What's causing my Duratracs to cup

[guitarsail]

As title says, have about 16k miles on them and they are cupping terribly. Inside is worse then the outside. Every other lug is wearing faster than its partner. When I it aligned it was looking decent, anything I should look at in particular to solve this? About to move to ridge grapplers because the Ouse is so bad now but don't want to ruin a new set of tires.

 

[Jhalko]

How often are you rotating? Was the alignment just checked, I didn't understand from your post?

 

[guitarsail]

How often are you rotating? Was the alignment just checked, I didn't understand from your post?

Haven't had the alignment checked in probably 10k miles, rotations I've been meh on. Probably around 8k miles vs 5k. I'm assuming that isn't helping. But ultimately if they are cupping at 8k vs 5k it'll still cup them its just going to take and extra rotation to do it. Sooo back to alignment? Am I looking at any particular spec within alignment that could cause it more?

 

[mybabydaddy]

Alignment. Ask for pre and post specs. Then post them back up on here when you have time.


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[TBBrewer]

Duratracs

Our '16 Trail, new last September, came fitted with Duratracs. It's our only driver but we don't do a lot of miles during the winter. Still, no sign of cupping, so I would definites? - Ted.

 

[TBBrewer]

Duratracs

Something happened with my message as it should have read that I would suspect misalignment. Is it just the front tires or all four, and what pressure are you running? - Ted

 

[nglayton]

Rotation, Rotation, Rotation

No rotation and lots of cornering will do it every time.

 

[guitarsail]

Rotation, Rotation, Rotation

No rotation and lots of cornering will do it every time.

Well sounds like get the new tires on, check the alignment, and do a better job on the rotations. Too bad I can't save these. Perfect for an older truck that doesn't care about noise but it's absurd for the driving we do

 

[SATSTRAIL]

You can probably squeeze some more life out of them by dismounting the tires and then flipping them on the rim so that the cupped edge that was on the inside is now on the outside and will have less contact with the road. This should reduce the noise somewhat and give you more time with the tires. And as was stated earlier, rotate, rotate, etc.

 

[Sleeter]

Sounds like a Toe issue, take it to another shop. Lazy tech will ignore the specs or tell you it's not possible to get it any better.

 

[wfo9]

Too much pre-Load in the suspension with a bunch of weight on the front can cause this.... In other words, the wrong springs, a bad shock, too much lift. too much weight.... Alignment will cause feathering, but typically not cupping. Rotations help and some tires are just more susceptible to it. Also, Jeeps are bad about this....

 

[3wbdriver]

They're getting few and far between, but there are tire shops that will shave tires round again. You might look into this and see if there is a place near you. I had a set of Groundhawg bias plies that just would NOT balance. Found out one of them was out of round (not that unusual in M/T's). I found a shop in Dallas that did the service and spent a weekend with my parents while they were being done.

 

[Sleeter]

Too much pre-Load in the suspension with a bunch of weight on the front can cause this.... In other words, the wrong springs, a bad shock, too much lift. too much weight.... Alignment will cause feathering, but typically not cupping. Rotations help and some tires are just more susceptible to it. Also, Jeeps are bad about this....

low mileage cupping is a typical sign of toe issues.

 

[guitarsail]

Yeah I'm thinking a combo of not rotating enough, and my alignment must be off. I'll bring it to a new shop to get the alignment checked out. Running stock springs on Billy 5100s on the 3 ring so not a terrible amount of preload. I'm looking at new shock/spring combo in the future. It alignment and rotations for now.

 

[philsey]

Well sounds like get the new tires on, check the alignment, and do a better job on the rotations. Too bad I can't save these. Perfect for an older truck that doesn't care about noise but it's absurd for the driving we do

Maybe you have the wrong tire for the type of driving you do.

 

[thebwlife]

Cupping or feathering? Pics?

 

[guitarsail]

Maybe you have the wrong tire for the type of driving you do.

Possible, but I'm thinking not. Lots of highway driving to get to hundreds of miles of off-roading. I need something that is nice enough on the highway but is aggressive for trails. Duratracs are great tires for this, I think I just did poorly with rotations and it would seem my alignment. Maybe my statement should have read in their current condition of being cupped, it's no good for the driving we do. I've had mud tires on my older trucks and currently with the cupping on almost perfectly every other lug, these vibrate and rumble just like a light mud tire. I've ordered up a set of ridge grapplers so we'll get the alignment redone and stay on top of rotations.

 

[guitarsail]

Cupping or feathering? Pics?

I assumed cupping. Not sure if you can see in this pic but you can sort of see the light and dark on every other tread. This has made them unbearably loud in highway use. They have been amazing tires, just the bad wearing it's time to move on. I don't blame the tire until I get an alignment and if that looks good it could just be I didn't rotate enough.

 

[SATSTRAIL]

Yep thats cupping alright. A friend of mine has the same tires and they are cupping also. While rotations and alignments are a main factor when it comes to reducing this issue, some tire designs are just more prone to cupping.

 

[Dog Runner]

If I may ask the OP a quick question..... When you are rotating the tires, are they being rotated from front to back on the same side only? As in, passenger rear goes to passenger front? If so, that is your problem if your alignment is in spec.

The issue with that rotation is that you never wear the tire in the other direction to combat the "cupping" . I have 53k on another set of tires currently that have large/small lugs and I do not have cupping issues. I have had good luck with Trail grapplers, Ko2's etc by doing the rotation below. I mention the trail grapps because they have large lugs, similar to your tires. Directionals, like MTR's are terrible to rotate if you want them to work properly...

Here is my winning method at every 5k::horn:

X Rotation
Driver front to Passenger rear.
Passenger front to driver rear.

next rotation:
Then all rights to the left.

next rotation:
Then do the x rotation.

Then repeat the steps above.

Currently, my tires with 53k, all measure out at 5/32 as of today and I drive 50k per year, so a set of tires per yr give or take.......


You may want to give it a shot, and as always, YMMV....