H32NV
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 322
- Location
- Golden, CO
Time has been ticking on me needing to replace my tires, I have the 315-75-16 Wrangler Duratrac's(load range E) mounted on the Hutchinson H3 beadlocks. Ive finally got a free weekend coming up to do it, so I'm putting in my order today on a new set of shoes. Discount or any other tire shops wont touch the beadlocks, so it'll be a garage job as it was when I originally got them. None of this is the point of this post, the point is that I'm not sure that I'm entirely satisfied with the Duratrac's and am wondering if I'm missing something?
Firstly, let me say that Ive had great traction in the snow, which is a must for me as an avid skier and sometimes steers me away from a lot of other tires for fear that they arent that good in the snow. Ive heard bad things about the KM2's in the snow, so that strikes them off the list for me. Also, these tires lasted 70k, great lifetime - I kept on top of my alignments when I noticed it out of whack, the fronts are worn more the rears, but its time to replace them now. There's tons of grip off-road on most obstacles, and I havent had any sidewall punctures. I really wanted to like these tires more than I actually do - they have a lot of great selling points that attracted me to them in the first place.
The problem I am having is with stability on dirt roads, like wash roads, and especially over washboards. The rear end seems to kick-out and oversteer on a whim, on its own, and its very unstable. Ive had some suspension work done that helped a little, and also have played with the tire pressures thinking that this was my main cause of squirrlyness. Ive had my Bilsteins re-valved twice to try to correct the issue. My last guess is that its actually the tread pattern or some problem with a flexy sidewall.
A while ago, there used to be a friend on HXC that had a white H3 from Louisiana. His name was Ernie. He has since moved on and sold the truck and now has a sierra, but I remember taking him on some backroads near Aspen, CO on a camping trip to my family land, and his H3 was built much the same as mine. He wasnt on beadlocks, but I believe he had the standard valved bilsteins, BFG AT 35's, and a roof rack(CG was the same), and on dirt roads his truck drove like a Formula One car compared to mine. It was Night and Day. There was absolutely zero squirrley rear end problems, and he doesnt mess with his pressures or even get that sophisticated.
Has anyone else had a bit of a loose rear end with the Duratrac's??
Looking for opinions so that I make the right choice on my next set of tires...
Firstly, let me say that Ive had great traction in the snow, which is a must for me as an avid skier and sometimes steers me away from a lot of other tires for fear that they arent that good in the snow. Ive heard bad things about the KM2's in the snow, so that strikes them off the list for me. Also, these tires lasted 70k, great lifetime - I kept on top of my alignments when I noticed it out of whack, the fronts are worn more the rears, but its time to replace them now. There's tons of grip off-road on most obstacles, and I havent had any sidewall punctures. I really wanted to like these tires more than I actually do - they have a lot of great selling points that attracted me to them in the first place.
The problem I am having is with stability on dirt roads, like wash roads, and especially over washboards. The rear end seems to kick-out and oversteer on a whim, on its own, and its very unstable. Ive had some suspension work done that helped a little, and also have played with the tire pressures thinking that this was my main cause of squirrlyness. Ive had my Bilsteins re-valved twice to try to correct the issue. My last guess is that its actually the tread pattern or some problem with a flexy sidewall.
A while ago, there used to be a friend on HXC that had a white H3 from Louisiana. His name was Ernie. He has since moved on and sold the truck and now has a sierra, but I remember taking him on some backroads near Aspen, CO on a camping trip to my family land, and his H3 was built much the same as mine. He wasnt on beadlocks, but I believe he had the standard valved bilsteins, BFG AT 35's, and a roof rack(CG was the same), and on dirt roads his truck drove like a Formula One car compared to mine. It was Night and Day. There was absolutely zero squirrley rear end problems, and he doesnt mess with his pressures or even get that sophisticated.
Has anyone else had a bit of a loose rear end with the Duratrac's??
Looking for opinions so that I make the right choice on my next set of tires...
Last edited:
ics: When you get your tires mounted