Time to replace the duratracs

Meister said:

Not terrible at all, I was looking online and cheapest I saw was 269 a tire, I'm looking at these due to the 10ply and towing but I like the cepek extreme country as well. Have not had either brand

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I just found the ST Maxx @ $257 per tire including shipping. Haven't got my ordered tires yet. Assuming that the **** Cepek extreme country utilizes the ST Maxx stronger tire carcass from what I've read online.

https://jet.com/product/Cooper-Disc...-10PLY-Rated/91c30bf396ff4f6fbec50fbd6da499f7

I'm going with Coopers as well, but the STT Pro 37-13.5-R17. Will be installed next week when the wheels arrive. Thuren leveling kit will be here tomorrow.

has anyone ran the Toyo AT 2's or the Toyo MT's in the 12 ply, after reading about the duratracs lack of puncture resistance and then experiencing it myself......it's time to upgrade

Blue Streak said:

I'm going with Coopers as well, but the STT Pro 37-13.5-R17. Will be installed next week when the wheels arrive. Thuren leveling kit will be here tomorrow.

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please post some pics when installed. Thinking about the STT's or KM3's when I do tires as well and wasnt sure if I will go 37's or 35's.

Ram Wagon said:

has anyone ran the Toyo AT 2's or the Toyo MT's in the 12 ply, after reading about the duratracs lack of puncture resistance and then experiencing it myself......it's time to upgrade

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Toyo MTs or RTs are good tires for these trucks. AT2s are good for an all terrain, but not as tough as the other two for heavy off-road use.


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Just removed my never used OEM Duratrac spare tire today for the first time in the 24K of my miles of the 34K total miles on my PW. It worked itself lose. The major sway I felt while towing in the past 4K miles must have been the spare tire banging around. Moved around so much that the sidewall has 4 deep grooves down into the cord. Anyhow, it's been replaced today with my new tires.

Nick@GotExhaust said:

please post some pics when installed. Thinking about the STT's or KM3's when I do tires as well and wasnt sure if I will go 37's or 35's.

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I've been really impressed with 35s on aftermarket wheels:

• no noticeable performance hit
• no meaningful mpg reduction
• no rub at full lock
• no rub under articulation when sway bar is disconnected

I was going to go with 37" STT Pros in the 12.5 width, but they showed up in 13.5. They are HUGE compared to the 35x12.5 – think of them as the trailer you'll be towing

JamesWyatt said:

I've been really impressed with 35s on aftermarket wheels:

• no noticeable performance hit
• no meaningful mpg reduction
• no rub at full lock
• no rub under articulation when sway bar is disconnected

I was going to go with 37" STT Pros in the 12.5 width, but they showed up in 13.5. They are HUGE compared to the 35x12.5 – think of them as the trailer you'll be towing

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Thank you for your input!

I saw the DC extreme country in person today and they look good, a few dollars cheaper also. Guy was running them on a jeep...only thing is idk how they will do on the heavy PW

Nick@GotExhaust said:

please post some pics when installed. Thinking about the STT's or KM3's when I do tires as well and wasnt sure if I will go 37's or 35's.

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Will do. Shocks, springs and track bar arrived today, the tires are at the shop waiting for the wheels to arrive from Florida.

Meister said:

I saw the DC extreme country in person today and they look good, a few dollars cheaper also. Guy was running them on a jeep...only thing is idk how they will do on the heavy PW

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Although the **** Cepek Extreme Country is made by Cooper tires, per the following tire guide it states that it utilizes a 2 ply carcass vs the 3 plies on the Cooper M/T's. The Armor Tek3 ply carcass is used in the Cooper STT Pro and ST Maxx, whereas some other brands that the guide mentions also are stated to use 3 plies.

Since I have had no experience with the D.C. brand of tire I can't provide an opinion as to having one or even less plies in the protection against punctures is any issue on my heavy PW. I do know that just driving down paved town streets little pebbles punctured through the 2 ply carcass of my Duratrac tires twice. I will be installing my 3 ply new M/T tires tomorrow in order that I can have some confidence against flats.

http://blog.tiresniffer.com/tire-buyers-guide/top-10-best-mud-terrain-tires-2016

Thanks for the read, here is what DC claims

Extreme Country features a 2-Ply Next Generation High Tensile (HT) carcass corded wrap to give that bolstered sidewall strength sans the addition of increased rolling resistance, heat accumulation, weight and stiff ride.

Lots of jeepers running the DC but dont have half the weight so I'm not sure what to think. It's like the MTR with kevlar, you pay for it but is it that much better. Not knocking the MTR just a thought

Here's a picture of my ST Maxx that I am installing now. Spare fit tightly and perfectly at 34.06 inches with no modifications to the factory electrical wiring. In comparison, the 315 70R17 BFG KO2 OEM tires on the Ford Raptor are 34.4 inches. My 285 75R17 tires are 11/32" shorter in height unmounted and a bit narrower to minimize tire flotation in deep snow and for better tire chain clearance.

Tread is actually 6 plies of different materials and sidewall is 3 plies.

The High Tensile carcass of the **** Cepek Extreme Country is all relative to whatever they are comparing to of which isn't stated.

Odin said:

From my understand, cause I only had the duratracs for a few days until they switched the wheels and tires from my old truck over, is they are a great tire if you're just gonna drive the truck on the street as a daily driver. But if you use the PW for what it's designed for, any mildly sharp rock will blow through the tires. Also have heard they just don't do well with the weight of the truck also. Kinda like thr transforce on the normal 2500... So many have cracked sidewalls sub 20k from just daily driving.

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Very true. My truck has only 1700 miles on it. Few weeks ago was in the desert, next day started losing a few pounds of pressure in the rear driver side (sidewall puncture). Next weekend was just doing forest roads in So Cal, picked up a small sharp rock right between the tread blocks. Instant flat. Plugged it on the trail. Both tries are non-repairable.

Ordered a set of 35's Ridge Grapples. Hopefully they hold up better. Got the Americas Tire hazard warranty (they claim they will repair or replace any damage from off roading). Anyone have experience with that by chance?

It's been 1,500 miles since I purchased my ST Maxx tires. Tires grip excellent across Wyoming sharp gravel roads and so far no rock punctures like the Duratrac tires.

Unfortunately, today my new tire alignment just came undone far up on some remote 4x4 dirt road in the Big Horns. Steering wheel quickly went 90 degrees off center coming down a steep incline on a shelf road in 4 low. Hold on! Stopped and quickly discovered that the drag link nuts had worked themselves entirely loose and so the adjustment bar in the middle was freely turning. Kinda had to tighten things back up to proceed off of the mountain.

Brought it into another alignment shop today and the front tires are again pointing away from each other. Just as they did with the original factory alignment of which a Ram dealership informed me that it was perfectly fine. The noticeable excessive outer front tire wear was blamed on the customer driving style. I brought it into an real alignment shop and they found that one tire was turned to the left and the other was turned to the right. Their workmanship to correct it just got an "F".

I loved the DuraTracs on my Toyota Tacoma! They never failed me, and were the best all around tire I’ve owned! I got 40-45,000 miles per set! Also the best snow tire I’ve had!



My fear, after all the reading I’ve done, is that the weight of the PW is too much for the DuraTrac!

My solution for a summer/towing tire was the 35x12.5x16 KM3s on new wheels!(GFX -12mm)

They were delivered Friday, but won’t have lugnuts till Tuesday!









Can’t wait to get them on!

I’ll keep the DuraTracs for winter and hope they perform as needed as a snowtire! If not, I’ll go with ST MAXX studded!

Glad to see that you purchased a proven tough tire with a Load Range E rating for your Power Wagon.

Although it's legal around here in the states of Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming to run studded tires all year without any restrictions, the vast majority that I've seen are usually found on cars. I have a change over set of studded winter Altimax Arctic tires with steel wheels stacked in a barn for my daughter's Subaru and a not studded set for our car.

Running Duratrac tires on my 1/2 ton full size 4x4 pickup all year in Load Range E. Had one tire shop which refused to sell me a Duratrac Load Range E versus the Duratrac 265 75R16 Load Range C. Truck OEM tire was Passenger rated. They insisted that the Load Range E would be too hard of a ride. I went elsewhere to make my purchase. I worked a summer parks and recreation season for a large city along the Front Range in Colorado and all of their new 2015 and 2016 1/2 ton pickup trucks were equipped with either Duratrac or KO2 tires in Load Range E. Never had any flat tire issues while jumping curbs fully loaded 50 times a day. I understand that the Power Wagon load range D Duratrac tires were to be for better off-roading, but I prefer the stiffer sidewall of a Load Range E tire. Probably more durable than a lower Load Rating on the sidewall.

To put studded ST Maxx tires on the Power Wagon would probably make it perform with some tank like traction in icy road conditions. Still this M/ T tire lacks a lot of siping and they don't have the 3 Mountain Peak Snowflake rating that is best for winter conditions. My concern is the tire performance in extreme cold winter conditions since some tires like the older style BFG KO that I ran for several sets become hard as a hockey puck. Still I drive over both Colorado and Wyoming gravel roads during the winter and those same rocks whether they are dry or covered by a layer of snow have been too sharp for running the Duratrac tires on my Power Wagon.

I had **** Cepek fun country on my old truck and they were the best tires I have ever ran. Very durable. I just lost a sidewall on my duratrac. I am not gonna play with these tires anymore. They are coming off. I need reliability. 90% of my drive is off road in the Rocky Mountains of B.C. So I am going back with the best. **** Cepek. But this time after looking at the extreme, that will be my choice. I guarantee you will never regret buying **** Cepek tires.

**** Cepek is manufactured by Cooper. I run Cooper tires on my Power Wagon. Good decision for a cousin tire of the ST Maxx. I have a studded Fun Country as a spare tire mounted below on my 1998 K1500. Still holds air after 20 years and so it still serves it purpose. Never had a flat tire with my K1500 in the 300,000 miles I racked up on it. My 2 flats with my Power Wagon Duratrac tires though occurred during its first 35,000 miles.

Mickey Thompson is also manufactured by Cooper. The Mickey Thompson ATZ P3 and Cooper ST Maxx that I run might as be tire siblings.

Anybody notice it is the guys west of the Mississippi with all the flats with the DuraTracs? My drive is grave and I get tons of stone stuck in the DuraTracs (not crazy about them getting chunked out a 65 mph). The rocks out west must be crazy sharp.