Goodyear Duratracs vs Nitto Trail Graps

I recently bought 18" rims. I have the bilstein 5100s set on the 2nd notch With OME 887s. In the rear I'm running OME dakars. I'm torn between the nitto trails graps or the Goodyear duratracs. What size should I go with and which tire seems to be better?

 

The duratracs will probably give better mpgs, but I would highly suggest against buying them. I was finally able to get rid of mine, and Im so happy they are gone! Terible wet traction intermittently (like driving in the snow with bald tires), vibration issues from the day they were installed, horribly noisy once they have some miles on them. Never would I buy those tires again. I would say they would be fine as a dedicated snow tire.

 

This is literally the exact opposite of everything I have read about them.

I'm not saying you are wrong, it's interesting to hear an opposite opinion, but pretty much everywhere I have looked, people have absolutely raved about them.

Which led me me just ordering them...

Hmm.

 

The problem is they have apparent inconsistent manufacturing. Some people have had great experiences, while others have had terrible experiences. When they were new, they were pretty good, other than the damn vibes. Then they would go through a period of terrible wet traction, then go through a period of so so traction, then back to terrible. After about half life wet traction just disappeared all together. My wife wouldnt ride in my truck if the roads were wet. There were more han a couple times I had scary moments on hilly curvy wet roads. Trying to start on a wet hill with a stop sign, forget about it. Throw it in 4wd just to get moving. Hopefully you have a better experience.

 

Interesting. Thanks for the input.

Here I am having final moment conflicting feelings about what lift to get, and I thought I was set on tires, and now you have me rethinking them, too.

 

So it's sounding like the nitto is a better tire

 

I'd do a bit more research, astott93. Just google "nitto grappler vs duratrac wrangler". There are tons of post on all different forums (TW, Jeep, FJ, etc) and I'd say 80-90% are in favor of the Duratracs.

Like I said, not discrediting the above posters comments, just saying take a wider audience and judge for yourself.

 

Yeah I've ready and everyone loves the duratracs. I'm getting the 295/65/18 ones gonna order them tomorrow

 

Can't help on which size to chose but I have had both tires and recommend the Nitto's over the Duratrac's. Most of my driving is on the road and on the road the Terra Grapplers outperform in every aspect. When on simple dirt trails I didn't see much of a difference. I never pushed my trucks to ever see the full potential of the Duratracs. The Duratracs performed great in every blizzard I encountered but if it were my DD or family hauler...Terra Grappler. I am a conservative driver and I found the TG's to be a good go to tire for a AT.

 

Duratracs destroy the nito

 

I've had Duratracs for about 40,000 km now. The bad is that I've had vibration issues from the start, they are nearly impossible to balance. When they are balanced properly, it never lasts long. They are definitely loud. The good is the traction, I've had no traction issues in any conditions with these tires. Great traction on snow, ice, dirt roads, and the little bit of mud I've had them in. They also perform fine on dry and wet pavement, in my experience.

That being said, I wont be buying them again, I can't stand the vibration issues, and they are noisier than I'd like. I have no experience with the Nittos, so all I can tell you is what I know about my Duratracs.

 

What will you be buying next?

 

I'm not sure, I've got lots of life left in these tires, so I haven't done much research on it yet. When it's getting close to replacement time, I'll do my research and make a decision.

 

I really like the new nitto Exo grappler but I want an aggressive looking tire

 

I've heard some good things about the Cooper Discoverer AT3, but like I said, I haven't done much research myself. I just know I've heard some positive about them. They might not have the aggressive look you're going for though.

 

I have them and noticed a "Rumble strip" vibration lately around 80-90 km/h. It's mild but definitely noticeable. Could that be simply the tires or I was wondering if it was something more serious.

 

I'm not sure, I know when my tires are out of balance there's always a certain speed when the vibrations are the most intense. There's less vibration above and below that speed. If I were you, I'd probably get the tires checked for balance first, probably a reasonable place to start.

 

I've run both, in the past I had the Nitto's on a 3rd gen 4runner, and currently have the Nitto's on my Tundra (until next week when they get replaced with Ridge grapplers, you should check those out!) and the Duratrac on my wife's 4runner. The Duratrac's have been absolutely amazing for us, 3 years of use and over 32k miles and still about 1/2 tread. No fear of running them through this winter, they've been incredible in the snow around the mountains and perfectly acceptable in heavy wet conditions as well. Gotten a little louder with age, but still quieter than the MTs.
My Trail Grapplers on my Tudra have 21k miles on them and are only about 20% tread left, hence why I'm replacing them next week. Absolutely would not feel comfortable running them in the rain and snow this winter. Even in dry conditions now they understeer pretty bad. Having owned several other Mud Terrains in the past (KM2 and MTR Kevlar) and currently (another 4runner we own has some Cooper STT Pro's) I would rate my Nitto's as being very average, or a bit below average. Super solid carcass, tough tire. But the performance has me underwhelmed, especially the fact I havent even been able to squeeze 25000 miles into a $1400 set of tires. I was somewhat reluctant after this experience with the Nitto's to try another set of their tires but the new Ridge grapplers look very promising as an agressive All Terrain tire that is tough in build with good looks as well. Lets hope I get more miles out of them though.

In summary, I won't touch another set of the Trail Grapplers, I'd buy the MTR Kevlar again, or so far my Cooper STT Pro's are my favorite MT. Won't buy KM2s again either, talk about sketchy wet and snow performance!
The Duratrac is an amazing tire for a mid size rig, perhaps a little lacking in sidewall strength for a larger full size rig hence why I decided to try the Ridge Grappler. If Goodyear beefed the Duratrac to a 3 ply sidewall I'd have them on order right now for my Tundra instead.

 

Awesome! This makes my decision a lot easier. I'll have to check out those nittos. Compare price and such. Once you get those new nittos on let me know how you like them. Cheapest place I've found the goodyears for a 285/70/18 is 1250 bucks at discount tire direct

 

Dont forget there's Labor day weekend rebates @Discount Tire Direct and Discount Tire stores! I just ordered the Ridge Grapplers and chalked up $135 of rebates. Helps a little bit at least!

I'll certainly be sharing my experiences with the Ridge Grapplers, I'm somewhat of a truck tire freak. Have all the name brand tire patterns memorized and can call them out at will. LOL. I even ordered the Ridge Grappler the first day they were available for order in my size 35x12.50R18's