GY Duratrac issues

[huntsonora]

Anybody else having trouble with them?

I put on Duratracs a week and a half ago on my 2011 trail edition 4Runner and they are the load range E tires. I feel like they drift quite a bit. They just feel squishy. I tried to tow a little 93 Toyota regular cab 4x4 that has a tow bar attached to the ARB bumper and it felt like I was driving a boat and that was doing 40mph tops around my neighborhood. It was a weird, unsafe feeling. I am running 42 psi in all tires.

I had my Lieutenant from the fire department follow me to the ranch and I drove that little Toyota that I had wanted to tow and he said they felt a little off to him as well and that was without me asking for his opinion, he proactively brought it up, said he felt like they drifted a bit.

I have 30 days to return them to Discount tire and get something else but wanted to see if anybody else was having these issues. I love them off road and I got 23 mpg when I drove it home from the ranch so they haven't impacted mileage at all. I want to like em but I don't. They just don't feel safe to me

 

[teotwaki]

I have had load range "C" on my 2005 4Runner for close to 60,000 miles with no problem. They seem to track fine. I run 35 PSI

Why did you get load Range "E" on yours? If your 4Runner had a lot of extra weight they might be okay. I think they may be too stiff and at 42 PSI you are driving on just the center portion of the tread.

 

[huntsonora]

I got load range E tires because I am off road quite a bit and want a tire that has more to it. 10 ply vs a 6 ply was cheap insurance. There are times when I am 3-4 hours from a paved road and I like having a stouter tire. I am worried about the sidewalls of the Duratracs though

 

[Desert Dan]

Experiment with your air pressure. 42 psi is too much when unloaded.
Try 35 psi and go from there.

 

[Moving Chicane]

2012 Trail Edition here and put on the 285/70/17 E Load GY Dura's at 6K miles. Have about 16K now, running at 40psi and rotated once, and they are fine.

That said, I don't like the "feeling" so I won't go back to them and will try something else; but there is nothing "wrong" with them.

Keep them inflated evenly, make sure you're aligned properly, and enjoy!!!

 

[LR Max]

Are they stock size?

Try stock tire pressure. I never understand why people over-inflate the crap out of their tires.

For reference, what tires did you have before?

 

[Erik N]

I had those tires on a 96 Suburban I bought, 285/75/16 10 ply, about 1/2 worn. They definitely felt vague. Plus they howled like banshees. I sold them.

BTW, I don't think 42psi is too high for those squishy sidewalls, and I run only 36 in the 10 ply M55's on my other Suburban, even fully loaded.

There is a Duratrac fan-boy thread here somewhere. I got dog piled on in it when I said I didn't like the tires.

For the cost of Duratracs, I would buy a Michelin LTX or Toyo M55.

 

[Ryanmb21]

LT tires need more than air than P rated so take that into account.

 

[teotwaki]

I got load range E tires because I am off road quite a bit and want a tire that has more to it. 10 ply vs a 6 ply was cheap insurance. There are times when I am 3-4 hours from a paved road and I like having a stouter tire. I am worried about the sidewalls of the Duratracs though

I off road quite a bit myself. My last trip was through the Maze in Utah and pulling my trailer. I had no issues with the tires. I rotate every 5k miles and they do not howl. I think a load range E is too stiff for a stock 4Runner so keep the tires, add armor, a fridge and steel bumpers!

 

[huntsonora]

I off road quite a bit myself. My last trip was through the Maze in Utah and pulling my trailer. I had no issues with the tires. I rotate every 5k miles and they do not howl. I think a load range E is too stiff for a stock 4Runner so keep the tires, add armor, a fridge and steel bumpers!

The load range E Duratracs ride fine, I think it's because it's a soft rubber compound. The problem is that it felt downright dangerous to tow that truck

 

[stioc]

Duratracs while have good traction, snowflakes and a good looking tire they do feel vague -I thought it was my steering rack.

Also, if you read the sidewall you'll notice the E loads are same 2 plys as the C loads but they're definitely stiffer than the C load sidewalls. I've noticed this on some other tires too- the no. of plys no longer determine the rating or vice-versa.

 

[mhiscox]

Howl? Squishy? Vague? Boy, you'd think it wasn't the same tire. My XV-JP has Duratracs and they handle great and are very quiet for a tread that aggressive. Putting them on transformed the handling over the MT/Rs that had been on it. So apparently their pretty sensitive to the truck in question, tire pressure, wheel offset and a bunch of other stuff. Working for me, though.

I couldn't tell you if there's anything to it, but at least one review:

http://www.tire-review-expert.com/goodyear-dura-trac-tire-review/

pinned some bad handling from a new set of DuraTracs on residual mold release compound. FWIW.

 

[Jr_Explorer]

You might be suffering from "tread squirm". When the tires are new the rubber is still "green" and you get a lot of tread block flex/movement under load. My BFG A/T's had tread squirm BIG TIME! I was ready to take a huge hit and toss those and get something different. But after a few thousand miles (unfortunately I didn't have a nice, cut & dry line where they went from horrible to good) they are fantastic.

 

[teotwaki]

The load range E Duratracs ride fine, I think it's because it's a soft rubber compound. The problem is that it felt downright dangerous to tow that truck

When reading your first post you threw out words like: "drift, squishy, felt like I was driving a boat, weird unsafe feeling, drifted a bit, just don't feel safe to me" and now we can add "dangerous"

If that is riding fine then I'd say just take them back and buy something else that feels right to you. No sense in banging a round tire into a square hole. :elkgrin:

 

[huntsonora]

When reading your first post you threw out words like: "drift, squishy, felt like I was driving a boat, weird unsafe feeling, drifted a bit, just don't feel safe to me" and now we can add "dangerous"

If that is riding fine then I'd say just take them back and buy something else that feels right to you. No sense in banging a round tire into a square hole. :elkgrin:

When I said ride "fine" it was in response to the poster that said that load range E tires offer too stiff of a ride. I don't find the ride on these tires to be too stiff, I just don't like the instability. The dangerous comment was in referenced to towing. Felt like I was in a boat, that's the best analogy I can give.

I have read reviews where these symptoms go away after a while but I don't know if I want to chance it. I may make the switch to Cooper ST Maxx tires