Duratracs vs Wildpeaks

Hey guys want some opinions. Moving to Colorado so I need a good snow tire, currently stock tires and suspension. Looking at getting either of these two in 265/75/16 but I’m trying not to change the weight too drastically for MPGS. Thoughts? I’m guessing I’d need a SL or C tire to keep it close.

 

I've owned both and prefer the Wildpeak in every way except deep mud. The SL Wildpeak has the silica compound and will be better in wet and snowy roads.

 

Duratracs aren't snow tires. We get 100 inches annually where I live and I wouldn't run duratracs again. That's my experience.

 

I'm reading on here that although Wildpeaks look the part they might not be the best overall choice. I just came across the Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus. Looks real nice and has good reviews. Not done my own research yet but I'm leaning away from Wildpeaks for these.

 

Do the research. There are better tires for off-road and snow traction.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=240

 

• Tire Rack Reviews of Scorpion AT Plus. Looks pretty good research to me, what say you JCWages
• 
  
• 98% vs. best in On-/Off-Road All-Terrain Tires

Would You Recommend?
9.2 - Excellent
+

Off-Road Performance
8.9 - Excellent
+

Wet Performance
9.3 - Excellent
+

Dry Performance
9.5 - Excellent
+

Winter/Snow Performance
8.8 - Excellent
+

Comfort Performance
8.7 - Excellent
Treadwear Performance
8.6 - Excellent

 

90 miles of this to camp. Never had issues with the duratracs. Even with the black ice out here. A studded tire would have been better. But Apples to apples with at tires I had no problems. 45k miles.

 

Those are based on consumer opinions and not objective tests but at least you're looking somewhere other than just a forum.

That being said. We play in the snow a lot. LOL

 

As long as you avoid a real aggressive mud tire and keep the size reasonable you'll be fine with E rated tires. I have E rated LT 265/75/16's on my Tacoma that are 15 lbs per tire heavier than the P rated tires that came on the truck. Fuel mileage is exactly the same as when new. I have the older version of the Pirelli tires. I've not had them in snow yet so I can't say.

I did hunt Colorado last November and noticed most of the Forest service and Fish and Game trucks were running Duratracs. It may not be the best snow tire, nor the best mud tire, but I think they are probably a good compromise between mud, snow and road driving. But once again I've never owned them.

I drove my F150 to Colorado and dealt with quite a bit of snow, my Cooper AT/3's had close to 50,000 miles on them and they did well in the snow for me.

 

That’s disappointing about the winter performance. Those were on my short list.

My load C Duratracs do pretty great everywhere that isn’t paved. At high speed on highway they are loud. And they do fair on snowy or icy roads but don’t really inspire a ton of confidence.

I really don’t want to mess with 2 sets of tires/wheels but I’ve run enough all terrains in my life that I’m really close to just admitting you need the right tool for the job. Especially when it comes to my family’s safety in the winter.

 

i siped my duratracs for detroit-area winters and found them absolutely not-bad in the snow. Was a little surprised because i'm a tire traction snob. Prefer General Arctimaxx however - if i were to buy a second winter-only set - which I didn't.


Edit: Oh - sorry, truth-in-lending - wasn't on a Taco. 315/75/17 (maybe they were 315/70? measured like 34.5") on lifted Expedition

 

You nailed it with your last sentence! If it's a family safety thing then true snow tires are the way to go. My friends in Anchorage run them either year-round or just run 2 sets of wheels/tires. If you are physically capable of swapping them yourself and have room to store 4 wheels then I highly recommend running 2 sets if you live in a region that stays covered in snow during winter.

I live right at the low elevation snow line so I don't have to deal with snow daily but I drive in it a lot so I just run the Wildpeaks which do well in snow and really well in wet conditions. I had Duratracs but they have somewhat poor wet traction in a pickup and they get loud after 20k or so. They also have very weak sidewalls in SL form so I'll never run them again. I live in a suburb with winding hilly roads loaded with deer and other wildlife so I need decent lateral and braking traction. The Duratracs brake nicely but lateral traction sucked such that I had to run Auto 4wd (feature in Canyon/Colorados) to keep the backend from coming around when the pavement was wet. I didn't have to do that with the Wildpeak or Geolandar AT G015s I had before them.

A lot of folks on the Colorado forum run the Cooper AT3 4S in snowy regions like Canada and love them so that is another option to consider.