Soliciting Tire Recommendations

[Scubadiver]

I drive a 2015 4Runner Limited with all season tires and considering changing them out for all terrain tires for better winter handling. We make several ski trips each year to either West Virginia or New England, not to mention the one or two winter events locally. I'm a New England native and generally comfortable with winter driving. Just seeking a better tire for those brief winter exposures without the hassle of maintaining a second set of true winter tires.

I'm looking at the Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac. Thoughts?

 

[Ripper238]

I drive a 2015 4Runner Limited with all season tires and considering changing them out for all terrain tires for better winter handling. We make several ski trips each year to either West Virginia or New England, not to mention the one or two winter events locally. I'm a New England native and generally comfortable with winter driving. Just seeking a better tire for those brief winter exposures without the hassle of maintaining a second set of true winter tires.

I'm looking at the Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac. Thoughts?

I went with Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac (C load) for my New England/WV snow driving and off-roading. They came highly recommended by all my snow plow work truck friends.

It's an aggressive tire with more focus on off-road, snow handling and durability. I love them, they not only perform well in snow/mud/rock they look cool. lol

The only negatives are:

Not as good in the rain as a street highway tire.
Can get noisy if you don't rotate every 5-10k. I personally feel they are quieter than many others of the same class AT.

If you are not off-roading or need a heavy use tire there are probably less aggressive street all seasons that may perform better in road snow/rain.

 

[Scubadiver]

I went with Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac (C load) for my New England/WV snow driving and off-roading. They came highly recommended by all my snow plow work truck friends.

It's an aggressive tire with more focus on off-road, snow handling and durability. I love them, they not only perform well in snow/mud/rock they look cool. lol

The only negatives are:

Not as good in the rain as a street highway tire.
Can get noisy if you don't rotate every 5-10k. I personally feel they are quieter than many others of the same class AT.

If you are not off-roading or need a heavy use tire there are probably less aggressive street all seasons that may perform better in road snow/rain.

Thank you!

 

[MN4RNR]

MN driver here. I have had success with the Kenda Klever A/T2. Snowflake rated and very good pricepoint.

 

[mainerunr]

I drive a 2015 4Runner Limited with all season tires and considering changing them out for all terrain tires for better winter handling. We make several ski trips each year to either West Virginia or New England, not to mention the one or two winter events locally. I'm a New England native and generally comfortable with winter driving. Just seeking a better tire for those brief winter exposures without the hassle of maintaining a second set of true winter tires.

I'm looking at the Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac. Thoughts?

Downside: says "Wrangler" on the tire (I mean, Ford made goodyear make tires that omit that word to put on the Bronco).

Other than that, I have no input on that specific tire. I have Grabber ATx on my F150 right now, they are not great in rain and ok in snow but the Falken Wildpeak AT3W were a better all around tire (heavy though). I'm looking at Toyo Open Country AT3's as soon as I get my 4Runner.

 

[RootedWanderer]

I have always had good luck with Nitto Ridge Grapplers and also Mickey Thompson ATZ p3

 

[Ripper238]

I've got BFG Ko2 on my suburban z71, and I've got New Toyo AT3 on my 4runner.
Had the BFG on Ice and snow last year, Flawless operation. They are not noisy at all and last pair lasted 46k miles.

Just put the Toyo's on the 4runner, They are much noisier on Hwy and waiting for some ice and snow to find out how they perform but I wish I would've just put the KO2 on and forgotten about it.
BFG Ko2 all the way.

How were the KO2's in the rain/wet? That was one of the main reasons I went with Duratracs over the Ko2's. Did you go C or E load?

 

[jimmied]

I just went from some falken at3s to the new pirelli scorpion at plus and am pretty happy so far. Ended up taking a road trip with heavy rain, no issues. They look the part too. Falkens are maybe a tad more aggressive looking. These are silent on highway so far but falkens we’re at first too. I feel as though they did get noisy pretty quickly in their age. Hope these stay quieter longer.

 

[Ripper238]

I mean they're great all-around tires that shine in snow and ice. Never had hydroplaning issues or braking when in the rain issues with the KO2's.
I've got E-rated BFG on the Suburban. My AT3's are also E rated.
A C-rated tire on a 4wd vehicles is almost criminal.

That's good to hear, seen too many comments on how they are not good in the rain but still a great over all AT tire. Coming from Michelin PSS on my cars its hard to get used to AT tire rain/wet handling. lol

Doing an E load on a 4R is just mean. lol

 

[Flyer]

The DuraTracs are the best winter tire of all the ATs. I have the KO2s now and have used several. The DuraTracs surpass them all. I use KO2s and true snow tires now but if I were to have one set, it would be the DuraTracs.

 

[Ripper238]

I run all terrains on all my 4wd vehicles, any other slick passenger tread on a truck or 4wd is just a lapse in judgment and being unprepared for the unforeseen circumstance. E-rated 10-ply is just extra insurance over a 6 ply C rated. Semper Paratus.

I agree, why have 4wd and not put an AT on there. Its like buying a sports car and not putting on high performance tires.

However I disagree with the E rated 10 ply that's designed for much larger and heavier vehicles on a small SUV like the 4Runner. It just burdens the whole drive system and will cause more wear and tear on the whole drive system.

The DuraTracs are the best winter tire of all the ATs. I have the KO2s now and have used several. The DuraTracs surpass them all. I use KO2s and true snow tires now but if I were to have one set, it would be the DuraTracs.

100%. All the snow plow guys around here seem to love there DuraTracs for snow.

 

[Flyer]

Yeah, the E ply is not the best idea for ride quality, component longevity, or fuel economy. The only E worth it is the DuraTrac and its 6-ply-rated tread is significantly thinner than any AT or MT I have seen. A lot of Jeep guys use that one. If you take a look at the DuraTrac's tread pattern and shoes, it is halfway towards a dedicated snow tire. Plus the rubber compound is slightly softer than anything I have used. It is pretty impressive on snow. While I prefer the MTR Kevlar off-road and on rocks, the DuraTrac is not far behind there either, while being lighter and better on snow and wet conditions.

I use 87 in the 4R and 91 in the Merc but only because it calls for it. Both have 4.7L V8s so sometimes, I forget and use 91 in both. I am sure 87 will be fine. I don't drive that much so 91 works.

 

[NoTreadLeft]

Just don't buy them on the internet. I recently bought 3, all shipped separate, 1 made it here of the 4. One of them was resent and stolen again the second time. Tires are super easy to fence as stolen goods and easy to spot by thieves working the distribution hubs.

 

[Flyer]

Funny you said that. My Discount Tire guy just shipped me four snow tires. FedEx picked up all 4 at the same time but has been dropping them off one each day. So the first day I saw one tire and thought that three had been stolen off my porch. I kinda freaked out. Nope...just FedEx being weird.

 

[Flyer]

Do you really need data? Think about it. An E-rated tired is significantly heavier than a LT/C/D rated tire. I have used Ds and Es and Cs on the same vehicle. The ride with Es was awful- not just harsh but the heavier tire made the vehicle (4,500 lbs Jeep Wrangler) feel slow to accelerate and ponderous. That is ALL rotating weight too...not just carried weight. Rotating weight has a bigger effect on fuel economy than static weight. With the darn Es, I was getting around 13 MPGs manually calculated. With the Cs, I was getting 17.5. With the Ds, I was getting 14-15. The ride was still kinda ponderous but bearable. Still, Discount Tires took the Es and the Ds back and I went back to my trusty Cs. The C MTRs were as tough as anything out there too, or I was pretty lucky since I used them a ton on two diff Jeeps and aired them down to 10 PSI and did quite a bit off off-roading on some rocky trails.

Heavier tires will always suck more fuel and rarely overcome any tread differences in the same category. It is the same thing with mountain bike tires. heavier tires will always wear you out a lot faster, especially so if you climb uphill. However, please feel free to use what you want. Nobody is trying to convince you not to. We are just typing up our experiences.

 

[Flyer]

Well, you have my data. This should be pretty logical though. Heavy vehicles get less gas mileage. Heavy tires are even worse than simply putting that weight in or on the vehicle. That's called unsprung rolling weight and is governed by Physics. It works the same way with any vehicle. Same with larger tires. You can research this- it isn't opinion.

 

[Flyer]

Merry Christmas! Have a wonderful Holiday Season!

 

[Connor MacLeod]

I just had Cooper Rugged Trek put on my 2023 OR. They performed great for me in wet conditions yesterday, including one instance of hard breaking. Noise level is only slightly louder than the stock tires. I'm loving them so far!
O

 

[Pedro367]

Goodyear stinks, especially anything with Wrangler written on it. Paper thin sidewalls and OE "quality" with a name brand on it. It's amazing how many flats I've seen on any of the tires on the Wrangler product line, especially the OEs. Duratracs always seem to get good reviews for snow, but it's still a Goodyear.

KO2s are amazing in snow from my experience. I never had wet weather issues, but a lot seem to. They were great on the road and really quiet. Toyo AT3s are good, but Toyo tends to be louder than most. General Grabber ATX are another good option that's reasonably priced. Falken AT3Ws some seem to swear by for awhile in the Toyota community. I've been really impressed with my Maxxis Razr ATs so far over the last 6 months in everyday driving, moderate offroad, rain, towing, they're low noise, etc., but have yet to test in snow yet. Bonus, they are CHEAP!

Honestly, you don't even need that aggressive of an AT to up your snow traction game considerably in a 4runner. Even a less aggressive AT like a Yokohama G015, Cooper AT3, Continental TerrainContact AT, Michelin LTX, or similar will get you through what you need here in the northeast. Less worry about road noise, improper wear, mpg declining, they're generally cheaper, etc. But, they aren't as cool looking...and that's important

Long story short, take your pick. You can make an educated choice on what you buy, but you will be the end user and your experience will most likely vary from a bunch of people on a forum.

 

[larryg]

i know what I'd buy

Nokian Rotiiva AT from Simple Tire