Life with Duratrac's.

My first ever Goodyear tires. So let's see how this goes. I put on a set of Duratrac 265/75/r16's on Friday. (pictures soon) 2011 Taco TRD Off Road, DCSB, ^3" in front, ^1-1/2" in the rear. You can't make a tire rub. I was aboutthis close to doing 285's, but went with the 265's at the last minute. I just didn't want to deal with rubbing. Duratrac's LOOK bigger than they are. Look is fine. I'll be moving them out 1" in a few days when my Bora spacers get here. That'll take care of the look I'm after. "Tire Tech" had a heck of a time balancing one tire. I finally got him to break it down, rotate the tire 180 on the rim, then re-inflate. It balanced out MUCH better. I have it in my head which tire/wheel it was (LR) and will watch it close. No vibration except on ONE stretch of ONE road near the house. A little vibration between 55 and 65. Probably the road......

The first 24 hours, they got a bit of a test. 90 mile round trip to visit family on Friday night. Almost all interstate, 70+ mph, concrete road. You had to listen carefully to hear any tire noise even with the radio turned off. Nice manners....So far so good. Road manners are important to me as you'll see why.

Saturday morning, me and a couple friends took off looking for a fire road we used to spend a lot of time on back in the day. We found it. It's partially a gravel road, mostly 2-track dirt road, with a few stretches of slate/limestone bare rock hill climbs. Nothing you couldn't do in the cousins Kia Rio, but dirt none the less. All seems well with the tires there. But dusty dry, solid, relatively flat stretches of fire road aren't exactly a test. That comes later. Just had some fun's all we did! All washed down and ready for the work week. That'll be an interstate commute, 41 miles round trip, 6 days a week. On concrete interstate.

Next weekend we'll be hitting back roads and fire roads in Mamouth Cave Natl. Park. Again, nothing very challenging, but that's coming!

When I had the tires mounted and balanced, I told 'em 34 lbs. (as my arbitrary starting point) After checking this morning, LF 34....LR 31.....RF 32......RR 35. Not exactly the hot set up....I'm gonna take a few minutes after daylight and put 'em all 4 at 30psi and see what that feels like. 34/35 range is too hard. I know lower pressure is hell on gas mileage, but this kind of tire does not like to be ran at higher than needed pressures IMHO.

My opinions may not be that of an expert. They're just objective opinions from someone who's had their share of aggressive tread all terrain tires. They have their own personality.....I'll put 25,000 to 27,000 miles a year on this truck. Some of it will be off road. Some of it will be in snow. The vast majority will be on an over-crowded, worn out concrete interstate. I'll let you know what I think, good AND bad.

 

Finally got a few minutes....Tire pressure is now 30psi. Gonna try 'em that way for a while. The ride is better, a little more tire noise too. I'm thinking they may need a couple lbs back in 'em. Time to break out the chalk.

 

yep, I ran 42 in my Duratracs c load. I run 46 in my current BFG AT ds. Seem to be wearing well.

 

Another road trip.....a 190 mile round trip trurned 335 mile trip because of one of my famous "short cuts". Don't ask....There's tension in the household at this very moment....

Anyway. 30psi is way soft. Doing 34 again tomorrow. Rode well but ATE the gas gauge.

Pictures are @ RED RIVER GORGE STATE PARK in Kentucky

 

Had over 60k with my duratracs, they do get noisy at about 40. Weak sidewall but only lost one tire to a cut. They are great in snow and off road and well worth the price. I punished them in Death Valley and drove mainly freeways in Los Angeles (about 30k a year) I tried Mickey Thompsons but only got 30k out of them. Next I am trying the Wrangler MT kevlar. Duratracs were 265 the others are 285.

 

Pictures are @ RED RIVER GORGE STATE PARK in Kentucky. Home now, washed up and ready to go back to work. (Not really)

BTW, first EVER attempt at selfy.

 

Can't decide if there's one tire slightly out of balance, or just what the deal is. Between 55 and 65, on older ashphalt paved roads, there is a vibration. Only speed, only conditions. May have been all 3 roads.....Not likely, but not sure. Will be following up....

 

I just put on 265/75 Duratracs too but on stock SR5 non-TRD suspension. Man these things are bouncy. I feel every bump in the road now and they deviate on large bumps; they're all at 35psi. Fuel mileage dropped 1 mpg as well across the board. Before the ride was much nicer on the 245/75 stock Dunlops.

If I had adjustable compression and rebound dampening in the shocks I could tune it out I think; but I don't. I might have to find money for a mid-travel setup, or see if the stock shocks can be rebuilt with different valving.

 

OK. Back to 34psi again. There's still just a hint of squat, not much. 30 is too soft. Or else find substitute for gasoline. A question....Anyone ever add wheel spacers? How did that change the handling characteristics? Spacers should be here before the weekend. (1")

 

Today is the first time I've had the opportunity to try out the Duratracs on a wet road. It was flat POURING as I left for work. A little "country back road", then a slick, recently paved state hwy, then concrete interstate. No surprises. But then again, these tires are NEW. They BETTER handle routine conditions with ease. SO FAR.....About 1000 miles in, nothing unexpected to report. Oh yeah....The truck rolls with less effort having 34psi back in all four.

 

OK! This is it! Tonight I get to put 'em to the test. Well....a light duty test, but the closest thing to real off roading on these tires so far. Headed north to a friends farm where we'll head into the woods, build a bonfire, drink a few cold ones, pitch a tent, sleep off the cold ones, and head out to civilization again in the morning. Got a couple big hills to climb, a creek to cross, and some nice tight woods trails. Not too many rocks, just loamy dirt for the most part. Hopefully enough to give me some indication of how Duratracs perform.

 

Pics.

 

There should be a few.....until the chilly beer starts flowing anyway....Camera might find itself face down in the dirt after 1 or 2.... Back in the day, people who drank a LOT of beer used to tell me, "Dang guy, you drink a lot of beer".... Now I'm a 3 beer man. Drink one, spill one, and pour one out.

 

I tell ya' what; Those Kentucky shortcuts never work out

 

I had the same issue, between 55 and 65 they shook my truck, I had the bad tire in the rear which made my bed bounce on perfectly smooth roads (it was not there all the time but I would say 75%)
Ended up returning them for a full refund and got the KO2s...all my vibration issues went away immediately.

I tried them for 6 month but unfortunately the Duratracs had to go

 

Sometimes I have the attention span of a gnat.....We'll be headed down the highway knowing where we're headed, then I'll see something that attracts my attention and I take off down another road with no clue as to where it heads. A couple summers ago, we were in the southern end of Ohio looking for an antique shop. Next thing I know, we're looking at a road sign that says Pittsburgh 30 miles. These things just happen....

 

I know what you mean! I was in Austin a couple years ago and wanted to check something out west of town. We wound up on in Indian reservation in New Mexico by sundown.

 

I have the same tires 265/75/16 C and have a small vibration issue from 55-65mph, too. I'm guessing it's a balancing issue. A Road Force balance may be on my to do list.

 

it didn't help in my case...at least one tire was out of round...but I heard E rated ones are supposed to be better

 

I think "Kentucky shortcut" should become a term like "Georgia Overdrive."