Duratrac vs. TRAIL Grappler

[jaybird93000]

looking to lift and find me some big meaty tires, gonna use them lots next year in Auburn! Deciding between Goodyear Duratracs and Nitto TRAIL grapplers. Duratracs are offered in a 275/65 and 275/70. Trails are offered in 275/70 and 285/65. The biggest difference is in the weight, as the trails in the 275/70 weigh 15 pounds more... They look so mean and i know they run well in our red clay mud, but is it worth the extra hit in MPG?!
Also, if i go with the Trails or the 275/70 DT, will I need a 3/2 instead of daystar 2.5???

Know someones gonna come through for me, thanks guys!:trophy:

 

[BReardon21]

IMO I would go with the Duratracs, I had Terragrapplers on my 06 Jeep GC when I lefted that and I thought they were soft and wore pre-maturely. After talknig witha few of my buddies they found the same with the trail grapplers too, now many of them are running the Duratracs, and I plan on running them once I need new tires/lift my Runner

 

[Casper421]

I agree, the TG's have horrible tread life!

 

[ARK_SWAMP_RIDER]

TG is slightly better off road, DT is slightly better on road, just decide what's most important. Also, 275/70 will require a lot of trimming, even with a 3/2.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/100365-lift-pictures.html

 

[Huskey]

I do enjoy my TG's very much, but most of their life has been offroad, great for mountain climbing on Canada's west coast. Definatly not a good tire for highway speed in the rain.

 

[berettashot117]

if you want an MT, I recommend general grabbers. walks through anything and is as quiet as an AT. Im surprised I haven't seen more people trying these on 4th gens, just me and a few 3rd gens

 

[BReardon21]

Agreed, tread life is all relative to what you will use it for and it depends where you spend your time, on road vs off road. They are both great tires, so it will look great either way.

 

[Clemsonfan15]

if you want an MT, I recommend general grabbers. walks through anything and is as quiet as an AT. Im surprised I haven't seen more people trying these on 4th gens, just me and a few 3rd gens

Isn't that tire really expensive?

I think the DuraTrac might last a little longer than the TrailGrappler. Not sure if that is important to you.

If you're going for just looks get the TrailGrappler.

Do you go to Auburn?

 

[jaybird93000]

i have looked at the Generals too, just don't know a lot about the company compared to someone like Goodyear, ya know? Love those red letters if anything tho... Yea, I graduate this year from HS and am heading to Auburn for college this fall, and know a ton of guys older than me who have found plenty of places to have some fun:bravo: I also work construction during the summer and some of those lots just turn into bogs after a good rain, so i want a tire i won't have to worry about so that I don't get stuck/embarrassed at work...

 

[Clemsonfan15]

Get a lift and run 33" TrailGrapplers with a set of spacers. You won't regret it. You'll get tons of looks.

 

[jaybird93000]

my dilemma is this. Both the tires will get the job done for sure. The Trails will require a 3/2, while a 275/65 duratrac will fit snug under a daystar. At some point, i really would love to go full OME, but i just don't have the money for that without fathers help, and I've pulled enough strings just to get him to come this far hahaha... Just so indecisive:roadkill:

 

[BReardon21]

Speaking from experience, if you go spacers, you will always want new coils and springs. If you are going to lift, lift it once. I have done spacers, never really happy with it. Ready to go 3" lift after winter.

 

[ARK_SWAMP_RIDER]

my dilemma is this. Both the tires will get the job done for sure. The Trails will require a 3/2, while a 275/65 duratrac will fit snug under a daystar. At some point, i really would love to go full OME, but i just don't have the money for that without fathers help, and I've pulled enough strings just to get him to come this far hahaha... Just so indecisive:roadkill:

Have you considered FJ coils? You can do a Daystar 2.5/1.5 plus the FJ coils and end up with a 3/2 (maybe higher in the front, depending if you've got a v6 or v8). You should be able to pick the coils up for $100 or less used.

If you're not going to off road much and it's just for daily use, the spacer lift will be fine.

 

[jaybird93000]

thats a great idea ARK, that way i get a similar stance to where i wanted, and save over half of a full OME setup! Love the look of the Trails, but i can't find one site to tell me how much they weigh... Duratracs are 50, and I'm sure the nittos are more, which is why I'm leaning towards duratracs more. Cheaper, less weight=slightly better mileage, still looks dangerous. Only thing is, i'm the kinda guy who enjoys going against the norm, in which case, id have to be one of the few guys on here with the trails... hahaha decisions decisions...

 

[ARK_SWAMP_RIDER]

thats a great idea ARK, that way i get a similar stance to where i wanted, and save over half of a full OME setup! Love the look of the Trails, but i can't find one site to tell me how much they weigh... Duratracs are 50, and I'm sure the nittos are more, which is why I'm leaning towards duratracs more. Cheaper, less weight=slightly better mileage, still looks dangerous. Only thing is, i'm the kinda guy who enjoys going against the norm, in which case, id have to be one of the few guys on here with the trails... hahaha decisions decisions...

I went from the FJ setup to OME. I like the OME better, but it's not for everyone. Driving is overall much better, but it isn't quite as smooth over the larger bumps (i.e. speed bumps). Haven't really tested either setup off road. Hard to beat the FJ setup for the price.

This isn't the sizes you're looking at, but maybe it'll give you an idea. I'm going through the same debate, leaning towards the Duratracs for the reasons you mentioned. In a 285/70/17, the DT is 54 pounds, the TG is 67. However, the TG is an E load range, the DT is a D, which is the reason for some of the difference.

 

[toy yoda]

I've gotta say I was in the same boat as you as far as wanting to try something different, and it ended up being a mistake. Another use wrote me recently and my message wasnt save, but I'll sum up why i ended up switching to the Duratracs at a substantial $$$ loss.

Trail Grapper
Pro:
-snow and mud performance (apparently) I didnt test it out that much in mud in reality. I can see how the sidewall design of the TG makes them superior to other M/T's in its class though.
-looks (although in the end I prefer the more classic design of the duratracs)
Con:
-cost
-treadlife
-weight/mpg
-hydroplanes
-iffy turning at moderate speeds

Duratrac
Pro:
-performance offroad tried and true
-looks
-handling on road is much more managable and quiet
-lighter weight/better MPG
-better wet performance
-better overall on road confidence
Con:
-cost?
-anything else you can complain of is negated by the fact that its a performance tire

So overall you will see the con's of the trail grappler are actually a lot of the pro's of the durtrac. It's a better overall tire, and the track record shows it.

I wondered why switching from my stock setup to a moderate FJ coil/shock + cornfed 3/2 combo and 265/70/17 TG's lost me 25% of my average MPG's with a negative overall impact to my daily driving experience. And the reason is, they are not as much of a road worthy tire as marketed. There's a reason why Nitto hasnt published the weights of the TG, and I think its because they are prohibitively overweight.

Going from a stock 31" street setup to the 32" M/T alone took me from 19MPG to barely 15MPG driving like a grandpa. I had 285/70/16 BFG M/T KM2 on my 3rd gen and those were more streetable in my opinion. So just because the TG's are "different" doesnt make them more worthwhile.

Bottom line, if you're gonna go with the TG's and all the costs and compromises along with it, you better really need that performance factor (mud or otherwise). My experience with this M/T left me running back to A/T's and I will not return until I have a dedicated use for an offroad vehicle.

 

[ohnoitsthecops]

I have duratrac's on my fj and I like them, if you spend more time onroad then offroad (80% of us) then their a great choice. They do great offroad also, but if your going to go play with sharp rocks be sure to air down I learned the hard way (chunks of tire)

 

[CrimsonCountry]

Love the look of the Trails, but i can't find one site to tell me how much they weigh... Duratracs are 50, and I'm sure the nittos are more, which is why I'm leaning towards duratracs more.

I had actually written Toy Yoda a message earlier regarding the TGs. Because Nitto has been advertising the TG as a "hybrid, more highway friendly MT," I was considering them as my next tire. However, after hearing some feedback and checking out the insane weight, it just isn't worth it for a DD. I'm not knocking the tire at all and im sure its a beast offroad, the cool factor just doesnt overweigh the performance loss.

Btw, the TG in 285/65/18 weighs a massive 74lbs!!! Thats insane and would kill your mpg. As Toy Yoda mentioned, his mpg dropped significanlty and he just had the 265/70/17s. I didn't find the weight of the TG in 275/70/18, but they are 33.62 in diamter, which is huge. I would imagine they are also in the 70lb range.

To play it safe with onroad performance and reasonable MPG, I would go with 275/65/18 (50lbs) Duratracs. Little more crazy, but still not bad, go with the 275/70/18s (55lbs).

However, If I were and really wanted to go with a larger size that hardly anyone else runs...check out the 295/65/18 Duratrac. It weighs 58lbs (which is still comparatively light) and is only slightly wider than the 285s at 11.8". They would look massive on your truck. Alhtough, you would def need more than your current lift as the only 4th gen user (T4RUSAF, check my profile for a picture) on here with them has around 3.5" lift, BL, and a BM chop. Probably still too extreme for your needs but its always nice to have more options right.:

 

[jaybird93000]

Yoda, thanks for all the input, that's some helpful stuff.
74 lbs?! That's a bit excessive i'd say... Thanks for the feedback on MPG's tho, that's important to know! If i were to go OEM or the FJ/daystar setup tho, think 275/65 would fill the gaps well enough? Just want it to look complete instead of pieced together...
And i have messaged T4RUSAF back and forth just a bit, and he agreed that i would definitely need at bare minimum the 3/2 and some new UCA's if i were to go the 295 route, as those will rub the top of the stock UCA's.

 

[CrimsonCountry]

No kidding...especially when you consider that its ~40lbs over stock unsprung weight in tires alone. I can't speak from personal experience but, from looking at others with similar setups (including Yoda), I think it would look great. Not that you would have it with these tires, but i'm actually a fan of tire to fender clearance/gap...it just looks lifted.

I wouldn't have thought you would need UCAs to clear 295s since you already have the wheel spacers. They aren't that much wider than 285s. The 295 duratracs are actually .1" narrow than the 285/65 TGs, 11.8 vs 11.9. Are you sure he knew that you already had them? I assumed he was just running the UCAs to keep everything in spec.