Cant get any attention from tire forum, help on duractrac / cooper ST maxx..help pls

Ok Ive done a lot of my own work on my truck but im not tire expert.
I really hate my rugged terrain tires that came stock. I just feel like i get no grip when the road is wet.

I was looking at the duratrac or the cooper st maxx. if i am just using this for daily highway driving, no offroading, can I get the standard load tires going for around $170 or do i have to get the C load tires for $230??

 

Either of those will work, the decision is ultimately up to you. Keep in mind any regrets.
I would recommend the Cs, i have the Es (Cooper ST Maxx) and they ride rough because they are so stiff. if i did it again, i would buy the Cs, and also, if you don't offroad, you may not want that aggressive of a tire. Mine hum alot. next time around im going to run with the Cooper at3s with C walls

 

yea discount tires said cooper st mass only comes in E load?

ive heard of the cooper at3s also , im doing more reading as we speak

 

I've got the cooper at3s on my work truck (also a Tacoma) and they are great! super silent with plenty of off road ability and perform well on road, and in rainy conditions- they have a lot of those squiggly siphons for water. I'm a surveyor at a strip mine, so i bump around all the time in off road conditions as well as on the highway going to different mine locations.

 

My Tacoma came with dunlops, replaced at 37k miles with Michelin LTX MS2's P-series.
Mine are P245/75-16, yours probably P265/70-16. Fantastic tire in the rain, quiet, very long life.

 

right now my stock rugged terrains are 265/65/17. im leaning towards 265/70/17

 

I love my Duratracs but I also love to get off the pavement...if your not off-roading I would go with a less aggressive tire

 

I had 245/75r16 C Duratracs on my Jeep for a while, they were great tires when they had their full tread depth - rocked in the snow, it doesn't get too muddy here, and did well in the rocks, and were fairly quiet on the highway. However, the design of their shoulder lugs, when worn down at a certain point, became dangerous in wet/snowy conditions: the lugs form a U shape, and there's a stabilizing connection between the two pieces, when the tread depth got to a certain point that became one large chunk of rubber, and made the tire prone to hydroplaning and poor traction in wet conditions. Beyond that, the tire was great, kind of soft rubber chunked occasionally, and wasn't noticeably squirmy in hard cornering.

I currently have the ST Maxx on my taco 285/75r16 E, I went to these from retreads on BFG casings - I will say the BFG 3-ply sidewall has a firmer ride, while the Cooper's 3-ply is a softer and squirmier ride. The Cooper is by far the best tire I've owned yet, at a very slight tire hum increase over the Duratracs or the retreads, they're grippy, durable rubber compound that's held up great in rocks, it's very high void despite the appearance of a more AT-inspired tread design, so it hooks up great in loose conditions, rocks, and snow.

I can say, the Cooper is a tad squirmier than the last several tires I've owned in hard turning, which I've yet to pinpoint the exact cause behind - not sure if it's the softer tread compound, the flexible sidewalls, or another reason. My commute involves driving up and down a windy canyon road, on hard turns I can feel it challenging to hold a line, same thing on hard, unbanked highway turns. It's fine if you go the speed limit or recommended speeds, but who does that?

I like the durability of the 3-ply sidewall that you get with the Cooper over the Duratrac, and recommend the Cooper over the Duratrac for its overall performance. I would put the Cooper and Toyo AT II high on anyones list for consideration in the high-void AT tire options.

 

Also, E load tires are 10-ply, the sidewall is going to be 2-ply unless otherwise specified like with BFG AT / MT, GY MR/r w/ Kevlar, the ST Maxx, certain sizes of the Toyo tires, etc. all have 3-ply for greater strength at a sacrifice of ride quality.

My understanding of the load ratings is that the resulting ply quantity is the tread plies. In other words, C = 6 plies of rubber beneath the tread, and unless specified, 2 plies on the sidewall; D = 8, and E = 10. *Not* (ex. C) 2 plies sidewall and 4 tread, as the sidewall plies span from bead-to-bead, and are integrated into the tread plies for continuity and strength.

Stock taco tires are often available in P-rated tires, which are similar to the tires on small cars - simply implying they're passenger car tires. These tires are designed to have a sacrificed load carrying capacity for less heavy-duty use (read: frequent or rocky offroad), these usually have 4-5 ply tread, and 1-2 ply sidewalls depending on the manufacturer and spec.

If you're not going offroad, and just want improved traction and aesthetics, check out the Hankook dynapro AT/M, they're available in both C and P ratings, grip well and look good. They still hold their own offroad, but have better wear life than an aggressive AT tire. Not much sense in putting a high-void tire on a highway queen, you'll get less MPG with aggressive tires and more noise. P rated tires should be fine if not going offroad and not carrying heavy loads.

 

I had 265/70R17 Duratrac load C tires for a couple years. The sidewalls had quite a fix of flex, so they tended to be a little squishy when making fast turns. Amazing snow performance. Good grip on wet/dry roads and not too loud, at first. After around 30% of the tread was worn, they got pretty loud and had horrible wet road traction. Tire shops couldn't seem to balance them correctly either. I had to deal with vibrations in the truck and a shaky steering wheel until I got rid of them after putting 25k on them. I will never own them again.

I agree with Taco Dan on the AT3s. A couple friends have them on their trucks and they are great tires. Great wet/dry traction, good in the snow, great tread wear, and they seem to balance well. If I didn't do off-roading, that's the tires I would have.

 

Very helpful guys. really all i want is good wet traction. not much i can do since i dont have a 4x4, but it just seems to me that the rugged terrain slips even when im slowly pressing the gas. i panic whenever im at the stop light , its raining and its about to turn green

 

I've had the duratracs for about 30k miles now. Wet traction with these tires is non existent. If I come to a stop sign on an incline when its wet I'll throw it in 4WD before coming to a stop. Otherwise I'll be sitting there with my rear tires spinning barely going anywhere. Going around turns is exciting. My vsc has gotten heavy use with these tires.

And they vibrate like a muthafu*#!

 

Hankook Dynapro ATM RF10 in a P rated.

Just got one size bigger than stock (P265/75R16) they weigh 39.18lbs are only 1.5 lbs heavier than the stock rugged fails (which are 38lbs), FYI the duratrac in a load range C in a 265/75R16 is 45 lbs

and in the recent rain we had here in so cal they did great. No reduction in MPG's ride quite and smooth.

Best of all is their price... .MUCH cheaper than the duratrac AND you get a 50k mi warranty. Got mine for 660 out the door mounted, balanced, tax and full road hazzard replacement warranty on all 4.

 

Do you have any pics of your truck with those tires?

 

My truck has the same tires if you want to look in my pics.

 

kinda a shitty angle but, 5100's at 1.75, rear 2in AAL P265/75R16's its the perfect combo for me imo.

 

That is wrong....there is 1 17" C rated STMaxx

 

Here you go. That's a tire I was looking at, but ended up getting the standard duratracs.

 

I bought the S/T Maxx in 255/80r17 and drove 2,000 miles and traded to get Cooper A/T3s in 255/75r17. The AT3 is an Awesome tire. Excellent in major rain, mud and wet grass. Haven't had in snow yet. I will definitely buy AT3s again. Wish they came in 255/80 though. That's a great size IMO.

The S/T Maxx were too heavy for my taste. Really affected acceleration and stopping distance. But awesome off pavement.