Whaler27
Well-known member
I’ve run studded Duratracs in the winter for many years. I bought a set of those for my new truck as soon as I bought it (a couple months ago). They have been fantastic in the ice and snow and, for an aggressive all-terrain tire, also good on other surfaces, including mud. Unfortunately (for me anyway) Goodyear discontinued pinning for studs on the redesigned Duratrac, but they’re still three-peak winter-rated, and the 35’s are E-Rated at 3860 pounds per tire.
On the Jeep forum I frequent the only complaints about the Duratracs have been sidewall durability (for those doing a lot of running in the sharp rocks), and the noise as the tires wear in, as mentioned above. Goodyear’s recent redesign increased sidewall strength by 50% and made slight adjustments to the tread pattern to reduce noise without adversely effecting traction. There’s a detailed review-video linked on a recent thread posted by #bookemdano. I’ve reposted his link below. The theory behind the noise-reduction design is explained but I haven’t run the new ones, so I don’t know how well it works. For me, the noise is unremarkable.
Back in the early 90s I ran studded 36” Buckshot Qs from the start of hunting season through winter. They we amazing on snow, mud, and ice, but also extremely soft, expensive, and LOUD. On my diesels I’d get two winters out of them, maybe three if I didn’t drive as much. Then I switched to studded BFG MTs. Comparatively quiet at first, but louder as they wore in. They wore much better than the Buckshots, but still not great. Next I switched to Toyo MTs. They were quieter still (very quiet for an MT), especially with wear, and they held up for a LOT of miles, even on heavy diesel trucks that were often loaded with over 2000 pounds in the bed. Unfortunately, the Toyos were terrible on ice. Awful — like wearing football cleats on polished concrete. The first winter I couldn’t make it up my driveway I switched to the Duratracs. The ice was still heavy when I got back frim the tire shop and I just motored right up the driveway with nary a slip. That was 15 years and three sets of Duratracs ago. My fourth set is studded and waiting for fall.
NEW Duratracs
On the Jeep forum I frequent the only complaints about the Duratracs have been sidewall durability (for those doing a lot of running in the sharp rocks), and the noise as the tires wear in, as mentioned above. Goodyear’s recent redesign increased sidewall strength by 50% and made slight adjustments to the tread pattern to reduce noise without adversely effecting traction. There’s a detailed review-video linked on a recent thread posted by #bookemdano. I’ve reposted his link below. The theory behind the noise-reduction design is explained but I haven’t run the new ones, so I don’t know how well it works. For me, the noise is unremarkable.
Back in the early 90s I ran studded 36” Buckshot Qs from the start of hunting season through winter. They we amazing on snow, mud, and ice, but also extremely soft, expensive, and LOUD. On my diesels I’d get two winters out of them, maybe three if I didn’t drive as much. Then I switched to studded BFG MTs. Comparatively quiet at first, but louder as they wore in. They wore much better than the Buckshots, but still not great. Next I switched to Toyo MTs. They were quieter still (very quiet for an MT), especially with wear, and they held up for a LOT of miles, even on heavy diesel trucks that were often loaded with over 2000 pounds in the bed. Unfortunately, the Toyos were terrible on ice. Awful — like wearing football cleats on polished concrete. The first winter I couldn’t make it up my driveway I switched to the Duratracs. The ice was still heavy when I got back frim the tire shop and I just motored right up the driveway with nary a slip. That was 15 years and three sets of Duratracs ago. My fourth set is studded and waiting for fall.
NEW Duratracs
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