Duratrac Sidewall

[TBuzz]

I think they are pretty tough, although I'll be keeping up at 20 or so and looking for advice maybe....they definitely flex at 18 psi for me.

1) Is that close to failure?
2)Would bead locks be good in these scenarios?
3)I cant imagine it's good for the tire but how bad is it?

That's a 285/70/17..I do want bigger tires though and these will be in the running.

 

[KidVermicious]

Wow, that was at 18 PSI? What load range are those? Mine are E range, and I ran them at 18 in Moab, I wonder if I ever got that much deformation.

 

[dirtbike250x]

Wow I run roughly 19-20psi in the same size, and I have never seen them flex so much.

I wouldn't say bead locks are required at 18psi but that is pretty flexed for a non locked rim.

 

[TBuzz]

Wow, that was at 18 PSI? What load range are those? Mine are E range, and I ran them at 18 in Moab, I wonder if I ever got that much deformation.

Yea I ran 18 out there too, they are d range. Were you standing on my passenger side ever and seeing my passenger tire when going up the "wipeout hill" line? I heard them saying the rim was pressed beyond the rock. I'm try to keep the pressure up from now on.

Wow I run roughly 19-20psi in the same size, and I have never seen them flex so much.

I wouldn't say bead locks are required at 18psi but that is pretty flexed for a non locked rim.

Yea I looked out the window to see if I was stuffing and saw that..had to whip out the camera but was getting left behind, glad I caught the image.

I tell you what though we were racing out of the area through the sand wash at 40-50 and they are smooth as glass

 

[KidVermicious]

Yea I ran 18 out there too, they are d range. Were you standing on my passenger side ever and seeing my passenger tire when going up the "wipeout hill" line? I heard them saying the rim was pressed beyond the rock. I'm try to keep the pressure up from now on.

I heard them mention it, but I didn't see it. If I'm remembering right, you had your drivers front in the air at the time, so it must have had quite a bit of weight on the passenger side.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Wow.. that's a lot of deformation for 18psi, my LT285/70R17 Nitto Terra Grapplers on my 4th gen have never deformed that badly and 18psi is my go to off-road pressure.

Does this have to do with the "DuraTracs have thin sidewalls" rumor I keep seeing pop up around here?

 

[JB.]

....they definitely flex at 18 psi for me.

A 285 on a 3rd gen at 18psi lookin' like that?

It doesn't compute in my head.

Maybe the way it's trying to slide down the edge produced that, but I'd have to guess that somehow that particular tire had considerably less than 18psi. Did you notice anything when it came time to air up? Like it took longer on that tire or something?

 

[adio3x]

Woah, never seen one like that & I've gone down to 16psi on my old 285/70/17 Load D. I've heard of how thin the sidewalls can get on duratracs, even blew out a tire once from just rubbing up against a rock. But that doesn't look like 18psi, looks more like 9 lol.

 

[nevada]

A 285 on a 3rd gen at 18psi lookin' like that?

It doesn't compute in my head.

Maybe the way it's trying to slide down the edge produced that, but I'd have to guess that somehow that particular tire had considerably less than 18psi. Did you notice anything when it came time to air up? Like it took longer on that tire or something?

I was thinking the same time.
I don't want to say the OP is wrong, since he was there, and i wasn't. but that tire doesn't look like it has anywhere close to 18psi.

 

[TBuzz]

I was thinking the same time.
I don't want to say the OP is wrong, since he was there, and im wasn't. but that tire doesn't look like it has anywhere close to 18psi.

Actually when I looked out the window, I thought I heard it hissing air. I thought I needed to hurry if I wanted a pic and I might be using that spare sooner that later. That was early in the day and it was fine rest of the way. It does look to me in reviewing some shots I'm getting close to the rim, so I better work it out.

If you see some of the videos I've posted in other threads, you can see how all of the tires were reacting at that pressure. Maybe I need to invest in a better gauge. But when I plugged it into my cheap compressor afterwards it did read between 15-20.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Chris, when you get a chance take a look at the sidewall of your tires and report back with the details on how many plies are in the sidewall and the tread.

I know the C load 265/75-16 Duratracs on my '97 are 6 ply... 4 in the tread, and 2 in the sidewalls.

The E load 285/75-16's on my '01 are 10 ply... 7 in the tread, and 3 in the sidewalls.

I did a quick search and couldn't find any info on the construction of the D load duratracs.

I usually take the E's on my '01 down to 20 psi when I'm wheeling. I've done 18 a couple times too, but never lower. At those pressures it takes a lot to get the sidewalls to flex, and I think they'd have to be just about flat to get to the point that you show in your pic.