33" Duratracs - Any Input?

So I went snow wheeling today and got into some 'deep' packed powder. All the jeeps with 35's and M/T tires seemed to float right through. My Michelin M/S 2's are great on ice/packed roads but had little chance on the 12" packed snow. It was deep enough that my skid plates were sledding and my tires in places couldn't get enough grip to the ground.

Anyhow, I'm running 265/70/16's right now (which appear to be a 30-31" tire). Considering some 33's to provide better ground clearance. Though I'm not quite sure what actual tire size would constitute a true 33 (265/85/16?)

Done a bunch of video review watching, online review reading, and searching the TW forum for input on the Goodyear Duratracs. They seem quite promising. Most of my driving is "daily driver" stuff. But I'd like to be a little more serious when I go hit the off-road scene with a 'local' group. My tires are a big detriment at this point (plus I could really use lockers).

Any feedback or personal experiences from you folks on the Duratracs is much appreciated.

 

285/75/16 = 33x11.6 Requires minor trimming. 305/75/16 is a 33x12.3 requires a lot of trimming.

 

Yeah I'm not interested in a lot of trimming. LOL! I do have an OME lift front and rear. Currently have 887's (2.5-3") up front but will be putting on a Pelfreybilt bumper once it's built and shipped. May have to go 886 but we'll see. As I recall though the trimming is needed on the back side (mud flap side).

I'm also running Method NV 16's which have an offset of like 4.5 IIRC. Will that help?

 

You pretty much have to lose the front mud flaps, trim the front face of the fender flare and body mount and max out the caster to move the tires away from the body mount. Check out my build thread for trimming. Some don't have to do as much as I did.

 

My front flaps are already removed so that's easy. The Pelfreybilt bumper I've got coming I think requires the front part of fender (bumper) go away anyhow.

Maybe I'm good with just getting an alignment?

 

You'll have to do some minor trimming with a box cutter on the back side of the front flares and you WILL have to trim the body mount.

 

Im assuming you have stock 16" wheels, correct? The 33" tire that will both fit your stock wheels and have as few big tire rubbing problems as possible is a 255/85-16. Unfortunately Duratracs don't come in that size. And selection in that size is not only limited but most (all?) choices only come in load range E. AFAIK all the other 33" choices have a a section width greater than 10.5". That means wheels with different backspacing or adding spacers would be required to keep the tires off the steering knuckle and UCA. Because both of those push the outside of tire farther from the hub they increase the turn arc (not the right word but I can't think of the correct one. Scrub radius?) and magnifies rubbing issues.

 

Alright. May have to put more thought into this then. Body mount chop will require hiring help. I don't have the tools or ability for that. And I didn't really want to have to do that. We shall see though!

Any input on the Duratracs themselves?

 

Good in snow. Not so on ice. Once they hit 50% wear you will hate them. The sidewalls are very weak compared to the Cooper ST Maxx and the Wrangler MTR. Especially the C load rating ones. That's pretty much all you need to know about Duratracs.

 

As stated above I'm using Method NV16's with 4.5" offset. So I'm sticking out a bit.

 

It's not as bad or as hard as it sounds, you could do it yourself with a grinder with a cutoff wheel. Dura tracs are great tires. They were my second choice to the MT/Rs. I know a lot of people who run them and love them. Great on road manners and great in the wet and snow.

 

Considering I sliced the sidewall on one of my Michelin's today that doesn't sound great. One video I saw claimed it was a 2ply sidewall which seems odd for an of road tire? Though folks day they flex well which makes sense if it is 2 ply.

 

If @Kyitty wants to run 255/85/r16 Cooper has the ST Maxx in that size. It's a very tough tire with an extremely aggressive tread pattern. The pattern isn't as good in mud or snow as maybe the Duratrace but it's still a soft rubber which helps mightily. It also can withstand catches on rocks and ice without puncture much better than the Duratrac. I even have pictures of a rim I crunched in the snow where the ST Maxx stayed inflated and did not damage though the blow was through the tire...

 

Anything 285 and up is either D or E load rated.

 

I have 265/70/17 Duratracs on my truck. They do great in the snow. I was plowing through 12-18" of snow the other week with ease.

 

The Duratrac is known for a great price point and it's lack of puncture resistance. It does okay, don't get me wrong, but it's not as tough as the competition and you may be disappointed depending on what sort of offroading you do with the durability of the sidewall.

 

Would that make it a 10 ply then? The tire that got sliced today was during snow wheeling and was never seen. It also gouged the rim near the tire laceration.



So a tougher side wall is important to me.

The snow was deep enough I didn't notice the flat tire until we stopped for someone with a broken axle (old vehicle). I saw the flat tire and at first thought I lost a bead. Was wrong.

 

This ST Maxx flexed mighty well, enough for the rim to bend on the blow of a hidden rock in the snow on a climb where I was trying to carry momentum, but it was also tough enough not to blow out.

Anyways, it's just another option that I'd put on par with the Duratrac for tread but with a much better carcass. It is heavy though my truck has no issues running them. You can get them in the 33" skinnies, which is why I chose them for my truck, and I've yet to regret the choice. They seem to work as well as other guys with a similar setup and true M/T's on there truck to be honest in all but the heaviest mud (like bogging type stuff lol).

 

Depends, differs with brands. Most D rated are 8 ply and E rated are 10 ply.

 

Remember 10 ply is only a rating. It doesn't actually mean 10 ply anymore. Most E range tires only have 4-5 layers in the sidewall. However, how they are designed and how much material is used effects how much those sidewalls can take. See if you can check out the tire unmounted compared to any other tire of the same sort of reputation and you'll notice the sidewall is not as beefy on the Duratrac. I think it's only that way to sell more MTR's lol.