Duratracs load range ?

Im going to put bigger tires on my stock 17 DCOR short box. I want a little bigger tire with more aggressive tread. Ive always run BFG AT KO's on prev trucks but want to try something different. ANYWAY..... I'm going with the 265/75/16's but undecided on "C" or "E" rating. I only tow about 2000 lbs when I do tow. So I don't know if "E" rated is really nessessary but conceded about the "C"'s being to spongy.

 

I've got e rated dura-trac which is slightly overkill as far as towing/hauling capacity is concerned for a tacoma. But if you do any sort of offroading I think the e rating helps the dura-tracs weak sidewalls withstand the abuse. I constantly hear how weak the dura-tracs sidewalls are but no one ever states what load rating they have and I can only assume they don't have e rating since I put my tires through some rocky abuse and they've held up well for over 60000kms

 

C or E load rated the Duratrac has only a 2 ply sidewall which is why it is so easy to puncture when it is compared to similar tires.

 

I ran E's simply because there was no inventory on C's. I was happy with them and just made sure to rotate the crap out of them and deflate when it was time to offroad.

 

You rotate the normal 5000 miles?

 

I'm a mechanic so everytime I had it in the shop I rotated, I also had a winter tires set. But I would definitely suggest every 5-6k miles. Diagonal rotation, front to back isn't good enough for any all terrain, gotta reverse the tread.

 

I have the C rated. they are all i need and i have occasionally loaded some serious shit in the back no problem. very minimal offroading for me so cant really comment there. There's also a passenger rated tire that the tire shop even said would be fine for my truck on normal driving conditions but i opted for the C's which i think put me up $2-300 over the P's. the additional cost of E's over C's didnt seem worth it to me.

 

So basically moving the front ones straight back and the back ones go criss cross that's what works best for em?

 

That is the safest rotation, but I did the full criss cross. It drives funny for a day but works out any abnormal wear they get. I never saw any duratracs that wore as well as mine did, most people only rotated every second oil change.

 

And you ever throw the spare in or nah?

 

I had the C's. Lost 3 sidewalls in a week on a hunt. One to a wet pencil diameter stick. Sidewalls were so thin and flimsy, I wasn't going to take the chance that an additional ply on the e-rated tires were going to make much of a difference and went with MTR's instead. But if these tires are a consideration for someone, I'd without a doubt recommend the E rated tires.

 

Thank you......

 

I've had C Duratracs on two different midsized trucks (2003 Ranger and 2003 Tacoma) and beat the hell out of them in SoCal and Arizona desert, cactus, mesquite thorns and jagged rocks. Never a single issue with the duratrac sidewalls.

 

E all the way if you want armor. C if you like driving on bubblegum.

it is true that E's are overkill on this truck for almost every use case, but it's also true that most C tires are 'underkill' and leave a bit desired in terms of toughness, stability/handling, and of course load.

 

Ive never had a problem with C Duratrac's. You do need to pay attention where you place tires but if you exercise the slightest bit of caution you're fine. They are not a hardcore tire, if that's your game you'll need something else. The 95% of the time you're on pavement you'll be very happy with the C's

 

But, I'm far from the only one that has. Google search shows a number of people with the same problem. I also ran them on one extended trip in AZ rocks before that ill fated trip, and they did fine.

I wonder if being subjected to constant wetness is a problem with these tires? It was a rain, snow, and mud soaked hunt. Can't imagine that's the case, but who knows.

I do know I've never had these kind of problems with any other tire. Were I the only one, I wouldn't even mention it. But I do think people should be aware and do the research on the sidewalls on these before they commit to $1,000 for new tires.

At a minimum, I'd certainly recommend the Americas tire certificates for replacement as insurance. I personally didn't risk it again because there simply is not a decent tire shop for 100 miles where I go, and leaving in the middle of a serious hunt and losing a day (or getting stuck walking out 40 miles) is not an option. And paying $200 for shitty AT replacements in some tiny town so I can get back to what I was doing before a tire failed just sucks.

 

In AZ it's Discount Tire but same company I think

 

Again, Duratracs have sidewalls that appear to fail more often than the tires it competes against because the Duratrac sidewalls only have 2 plies. Most LT tires have 3. It's not rocket science that less reinforcement on the side of the tires is going to lead to more issues. However this doesn't mean that everyone will have an issue, just that your odds of a sidewall failure are higher than with a 3 ply tire.

Duratracs are also only siped half way into the blocks which is why they get bad reviews late in life. You could sipe them at 50% wear and alleviate the issue.

 

Muteki also makes an exact copy of the Duratrac but with 3 ply sidewalls if you're looking for a Duratrac without the known weak point.

 

It's not that you're wrong, you probably just need a more robust tire. I personally like it for its excellent winter performance and road manners. I'm not pushing it hard off road and when I do it's mainly just decomposed granite, USFS and BLM roads and almost never rocks or technical stuff.