Calgary Jeep Association
4x4 Related Groups => General Talk => Topic started by: bloodfart on August 08, 2012, 11:31:27 AM
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After a couple outings in the stock Sahara Duelers, even I realized that they suck in anything half muddy, so started shopping around for some new tires that I can also use in the snow. Seems like the DuraTracs are the way to go for our climate, at least for those of us just starting out in the hobby, so it's coming down to where is the cheapest place to get them from. I only want to go up to 33" for now, and mostly doing this for better traction on the trails/in snow.
Any chance that we could get a group buy going?
Thanks in advance! 8)
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The Duratracs are over rated in my opinion. There are some nice 33s out there like Nitto Terra Graplers, Toyo Open Country A/T & M/T that you should also check out. They are great on the trail and also on the street. The Duratracs are not a bad tire but they have very soft sidewalls so punctures are likely. I have run all three and the Toyo M/Ts have the nicest ride and are amazing on the trail.
Opinions are like *#£holes, everyone has one. Lol
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The Duratracs are over rated in my opinion. There are some nice 33s out there like Nitto Terra Graplers, Toyo Open Country A/T & M/T that you should also check out. They are great on the trail and also on the street. The Duratracs are not a bad tire but they have very soft sidewalls so punctures are likely. I have run all three and the Toyo M/Ts have the nicest ride and are amazing on the trail.
Opinions are like *#£holes, everyone has one. Lol
i heard about the softer sidewall and the possibility of punctures, but i also heard that they are good in the snow. and that's what i want, something i can use to drive around in winter too. i have snow tires on my other car so i could drive that when it's really icy, but i dont want a full on mud tire either that spins out in the lightest snow
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if your concerned about spinning out put it in 4wd. or did you buy a 4x4 just for the stickers and trail rated badge ???
joking aside, canadian tire has decent prices on those things belive it or not. and there are plenty of stores around, probably have em in stock.
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I second Johnny. Canadian tire has better pricing than Fountain Tire. I would try Togo Tires as well. They are a great independent shop.
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then maybe you should do more research before asking for advise then arguing against it when it is given.
if you ask for advise, shut up and take it into consideration or simply say thanks.
the best snow tires are also mud tires; Toyo M/T and Iroks - as well as bf goodrich A/T and some other A/T as mentioned but they are way behind the two M/T mentioned.
snow is generally sticky or compacts nice so a tire with larger lugs will do very well in snow and deep snow. also a softer compound on the tire is better.
as for sidewall. I've seen about 10 tire failures in the past 5 or so years and they were all due to the weak sidewall.
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Keep the duelers for winter then and pickup a mud tire for summer. I haven't been on a lot of runs but I haven't had any issues with the duelers in snow/ice.
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I ve ran mtz's in snow and ice and they worked great.
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Ask BUKI on this forum. He has slices in all 5 of his tires. He actually got the tire shop to credit him for the duratracks and is going with something else because of the issues with the sidewall. He did say they were good in the snow.
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then maybe you should do more research before asking for advise then arguing against it when it is given.
if you ask for advise, shut up and take it into consideration or simply say thanks.
i wasn't really asking for advice, i was fairly set on getting the duratracs, but i do appreciate the advice and will do more research :P
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if your concerned about spinning out put it in 4wd. or did you buy a 4x4 just for the stickers and trail rated badge ???
not really afraid of spinning on flat ground or while going uphill, but not knowing how the car performs in snow/ice, i just want to make sure that i wont be sliding like a sled when going DOWN icy hills (which we have a lot of around town)
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Duratracs are great tires for the road. That's all they good for. If you want something that is an all around great tire... summer and winter, on and off road, go with the Toyos. Hands down the best bang for the buck.
I wish I had hung around here more when I did my first set of tires... and that I would have listened to the senior members of this forum. frickin' Truxxus...
Anyways... I have the Duatracs as my road road tire and love them on the road and I hate them off road.... go team Pitbull!!!!
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I have the Duras. I've personally never had an issue with em, on or off-road EXCEPT for anything involving mud. There are way to many reports of problems with sidewalls on them to ignore, even though I've had no issues running mine at 8-10 psi in the rocks, plenty have so pay attention to em. Now that my Jeeps not a daily driver, The next set will be back to Toyos for sure. I'd keep looking if your issues off-road performance, you already got tires for the street, why buy another set?
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not really afraid of spinning on flat ground or while going uphill, but not knowing how the car performs in snow/ice, i just want to make sure that i wont be sliding like a sled when going DOWN icy hills (which we have a lot of around town)
jeeps not a car, be careful!
if stopping power is what is important to you then get dedicated winters. duratracs, many mud terrains etc, will be marginal in that situation. i guess if you get studded tires they'd be good. W squared has studded duratracs for the winter, that thing sticks to ice.
lots of good info here on tires. a second set of trail tires sounds like a great option for you. you should run boggers. they are cool.
in answer to your question again, Canadian tire has good prices on those. when i was looking/considering Duratracs they were the best i found. but then i went with MTZs (thanks Dale!) favorite tire i've run. (cause i haven't run toyos yet ;) )
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so basically, as far as winter usage is concerned, you guys think the duratracs would be a marginal improvement over the duelers? i guess i was worried that just how they pack with dirt/mud almost immediately, the same thing would happen with the snow, and i'll be driving around on 4 iceballs :P i will look more into the Toyo's that were suggested 8)
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A snow tire is not a mud tire. A snow tire is designed to pick up snow, snow sticks to snow. A mud tire is designed to shed mud, mud does not stick to mud. Duratracs are a hybrid of snow and mud, they do both marginally but will usually outperform a dedicated tire doing what it wasn't designed to do. In short, most MTs suck arse in snow and most ATs suck arse in mud. Id take Duras anyday over any other AT I've tried, Hankooks and BFs. But they are still marginal at best in any given situation, they are just a more aggressive AT then norm, no magic involved.
I got my tires from tirerack, paid high for shipping and only reason it was worth it was the rims I also ordered.
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OK. So as stated I have 5 Duratracs. All with side wall damage. Never really had an issue with the tread in mud clean out better then any other a/t tire. my tires are all BRAND NEW 16-18/32nds show room is 18. GoodYear is GOODWILLing me the money back for a set of MT/rs. They do not have to do this as there is no warenty on offroad tires. Because of this I am now a goodyear guy for life . The Duratracs are GREAT for ice and snow covered roads. But if you wheel with them NOT a good idea. I am the same guy who said "Duratracs could do no wrong" Until the 2nd sidewall went pssssssss. These sidewalls are ticking timebombs. Its not a matter of "ARE" they gonna blow, but when. IF you plan on wheeling (even mildly) DO NOT Buy these, step up to the MT/rs. But for a pickup that only sees road use, AMAZING.
(http://i1119.photobucket.com/albums/k632/09wrangler/Picture113.jpg)
(http://i1119.photobucket.com/albums/k632/09wrangler/Picture115.jpg)
Im getting my 35" MT/Rs in a week or so. yipee
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Hey Mike I see the problem....you have a finger stuck in your sidewall!
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I too looked at the duratracs when I wanted a new set of 31s. Decided to be different and went with the TrXus Mts. No regrets yet. Kal Tire in Cochrane helped me out with a decent deal for those.
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I started running studded Duratracs because at the time I was driving 100km per day on the deerfoot. For winter driving on the road, and winter wheeling, they're great. They chew through deep snow almost as well as a real MT, and are outstanding on ice. For me, it was worth getting a dedicated set of winter tires because of all the highway driving.
What I will say is that they are NOT a real MT. The few times that I encountered mud instead of snow on the trail while running those tires, I found that they would only do about 75% of what my Toyos will do. Most significantly, they are very poor at holding side-to-side when compared to the Toyos.
But like Johnny says, they do a great job of sticking to ice.
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Decided to be different and went with the TrXus Mts. No regrets yet.
You will... When they are new, they are an ok tire. At about 50-60% tread, they will let you down.
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Some good info here about the Duratracs, not to much BS either.
So I'm wondering what people consider to be to much wheeling for them? How are you poking holes in the sidewalls? or are they just cracking when air'd down on rocks? How low a pressure are people running them? is there a known cause of the sidewall issue or are people just asking to much of the wrong tire?
I'm asking cause I'm thinking about them as my next tire on my JKU and a friend just put a set on his family bus and has been running them on his TJ without problems. (both leave the pavement as does my JKU)
I'm knew at this (as some have pointed out on the sales forum) and am just looking for useful info. Thanks
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Good question and the answer comes down to the person behind the wheel. Duratracs will hold up fine if you 'leave the pavement'. They are a quality tire. BUKI's driving style and the trails/lines he attempts are not represented in this post. All we can assume (sorry man) is that he choose the wrong tire for the type of wheeling he likes to do.
If you are exploring trials are McLean and Waiparous and gravel roads in AB/BC, I would not imagine that there would be many issues. If you want to start picking the hardest line through an obstacle (even in those areas), I would look at a different set...
There is such a wide range of what people consider "wheeling"... you need to really look at the type of driving you do, or plan to do, and get the best tire you can at that point.
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Also keep in mind that Toyo MT's are heavy tires. My 285/75/16 Toyo MT's weigh 69 lbs, without rim. I didn't realize this when I bought them. My XJ absolutely hates them. I took them off for now, and run 33" BFG AT's on the street, jeep is much happier and can keep a decent speed.
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So I'm wondering what people consider to be to much wheeling for them? How are you poking holes in the sidewalls?
Quite easily. Now remember that my 33/12.5/15 are only a 2 ply sidewall 2 were on stumps 1 was on the edge of a rock the other 2 I HAVE NO IDEA.
or are they just cracking when air'd down on rocks?
NO, again less than a year old BRAND NEW
How low a pressure are people running them? 12-15, mostly 15is there a known cause of the sidewall issue YES, Just google them
or are people just asking to much of the wrong tire? They were marketed as an offroad tire, so I'd say no,
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BUKI's driving style and the trails/lines he attempts are not represented in this post. All we can assume (sorry man) is that he choose the wrong tire for the type of wheeling he likes to do.
This is very true, I like the skinny pedal. ;)
Don't discount this tire. There is no such thing as the ULTIMATE EVERYTHING tire. There are trade offs for every one. the epic BAD point to this tire is the weak sidewall. BUT if you own a JK your rich enough to replace them ;) ;).
Back on topic, AS I stated the 15s I own are only 2 ply. Check your size you might get 3 or more
Personally if I was as RICH as you ;) I would buy a set of these studded and a set of muds for wheeling. I can't even imagine a set of duras studded ;D
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i have owned Toyo OC MT's in 37x14.50 on a 03TJ, Loved them onroad and offroad. Gravel, hardpack snow shined.
then i put some Nitto Trail Grappler MT's in 35x12.50 on my 97 dodge ram. Out performed the Toyos in every way.
Both are heavy though, as has been mentioned.
If you casual wheel than the best tire for you is BFG AT. i have run many sizes on 3 different rigs. Onroad very good but i still give the edge to the Nitto onroad. BFG are cheaper (Costco) and lighter.
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i stumbled over some kijiji adds of people selling duratracs... one thing that stood out, in the adds they are mentioning 9 and 10 ply for the duratracs (probably depending on size)... that is a lot no? from what i've read, the toyos are 10 ply also :-\
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Sidewalls aren't 10 ply, wouldn't need air if they were.
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I see in the pic you had Load range C tires. I wonder how well you would have done with "E"s?
What load range are the Toyo MTs people are referring to? Are we comparing apples to apples?
I always try to get the heaviest load range that I can for off road tires.
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Clay, I know that they didn't list a load range E option for me when I was looking for 35" duratracs. I'd wager that most of the duratracs that people are having issues with are "C" or maybe "D" range.
I will say that my Duratracs don't seem to balance as nicely as my Toyo's and I've got some mysterious tread damage to one (belts visible) that I'm going to have to replace. I'm pretty sure that the same damage to one of my E-rated Toyo's would not have any belts visible.