I'm replacing my tires and am looking at the Goodyear DuraTracs. I've read several other threads about these tires and most comments are very positive about them. A couple questions:

1. The size I want (35s on 16" rims) appear to be available only as a load range E tire. Does anyone know if that's not correct (not certain if this is a stocked size limitation, or if that's all they are made in)?

2. Anyone running these in Load Range E? I'd appreciate your thoughts/comments.

3. A friend of mine did some research on these and came across several negative reviews concerning ease of damage to the sidewalls, as well as ease of losing the bead. Any thoughts on that? I've shredded a sidewall against the rocks when off-roading (DC FC II tire), and it was both unpleasant and expensive.

4. Appreciate any other thoughts or comments you might wish to add.

Thanks!

 

A load range of E will be far better than the stock C. My stocker Duelers (C) are chunked (36K miles).

CI think it's 4 ply, while E is 10 ply

 

B - passenger car 4 ply rating
C- six ply rating
D - eight ply rating
E - ten ply rating...

I am running P245/75R17 Blizzaks on my 08 Sahara this winter, my buddy who put the 285/75R17 Duratec, D rated, studded, on his 08 Rubi 4dr reported that they are miserable in a foot of unplowed snow, over ice, on the side of a mountain.

I think an E rated is way to stiff for a light weight JK...I really don't think you need anything beyond a C rating.

Howard

 

My Duratracs are load range "D", but from my experience running "E" rated Toyos, I can share a few things that you should expect when going to an "E" rated tire.

#1. Run less pressure. My tires are happy at about 24 psi on-road, and 9 psi off-road is where they started to flex nicely for me.

#2. They're tough. I know guys that have pulled slivers the size of pencils out their E-rated Toyos.

#3. They're going to be heavier than a "C" or "D" rated tire. You will probably notice this for both acceleration and braking.

An "E" rated tire s going to have a pretty tough sidewall, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. It's certainly possible to damage it if you're wheeling hard...but if you damage an "E" rated sidewall, you will still have gotten much further than a "C" rated tire would have gotten you. As far as losing the bead goes, mine have done fine on a few wheeling trips at 9psi, but I'm running on a 17 inch wheel that's 7.5 inches wide. This helps with retaining the bead, especially when the tire is 12.5 inches wide.

The only other thing that I would say is that the Duratracs are not true MT's. They have good road manners, but so do other tires like Toyo MT's. The Duratracs lose ground when compared to a "real" MT in the mud, but they make it up (and then some) with snow and ice performance.

 

Hi Mark

I am running E DuraTracs (33's) on my JKU.

To be honest, I find them much 'softer' than the E BFG AT's I had on my Tacoma before.

I like them a bunch and do not find the stiffness to be an issue. FWIW, the GYD's did awesome in our most recent snow storm.

My wife never notices stuff, but she did comment that the Jeep was doing really great on the roads, when we were out in the storm the other day.

Cheers
-wsn

 

I have Duratracs "E" rated and they are awesome!!!!

Sure they are heavier .....but these things are unstoppable....i run about 32-35psi on the road and then air down to about 16-18psi offroad.

The "E" rating was the only available rating in my size tire....so you are probably in the same boat. honestly I would rather have the 10ply anyways....it's gonna hold up better against damage.


Here is what I did to my sidewall.......if I was running something else I am sure it would have been a lot bigger!

 

Like everything else on any forum, you will get a range from their the greatest thing since canned corn to I cannot stand them. I have heard from a couple of guys that said they were difficult to keep balanced, but again, it's just heresay. I think the "D" rating is great, but you have to go with what you feel will work for your driving style.

 

fyi....those load ranges and the corresponding ply are the tread plies. E range is 10 ply in the tread, which means it is much more puncture resistant than say, a C range. most sidewalls are 2 ply, regardless of load range, with a few (I believe the MT/R) being 3 ply. if you're looking for sidewall puncture resistance, look for a tire which has the thread extending partway down the sidewall, and/or check out the sidewall ply #.

 

I was considering Duratracs for my next set, but that photo does it for me... that sidewall looks too thin for my comfort. Thanks for the help.

 

I had E load rated Duratracs on my stock Jeep last year. It was a stock Sahara so I was not doing anything hardcore off road and this is what happened to my sidewalls of two tires on opposite sides in the same day:

One tire took 9 plugs, the other 4 to get me back to the road. I swapped spare to the one with 9 plugs in it to get home. Bought Mickey Thompson MTZs the next day.
They were great tires on the hwy and in the rain and snow compared to the duellers that came from the factory, but the sidewalls were shit. Just my experience. Also run them very low on road if you get them. The E load rating means they are 10 ply and are made for a VERY heavy truck, on the lighter Jeep you can run a lot less psi in em. But even aired down I didn't find I got very much flex out of em offroad. Hope this helps.