Another Goodyear DuraTrac Review

General Information​

The Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac seem to be a tire with extremely mixed opinions. I have talked to dozens of people that love them and they are a go to tire, while I have met nearly the same amount of people that hate the tire and would never touch them with a 10 foot pole.
I decided to mount up a set on my Tacoma, Burt, and see what they are all about.
I got 4x 31x10.50R15 load range C Mounted on my Factory 15x7 Alloy wheel. On road I run 22psi in warmer temps and 19-20psi in the winter. Off road I run 12psi for dirt roads, 10psi for rocks, and 8psi for snow wheeling.
With that General info out of the way I will break the review up into all conditions that I was experienced to date with the tires. I will update it was different times with more miles or when I experience more conditions.
For this review I wanted to rate the tire both in terms of a Numerical value placed on the tire by me compared to other tires I have tied and list a better and worse tire option (of a tire I have experience with) if applicable for each category I cover.
Miles to date 1/20/2020: 6700

Highway/On Road​

On the highway the tire has a reasonable noise level. On my personal truck I find that when they were new through the first 500 miles they had a noticeable higher pitch hum to them, nothing that I would call loud and a normal conversation voice level could be maintained easily. After those 500 miles it became a lower pitched hum and got slightly quieter. Since then they have returned to the original level of noise at a lower pitch. I don't find them louder than what one would expect if you just based the noise level compared to other Aggressive All Terrains*1 . The road manners overall are very good, I haven't been able to come up with any complaints about the handling of the tires as of yet. They track well they don't follow road grooves any better or worse than any other tire I have driven. They are predictable and are very surefooted on dry pavement at all speeds.
Highway Noise: 7/10
Quieter option: General Grabber AT2/ Falken At3w Louder: Yokohama Geolander M/T
On Road Handling 8.5/10
Better: General Grabber AT2, Worse: Falken Atw3

Gravel/Dirt Roads​

I spend a considerable amount of tire on dirt roads, taking them whenever I can, and for scouting, fishing, and mountain biking. of the miles on the tires about 1/6th of about 15% of my miles are on graded roads.
These tires are fantastic on gravel and dirt roads they have excellent traction in both turns and braking allowing for high levels of control. On packed dirt roads it feels the same and running on a highway. When on a silty loose gravel road the tires seem to find traction anywhere there is some. You can make these tires slide but only by either full lock braking or by giving an aggressive kick of the clutch halfway through a turn. I never found a lack of traction tackling loose dirt climbs.
Gravel/Dirt Traction 9.5/10
Better: N/A *2 Worse: Falken At3w

Rocks​

The rocks that I have in my area of Colorado consist of Granite, both smooth eroded granite and sharp recently exposed areas of past volcanic activity with pointy sharp sections of rocks. I also got a little bit of testing in Moab on the slickrock.
Traction on rocks as expected in very good in the dry. The aggressive lugs on the tire are able to grab and claw there way over rocks, on granite slabs they are very confidence inspiring and you feel like you can climb anything, until you can't, they do run out of traction on the slabs because there are no edges to bite on. A less aggressive tire actually has to advantage here as there is simple more rubber contacting the surface. I still haven't gotten in a ton of rock miles yet as winter hit early this year but I have enough to give me a sense of how they will preform overall. On wet rocks such as coming out of a water crossing is where I found these tires had the most issues, even aired down on wet rocks they left traction to be desired.
Dry Rocks 8/10
Better Cooper ST Maxx Worse General Grabber AT2
Wet Rock 5/10
Better: Yokohama Geolander M/T*2, Worse: BF Goodrich KO

Sand​

I don't get to drive in sand very often but, I take the chance anytime it is presented to me. I love driving in sand because it has similar challenges to Mud but non of the downsides in my opinion. I have limited experience as to what tires I have run in the sand so all I can really say is that the DuraTracs worked very well. They had good flotation and traction, when they started to big into the sand I was able to lift off and grab a lower gear and they would crawl right out without issues. In soft sand they were able to grab and pull up hills without needing a ton of extra speed.
Sand: 8/10
Better: Cooper ST Maxx, Worse: Cooper HTP

Mud​

This is one of the most aggressive tires I have had on a personal vehicle, so I wasn't sure what to expect when it came to mud traction. Turns out they are very good in the mud. Traction was good till they got packed in which took a surprisingly long amount of time, however the wheel speed required to clear them is very low, if you are driving on muddy dirt roads they are seemingly always clear. In slow technical sections they were able to be cleared with a quick stab of the throttle. The tires ability to climb hills was very impressive, even driving the afternoon after getting 6" of wet snow there was no issue climbing some hills that other had obviously had issues on and had slid back down. The area in which they struggled was on off camber of side hills, I found the lateral grip of the tires to be lacking and it was common to have the tires slide sideways in those situations.
Mud: 8.5/10
Better: Yokohama Geolander M/T, Worse, Cooper ST Maxx

Winter​

This is the section I was most interested in seeing, I have heard a lot of accounts saying that the Duratracs are a great replacement for winter tires. I wouldn't go that far, I find for driving on road during the winter nothing is a full replacement for a winter tire*4. If these were studded they would be damn close. For the sake of organization I'll break up the winter sections Packed Snow, Ice, Wet/Slush, and Powder.
Packed Snow, These tires are very good in packed snow I find traction to be good in forward, lateral and breaking. I did find running 24 psi on my lightweight Tacoma, it had about 30% less traction dropping back to 20 they were great. The biggest thing I noticed they slid a little bit easier than the Falkens, but they are so much easier to correct and have a very predictable slide.

Ice: They have acceptable traction on ice. It is nothing great but also not too bad, I just means you have to be a little more careful. Once again they are studdable and that would make a world of difference but studs reduce traction on wet and dry roads.

Wet/Slush: These tires are great when it comes to Wet and Slush covered roads. The amount of siping per lug as well as the medium sized lugs and medium voids. The grip is fantastic here.

Powder: So far these are the best tires I have run in the Powder, I have yet to find a situation that a lack of traction was an issue, I have run it issues of a lack of clearance on 31s but never just the traction itself. Aired down they have great flotation and traction but even aired up driving in 6-10" of powder at street pressure and was able to confidently drive in up to about 2' aired down.


Packed Snow: 7/10
Better: Falken At3w, Worse: Cooper ST Maxx Best: Blizzak DMV2
Ice: 5.5/10
Better: Falken At3w, Worse Grabber AT2 Best: Blizzak DMV2
Wet/Slush 8.5/10
Better: Cooper ST Maxx, Worse, Falken At3w
Powder: 9.5/10
Better: N/A*2 , Worse, Falken At3w

Overall Opinion​

So after the miles I have put on these tires, so far I do have to say I am very happy with the results. I found that they are a very good tire. Maybe one of the best tires that I have run yet but they are not without their pitfalls but that can be said about any tires. I think they are a great tire for someone like me, someone who spends time on dirt and gravel roads and wants to tackle difficult tracks from time to time but isn't out every weekend trying to get over the hardest obstacles. They are also a good option for those looking for a winter biased tires. Overall these are a great option in the aggressive all terrain category but isn't needing the strength of a M/T and doesn't mind having a bit of road noise on the highway.
*1 I Put these tires in the Aggressive All Terrain category also known as the Hybrid category of tires. Other tires in the Category are The Cooper ST Maxx, Nitto Ridge Grappler, Toyo R/T, and so on.
*2 This doesn't mean that no tire is better, it means that personally I have not tested a tire that has proved to be better in my opinion than this.
*3 I personally have not owned the Yokohama Geolander M/T, However I had the pleasure of having them on a vehicle I was driving for a 6 day off road trip on part of the Colorado Back Country Discovery Route. We put in over 2,500 miles, 1,200 of those off road through Southern Colorado. I only ad them to sections I had experience with them.
*4 I am a big advocate of running winter tires any time you can, however for my personal use I spend too much much in deep powder do to my location to be able to take the hit in performance in powder. Because of this I have a full set of chains for bad road conditions and when CDOT saying chains are required.

 

Well done. The review was well presented.

I agree with a lot of it except wet lateral traction in my case was poor. The back end liked to try and say hi to the front end on tight curvy roads even at low speed. They also have notoriously weak sidewalls but if you're not doing much off-roading then that's not an issue. Mine got very loud at 30k after cupping really bad but had lots of tread left. I swapped them out due to the noise. For a mostly on-road and light forest service road tire they were good.

 

Great review!
Duratracs are my next investment...

 

I have heard those issues before, the weak sidewall issue is one I have personally seen in much more difficult terrain. It is something that stays in my mind because it is only a 2 ply sideway, however the Falken Atw3 and General Grabbers are both 2 ply as well, and have slightly less but still a few sideway damage reports. I agree with you in that this tire is best suited to suited to those more in the overland category then those in the extreme 4x4 community.

 

Thank you for taking the time to put together your extensive personal review of the Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac tires. You did an excellent job of listing your thoughts on the tires performance.

Your photos tell a good story as well as to the type of terrain your travel in. Sounds like the tires is working out well for the terrain you travel in most.

 

Agreed. I liked mine for the type of driving I did then.

 

Hi Wyatt!

 

I ran 2 set's on my Jeep Wrangler (E rated). My next set was going to be C's. But I sold the Jeep with the last set still in place.

My opinion too - these tires are exceptional because they perform well at just about everything.

Side Note: I was able to get well over 60K miles out of my first set (5 tire rotations every 5K miles). Sold them to a friend who ran them on his Jeep for two more years.

 

good review wyatt the only thing i would say i dont agree with is the st maxx i havent found much of an issue with them on having traction issues they do seem to not clear mud fast at slow speeds but if i hit the throttle they will clear out very easily.
now since i have skinny 33s i do have issues with sand mine like to sink faster then wide tires it seems but never had an issue of getting stuck

 

Thanks for the review. After reading this, I’m giving the DuraTracs a shot. My last few trucks/Jeeps have had KO2s, so I was looking for something different this time around. Just ordered some 255 75 17s. Fingers crossed they won’t rub with a 0 offset.

 

Thank you for putting together so comprehensive.

 

15,000 Mile Update​

The way that I want to update this review is going to be adding my thoughts now that I am a year into ownership of these tires with more miles and more experiences. To cover what I didn't in my previous part of the review. As well as revise a few of the topics that I covered earlier. With that out of the way, into the review we go.

Highway/On Road​

As far as changes, I have noticed a bit of an increase in the road noise. Not by much but I do find myself hearing it more than I did before, still not very loud by at least in my little single cab so I presume in a newer truck or SUV with better sound deadening them might not be very noticeable at least at the 15,000 mile mark.
Still no complaints on handling but I do think they are about due for a rebalance soon and I have started to feel a very slight shake on occasion.

Gravel/Dirt Roads​

The Gravel/ Dirt road traction is still very good, I haven't had any issues with traction at any point. I still think this is one of the best tires for this terrain that I have experience with. I also have noticed that here in Gunnison, all of you government vehicles, including our SAR teams vehicles all run the Duratracs, with 2 acceptations, our EMS fast response Chevy Tahoe uses Cooper AT3s (with Icon Stage 6) and a couple USFS trucks having ST MAXX.

Rocks​

These still work well in the rocks, performance actually is better that I first thought on wet rocks, I would increase it 6.5/10 from 5. Its still not amazing but it definitely could be worse and is better than I originally thought.

Sand​

While I still don't have loads of experience in sand, I actually have a trip planned this weekend that involves wheeling over Medano Pass into the Great Sand Dunes National Park. So I will updated this after that trip happens.

Mud​

In the Mud these tires still do well, I try to avoid mud but its definitely apart the fall and spring up here in the Rockies. I still think that these are one of the best in their class when it comes to mud. As well as easily out performing every time I have tested in the A/T class. Nothing new to report in this section.

Winter​

While writing my review I was about 3 months into winter, I then 4 more months of winter to contend with. I still stand by my statement when I say they don't replace a true winter tire, maybe if they were studded, but still they are not a soft enough tire to maintain traction in low temps, below about -5 these tire definitely become hard until they are driven for a little while and warm up. In a back to back unscientific grab test of this tire vs a Blizzak DM-V2 in +5 degree temps the Blizzaks are softer by a reasonable amount. However, I still do really like these tires in the winter and trust them for my 225 mile work commute down to the from range during the winter. As well as the performance in powder is very good, snow wheeling with people up here I ended up noticing the performance is better than I thought I found than most of the other tires out there. I seemed only limited by the clearance of my truck and not the tires.

Durability​

Durability was not something that I covered in my first review as I think its pretty pointless to comment on that after only 6700 miles. I still think its early to comment with 15,000 miles. So I will comment on the wear of the tires so far and how they are compared to my expectations. In terms of wear I am actually very surprised at the wear of these tires. While they are on a low powered light weight truck, they have worn extremely well, I would say that they are still at 85% if not more. A couple very small rock chips in some of the sipes, and some of the sipes have been cut a bit longer, however, no abnormal wear other than that. I haven't had any issues with durability off road. Once again time till tell, however, I don't know if I will keep them much passed 50-60% just because I normally don't and I like testing as many tires as possible.

I will do my best to continue to update this as I put more miles on the tires and continue to collect my thoughts.

 

@CoWj

Great follow up, love the added photos, looks as if you may have had some fun while testing these.

 

How do you like that size? These are the next set/size I’m considering but a little concerned about the SL rating.

And great write up OP! Really have me considering these tires and going away from the KO2s I have now. Thanks!

 

We have nearly 30 inches of snow in the month or so since I have picked up my Tacoma. Three snowfalls have accounted for just about all of it. So far, they run well in the snow. I was out before dawn today on snowy roads, some of which had a layer of crunchy ice, presumably left over form the state's plow trucks. I had no problem getting to where In needed. They can be noisy, but that doesn't bother me much as I usually have my radio cranked.

 

New
I’m going to be looking at tires this year to upgrade from oem. Oem are ok but I feel a truck that claims off-road should have some more aggressive tires. Anyway I’m looking at duratrac, ultraterrain, and ridge grappler. For you guys that run them how loud are the duratrac really? My last truck was a v-10 excursion with toyo open country and a magna flow exhaust. Could the duratrac really be that loud?

 

My opinion was based on my 98 single cab with zero sound deadening, so everything is loud. Basically everyone I wheel with has duratracs. When I hope in with them, its amazing how quite they are on a modern vehicle, 2020 Ram 2500 Cummins, tire noise is zero, 2020 F150, Silent, 2006 Tundra on 35s, very minimal road noise. I think in your application, you wont have any issue with noise.

 

Thanks, I appreciate the information

 

I ran Duratracs for years (on Tacoma and then Tundra). They get noisy, and regular rotations are a must. For a long time they were by far the #1 AT for winter traction (and KO2 is one of the worst). Until the Falken Wildpeak came out, it was only Duratrac for me. I find the Falken to be as good on snow, better on ice and in rain, and not as noisy. They are equally good off-road. And until recently, the Falkens were substantially cheaper (their rise in popularity has increased prices). I now run Falkens on all my rigs (84 Toyota pickup, 82 FJ40, 88 FJ 62, 2016 Land Cruiser and 2020 4Runner). I rotate twice a year, and the Falkens have been quiter than my prior 2 sets of Duratracs.I hear good things about the new Toyos as well.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Duratracs, they are good tires, but I'll recommend Falkens more. May try the Toyos next, as my 2016 Land Cruiser set is about done w 45k miles.

 

I know noisy is subjective but i moved into my Taco from a V-10 excursion with magnaflow exhaust and toyo open country II’s on it. They can’t be as loud as that can they?