Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac is a very old tire now, and it’s performance is still very surprising. It’s a first ever hybrid (which brings a mixture of mud-terrain and all-terrain tires’ features). So where its so good on harsher terrains, it’s on road performance is not disappointing at all.
Table of Contents
Key Takeaway
Being a tire engineer, I can tell you that the Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac is one of a kind tire, it offers features which no other tire does, it’s good on road with it’s foundations supports, it’s wet traction is credited to it’s full depth interlocking sipes (mostly on shoulder lugs), it’s steering response comes form the tire being light in weight.The only place the tire lacks is on road noise, and off road durability, but other than this you can go wrong with this tire, if you go off road 50% of your time. Speaking of which its very good on mud and sand. And for snow, it’s 3PMSF rated.
This tire is available in rim sizes from 15 to 22 inches, though it offers fewer total sizes compared to some competitors.
Speed ratings range from Q to T, and the weight varies between 35 and 68 lbs, with load ratings going up to F.
When it comes to tread depth, most sizes come with 18/32″, though a few exceptions offer 16/32″.
Tread Features
In case of Wrangler DuraTrac, all its blocks have saw tooth teeth to them and they are joined together by one another, with the help of another layer, you can say it’s dual compound.
The shoulder lugs are highly voided. They run in pairs are are joined with together from beneath, the surrounding gaps are huge, that’s the reason why it’s considered a hybrid tire (having shoulders of a mud tire).
These blocks have make deep (full depth) siping, where the wave-like pattern offers more flexibility to these blocks.
In the wide grooves the tire offers a small biters (Goodyear calls it Tractive Groove Technology).
Towards the middle ribs get smaller, but features are the same, though siping is less interlocking here.
These lugs are closely packed together, and offer a very decent directional stability overall.
While the chamfered edges ensure the ribs don’t push each other during cornering and heavy braking as well.
The tire has 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake rating, and on top of that, it supplies stud-able lugs (on LT sizes), so you can improve traction on icy terrains as well.
Highway Performance
Now sure more aggressive tires aren’t so great on pavements, but with Duratrac its a different story.
The tire is very well engineered, so you don’t have to compromise a lot on dry grip, response and handling.
Let’s check all these factors out.
Dry Grip
The more voids a tread has, the less rubber meets the road, which naturally limits grip.
But in the case of the Goodyear Duratrac, the tire’s rounded contact patch ensures the central part of the tread makes firm contact with the road.
And with its tightly packed block arrangement, the tire maintains solid directional grip without compromise.
Additionally, the Duratrac uses a high-silica tread compound, which enhances its ability to stick to the road.
While it has less rubber-to-road contact compared to some tires, its softer rubber and rigid block foundations still deliver good braking distances and handling times.
Steering Response
If you compare this tire with all-terrain tires, then you are going to see some lag on roads. This lag has to do with it’s larger shoulder gaps.
As they don’t meet with the road continuously, the overall response gets to have a delay.
The good thing about this tire is that it’s weight is not that heavier, as it’s just 2 ply polyester, so although this compromises the durability, the tire does not over steers as much as an average rugged terrain tire would.
So overall, the tire is pretty impressive here, if you consider it’s off road capabilities (without worrying about it’s sidewalls that is, as they are not as confidence inspiring).
Also check, Goodyear Wrangler Workhorse AT.
Handling Stability
The handling is another factor of traction, let me explain. There are 2 key parts here, one is directional, which depends on the central lugs, and the other is lateral traction, where the shoulders come in to action (as the whole weight of tire shifts on them when a vehicle turns).
So the Goodyear Duratrac with joined up shoulder blocks provide a great traction values and stability.
With rounded contact patch (explained in dry grip), the tire offers a very smooth transitions to forces towards the shoulders when a car turns, so you don’t feel the jerking movement.
Goodyear is known to make such tires, for a while now, and it helps a lot, though such tires are also a little bit more expensive as well.
Wet Performance
On wet asphalts there are 2 main things grip and hydroplaning, and both of these do only one thing, water removal.
Water escaping is important, as without it the tire wont be able to grip, as water is not compressible, it has to move away so the tire can meet with the road and offer any sort of grip.
Let’s talk about these two dimensions.
Wet Traction
Wet traction is again a combination of directional and lateral grip, so here the central lugs of the tire are closed up together and they provide interlocking sipes which is enough for water removal.
With rounded contact patch, most of the pressure in on these middle lugs, and water gets pushed out from here to sides, the little water that stays stuck is wiped off with sipes (they flex to suck water in).
The outer shoulders are open and water leaves form here quickly, and although the siping is less here, these are more interlocking, so wet handling is not compromised at all.
In fact it’s pretty impressive.
Hydroplaning
Another factor of wet performance is mostly credited to hydroplaning, which is basically just water removal from the grooves.
Now like I explained above, the central lugs pushed the water sideways, and here the tire is pretty bald and does not restrict the movement of the water, so it leaves out pretty easily and effectively.
Winter Performance
Winter performance covers a lot of ground, literally. From ice and deep snow to light snow, factors like acceleration, grip, and handling all come into play.
Now the Goodyear Duratrac is 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake rated, meaning it’s at least 10% better at accelerating on snowy roads compared to your average all-season tire.
Plus the tire also provides great braking and handling as well, especially in deeper snow.
It handles anything over 3 feet of snow with ease and even performs well on hard-packed snow and ice. Its full-depth interlocking sipes grip icy surfaces, and its spongy rubber stays flexible in freezing temperatures.
And if you need extra traction, you can add up to 16 studs to the shoulder lugs, though this feature is only available in LT sizes.
Noise Comfort
Noise is one area where you’d have to compromise a little with this tire, as it’s loud. But why is that?
Well first things first, understand that noise is just air. Besides rolling noise and other on road factors (texture composition, groove spectrum, resonance and so on), the air plays a huge role.
Now as I already explained the Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac has a rounded contact patch, so shoulder are a little open, and it’s tread design tells us how much of it’s shoulders are voided (they are pretty bald).
So air can move in and out easily, and that air when strikes the tread generates noise, which we also call tread noise.
The tire offers variable ptich technology here to dampen it, but its’ softer rubber simply produces more resonance, so it’s best you rotate these tires after every 3k miles if possible (otherwise they are going to get louder).
For Your Info: Also, if noise is you main concern and you have to get his tire, go with D rated sizes, instead of E or F.
Mud traction
The Goodyear Duratrac is a standout when it comes to mud traction, thanks to its wider outer longitudinal grooves that quickly clear mud. In fact, it’s one of the top performers on my list of all-terrain tires for mud.
The tire’s mud scoops act like spoons, helping it dig its way out even when it’s knee-deep in mud.
Plus, it’s not too heavy (with fewer plies in its construction), so it doesn’t dig in which keeps it moving forward.
I mean most rugged terrain tires are so heavy and sharp that they dig too much, which isn’t ideal. Forward momentum is key, and the Duratrac nails it.
To top it off, the small-scale tread pattern in its grooves helps break apart mud, making it easier to eject and keep the tire clean.
Traction on Rocks
Rocks need durability, and this is the part where the Goodyear Duratrac lacks. With just 2 ply sidewalls and not thick enough lugs on top, crawling this tire on rugged terrains is not as confidence inspiring.
Though its sidewall lugs are very biting when you air down the tire.
Other than this the tire does great providing you with very sharp biters in the middle and big groove mouth towards edges.
Sand Traction
On sand, the Goodyear Duratrac is probably on the best tires out there, this is because of the tire’s lighter weight, which helps it on an incline (which is what you mostly encounters with sandy dunes).
The tire is also very molding, so with lowered pressure (which you always do on sand), a lot of it’s tread is able to meet up with the sand underneath.
The sidewalls are also not sharp, so there’s no digging, and chances of getting stuck becomes low.
To Conclude
The Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac is now more than a decade old, yet the tire is still great. That’s the reason why it’s still ran by so many, and come in per-installed on Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and other popular off road jeeps and trucks.
There’s actually very little that you have to compromise with this tire, as it offers a great balance between on and off road.
The only thing that bugs me about this tire is noise, and other than that, it’s great on dry roads in terms of traction, absorbing bumps, tread wear, to name a few.
Off road the tire does best in mud and sand, where I rated this tire for mud in my list (see in mud section above).
The only thing off road that’s not working for this tire is it’s durability, so you get just 2 ply sidewalls, which are although good enough, they are prone to punctures, but then again it makes this tire lighter which improves it’s steering response.
