someone even suggested there was a bad batch?

I would also like to see if there is a connection between C rated and E rated tires and punctures. It seems like most people go with C rated tires to save some mpg.

 

I'm on my second set of 285/70/17s, load range D, 8ply! First set was just shy of 40,000miles! I know I could've gotten 5000 or more out of them, but winter was coming! I'm at 20,000+ right now with plenty of tread left. I mud them through buried rocks and shale on my property and have never had a flat or puncture!

I can't think of a better all around tire for my use! I will buy another set when these wear out. I've said it a bunch, these are the best snow tire, that wasn't a dedicated snow tire, I've ever run, bar none!

I run mine at 39-40 psi for normal driving, 48-50 with my landscape trailer and 4-wheeler, and 60 with my camper with the deck loaded with my 4-wheeler or just a bunch of gear!

 

I just replaced my BFG KM2 Mud Terrains with Dura-Trac's back in Sept 2013 and couldn't be happier! I've put about 2500 miles on them and noticed a NIGHT and DAY difference when it comes to snow/ice traction over the BFG's.

I put 50,000 on the BFG's and am surprised I survived that long, driving in the CO mountains as much as I do and having to deal with the poor snow/ice ability of the BFG's.

The only draw back I've had with the tires, and I am sure others have mentioned, is the gas mileage. I've lost about 40 - 50 miles per tank with the new tires. But I will take that, as these tires are amazing.

 

I've got 2k miles outta the Km2s so far so here we go:

Km2 Pros:
-monster traction on dirt and mud
-good traction in rain
-aggressive looking tires

Km2 Cons:
-loud (I don't care much about road noise)
-wears pretty fast (I'd be happy if I get at least 25k out of it)
-mpg dropped by 2-3 (no lift, just an arb bumper and supercharger)

Km2 Other:
-no snow yet
-no hardcore off roading yet

Duratrac Pros:
-good traction in rain, snow, mud, gravel, etc...
-decent mpg
-quiet compared to Km2s
-wears very good as long as you rotate them every 3-5k miles
-aggressive looking "AT" tire

Duratrac Cons:
-traction is lost as tires ramp up miles (but what tire wouldn't lose traction as the miles rack up??)
-a sharp rock punctured my left rear tire (I barely had any tread left so I don't blame the tire)

Duratrac other:
-no ice experience

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the Km2s. Don't get me wrong, the Duratracs were bomb but I like to try and experience different tires.

 

just curious if you had C or E rated tires.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Great info.

Next month I will probably get Duratracs E rated.

 

I don't believe you can compare the two... Like apples and oranges

Ones a mudder and ones a dedicated snow tire.

I guess if you only get snow once a while all good but ice is the bitch to watch for

 

I've had 265-75-16 load c duratracs for about 15-20k miles so far. They seem to be wearing well. Still lots of tread left.


I have noticed with snow it depends on the type whether they handle well or not. If it's a light fluffy snow then they have terrible traction. If the snow is heavier and the tire can grab then they're alright. Personally I wouldn't consider them a 'great' snow tire. There was literally times when my wife's Acura TSX handled the same conditions better than mine while I was in 4wd.

They cut through deep puddles at high speed very well. They do not have great traction on simple wet roads. I find myself having to be overly cautious going around turns when the roads are wet. It either wants to plow forward or kick the ass end out. From a stop the rear lets loose entirely to easy. I've been in a few precarious situations when I was trying to pull out into an intersection and the tires just wouldn't grab.

Dry conditions they run really well and have good traction. Not horribly noisy, but definitely a noticeable hum. After rotating sometimes they will do the wawa until they've worn a little. They run well on the highway without too much 'loose' feeling from the tread or larger side walls.

Forgot to mention. I don't do any extreme off roading, but I take it up in the mountains and the mud. The duratracs do very well in those conditions. Bite right in.

Overall I'm happy with them. They look really good, handle well under normal conditions, and they're not too noisy. I just wish they had better wet and fluffy snow traction.

They are way better than the BFGoodrich that came stock on my last Tacoma.

When it comes time to buy new tires I may or may not get another set. If I find something that looks as good but is known to handle better, then I will get those.

 

Mine was load range C.

 

I'm confused by your snow comments...

So ur saying light fluffy snow aka dry snow is worst

And heavy snow aka wet snow is better?

I dunno where u live (tapatalk) but out here on the west in the mountains the drier the snow the better...

The wet stuff fills the treads and I feel my old BFG KO's self cleaned better than the dura's but the duras are a mean looking snow tire ( needed where I live by law/or chains in truck) so there are compromises haha...

Anyways just trying to understand you, but we are saying the same thing... Depends on the snow lol

 

The experience that I've had with last 2 winters has been when it's a light really fluffy dry snow is when they handle badly. It's like driving on ice. I don't think it's an issue of cleaning the snow from the treads, as much an issue of the tire gripping. When the snow is heavier (wet) it's been my experience that they grip and bite in better. More overall control of the truck.

It's snowing as I type. About 7-8" so far. I'll report back after I take the truck out and let you know how it did.

 

i bought some Duratracs before the snow started flying
i absolutely love driving in the snow (if no one else is around me, doing this: )
i go out driving in it every time it falls

i've gone through the wet/dry/light/heavy/packed/loose/fluffy/slushey/etc. snow
gone through snow higher than the diffs... loves it
gone over National Forest trails that were, literally, just a 6" sheet of ice
i can't think of a snowy/icey condition that i haven't thoroughly treaded over with them
they far exceed what i thought a tire was capable of doing in every scenario

i've only unintentionally had the back-end kick-out bad on me once; and it grabbed / i regained control the second i took my foot off the gas
and there's been quite a few times where i'll mat it around corners, to intentionally try get it to kick-out, and it didn't...
Edit: i suppose i should clarify i was in 4wd with 200lbs in the bed in these scenarios

i don't mean to contradict or say the other poster is wrong
just sharing my experience/opinion of the tire

Another Edit: oh, one thing that did unpleasantly surprise me is when i chained them up, some permanent indentations were left on the treads
not too big of a deal... if the rubber was harder it probably wouldn't do as well in the snow/ice
i'm alright with that compromise

 

just got Duratracs installed only a few miles on them but love them so far....so sun out today so contrast sucks

 

I just got 235-85-16's in load range E's,and put them on some TRD rims. I was running 285-70-17 BFG AT's up till then. I liked the BFG's, as they floated on top of the deep snow,but they just slid around too much in normal driving conditions. The Duratracks are completely different, they go down through the snow, and bite. I am very happy with them, and wish we would have installed them sooner. I run around mostly in 2 wheel drive, with a lot of weight in the back, and very rarely have 2 use 4 WD now while working in the city with unplowed side streets.