2018 OR Stock Tire vs. Tire upgrade

Hello all,

I have searched this site for an answer to this and can’t seem to find any useful info. I am taking delivery of a 2018 OR 4x4 DCSB automatic in Cement with prem/tech next month and have some options available to me regarding the tires. Dealer has thrown in the factory tire upgrade in the deal along with predator step bars. Have some questions regarding the upgraded tires. The upgraded tires are the 16” Goodyear Duratrac all-terrain 265/70/16 tire vs the stock Goodyear Kevlar 256/70/16. I like the “knobby” agressive look of the AT upgrade but admittedly most of my driving will be on pavement with some weekend OR excursions. Price being equal which tire would you choose? Since the size is equal the upgraded tire shouldn’t affect performance on mpg’s, correct? Is there a significant noise difference between both tires?

Thanks in advanced!

 

I would choose the more highway friendly tire, only thing the aggressive tire will do is run your MPGs down and make a lot of noise, and also the handling of the truck will be minimized. the best AT tire around is the MICHELIN AT2 they have all the handling and highway characteristics of an All Season tire and look good doing it.

 

Nope. Tread pattern, tire weight and tire compound will affect your mpg. Tires the same size can have greatly different weight because of sidewall thickness. A rough tread tire will do much worse than a smoother tread tire. A soft compound tire will do worse than a hard compound tire. It could make a difference of an mpg or two.
Nothing is free.

 

Look into Wildpeaks, they have an awesome aggressive look to them, are not noisy, do fine on the highway, and retain the MPGs.

 

The stock wrangler Kevlar tires are fine for off-roading and have better road manners. The Duratracs will be better in deep mud, and people like them in snow, but they will be noisy, and lower your economy.

If your plan is just to run back-roads you’d probably be happier with the stock Kevlar wranglers.

 

I just changed from the All Terrain's to the Dura-Tracs. Their is definitely a bit more noise when cruising on the highway but not too bad. Around town I really can't tell a difference in noise. Dura-Tracs are known to get louder as they age/accumulate miles.

IMO the Dura-Tracs transformed the look of the truck (also did 265/75 vs stock 265/70). I would have kept the stockers but I really wanted a better set of tires for winter driving.

 

How many miles do you put on in a year? I bet between the two, it's a 1mpg gap (maybe 2). So not a big deal if your annual mileage is low.

You could always get the Duratrac's and if you don't like them, trade them with someone with stock Wrangler Kevlar's + some cash.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/cooper-discoverer-at3-4s-review.557727/

doubt your dealer will do Coopers but I upgraded from the stock Wranglers to these recently and I can speak to their highway and offroad performance. in my experience they are a no-compromise kind of tire. quiet on the highway, handles incredibly well in all conditions, tight cornering with less body roll than the stock tires, has treated me really well on fire roads and mild trails and is rated as winter (snowflake) tire. They aren't very expensive either. What is your dealer charging for the tire "upgrade" ?

Depending on that, the Wranglers the truck comes with aren't terrible tires. I drove on mine for 30k without issue but wanted something a little more aggressive. Folks will line up to pay you $400 for your set of takeoff which can cover a chunk of cost on a replacement set of tires once you take delivery. something to consider.

 

I went the opposite route had the dealer throw in a set of the 17inch matte black TRD wheels off the 4 Runner TRD Pro. So I had to get new tires. In all honesty the stock wranglers are probably more than fine for your use and a pretty decent tire. If I were in your shoes and there was something else I wanted like a lower price or a different mod pro grill, pro wheels, etc I would push for that instead.

FWIW I sold my stocks in a day for $700 which covered all but $150 for my LT265/70R17 Toyo Open Country AT2's The LT's are quite a bit stiffer than the stock P rated Wranglers but I do a lot of rocky desert forest service road driving and I wanted something a little beefier and stronger to hold up to the terrain and lessen the chance of a flat in the middle of nowhere. The At2's are pretty quiet for being a much more aggressive tread I am sure the P rated would be a hair quieter and softer riding too.

 

Stock Kevlars in that size are 37# each, while the Duratracs are 44# each...since you won't be using them for off-road and your mileage would slightly decrease, sounds like a tire downgrade IMO. That said, looks are important

 

You should ask your dealer to upsize as part of the upgrade. Who cares about minimal mpg & minimal noise, you bought a truck!

I'm with @psmura on this one...

 

I put duratracs on my FJ. Loved the look, and the tire initially. But after about 5k miles they started getting a little more loud. I rotated and balanced every 5k religiously but they just continued getting louder. That said, they lasted forevuh and looked great. I won’t do it for my Tacoma though. It’s too quiet. I did a pair of silent armors once and liked those. Got 80k out of them.

 

Getting 265/75/16 Duratracs installed right now on my Taco. Hopefully I’ll get a few dollars for the old tires since they only have 150 miles on them.

 

Over 10k on my duratracs. I abuse them on the trail. No balancing issue. No unusual wear. Maybe a mpg drop? Maybe. They're the better tire for the same price if you ever need traction on anything that's not pavement.

With that being said if you only do highway then none of that matters. But if they're offering them for the same price, I'd take the stock ones and tell them they better reduce the price.

Or as someone else said. Get the tires, and sell them right away. Someone would love to take those off your hands .

 

If you ever have snow, and don't want to have stand-alone snow tires, the Duratracs work very well. M+S rated. Were a huge improvement over the Rugged-Fails that came with my truck. I of course have no idea how they would compare to the Kevlar Goodyears mentioned.

 

I was looking at getting these. Are they the same Goodyear Kevlar's you are talking about?

https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/goodyear-wrangler-mt-r-with-kevlar/p/30681

 

No he's talking about the stock off-road ones

 

Cooper AT3’s were great, excellent wet and snow traction. Super quiet, great on gas. That said, I ditched them for sized up STT pro’s because Deep down at my core I’m a Bro. Nothing I can do.

 

Honesty is the best policy.


~ future MT01 owner

 

I have the STT Pros in 35’s on my Cherokee. Definitely good for fellow bros