It's almost time for new tires. I've googled the hell out of this. Researched every thread I could find. Hours and hours, and I still can't make up my mind.
After my stock tires wore out, I got some MT Baja Claws. They were great in the snow, and in the sand - despite the reputed mud tire's predilection for digging in the sand, these things kept me moving even running street pressures. This was very convenient for those quick trips on and off the beach.
However, my truck is my daily driver, and with all the highway miles, they just wore out too fast to justify getting them again. Thus began the search for a good AT tire.
I had narrowed it down to the Duratrac, but the tire guy suggested the AT3 so I went and researched it too. Hard to find a bad review of either tire, and the AT3 is a bit cheaper.
Does anyone have personal experience with both tires? I'd love an AT, like my old Claws, that can get me on and off the beach without airing down. Also needs to be good in the snow, and have decent tread life. Any other thoughts would be appreciated.
I've been researching this for years and my conclusion is the Duratrac's. But I still can't convince myself that they look good. I have KM2's right now and they suck in the snow/ice. I'm trying to talk myself into getting Duratrac's before the winter starts. There's still plenty of tread on the KM2's but they are really useless in the winter.
EVERY set of Cooper tires I've owned, and I've had a few, have been great at first, but way too noisy from 1 year/12K miles on. Since you are doing mainly daily highway driving, you will quickly hate them IMO. I've not had Duratracs, but they will be a strong consideration for my next set, even if Coopers are buy one, get 3 free.
Also, //most// tire reviews are written the first few days/weeks of ownership, so keep that in mind when reading.
Where do you live that you see sand & snow? Northeast? Just curious.
I live near the middle of Long Island on the North Shore. We have a fair amount of south shore beaches that allow 4wd access. And the occasional record-breaking blizzard.
I think the Coopers will last you longer than the Duratrac's but both are good tires. Duratrac's have the Snow Leaf marking on the side (snow rated?) but at3''s are MS rated. I have to agree with Suzokie though, my Coopers are quite loud now at around 25k on them, but I also see them making it to the warranty of 55k. My dad's duratracs are almost done at 33k, they are also quite loud at this point. The choice is really up to you.
I have the Coopers on a company Silverado. Good traction but as mentioned a little noisy on the highway, and noisier than Toyo A/T or Hankook RF10 that I have on two other 4x4s. My favs are the Toyos but all three are good tires. No exp. with Duratracs as I swore off Goodyears many years ago.
I've heard nothing but good things about the Coopers but have never heard that they're better than any other tire in a specific field of performance. They just seem to be a really great all around performer. I got KM2's for the extreme performance in a few categories but not all categories. I agree that Goodyear may be one of my least favorite tire companies (BFGoodrich being my favorite, with a few closely tied in 2nd) but from all my research I cannot find a better off-road tire for the winter in a 35" size.
Bottom-line: I wish I could keep my KM2's but they're worthless in Colorado (for me). I can't find better off-road tires than the Duratrac's for four season performance. I wish I didn't have to buy Goodyear tires. If there's any tire that performs better (within those requirements) please post up. I'm not looking forward to buying Goodyear Duratrac's but all the specs/reviews make it the perfect tire for my needs; even though I don't like or want it. Especially this time that I'm buying 5 brand new 35" tire with 5 new 18" wheels (to fit larger Titan brakes).
I'm going to get the cooper ATP from discoun t tire direct when i get new tires. They seem to be about the same tread pattern (almost) a little bit bigger voids and taller tread (could be wrong on this). Plus they are cheaper than the AT3.
Just so you know mine are ATP not AT3 but they are very similiar. But yes mine get rotated every 3k miles and are wearing evenly.
Mine dad rotates less often than I at more like every 8k miles, they are also on a 1 ton truck though so don't take the wear too seriously. They will probably fair better on our trucks yet I still feel the Coopers will give you more life.
I think I like the Duratrac's "look" better, but I'm leaning towards the AT3. From what I've read I think they will wear better too, and they're about $25 cheaper per tire installed.
Plus if I don't like them, in a few years I can always try the Duratracs...lol.
I rotate my tires 2x per year (when I switch from summer to winter tires).
My ATPs now have about 4,000 miles (second summer) and sound like new. Aside from a couple of small tears on the edges they look new as well. Supposedly airing down will help prevent the tire damage off road, but so far I've been too lazy and traction has not been a problem.
Unless you are in a lot of mud I think the Coopers would be fine.
what a great pic! I decided to go with the AT3 based on price and treadwear warrantee. Especially since less than a year and half ago I spent so much money on tires that lasted me about 20,000 miles. I'll let you guys know what I think of these. Most likely, the next tires after these will be the duratracs, since I do want to eventually try them.
We just got snow in Colorado. I haven't seen it in FTC or in the on-line snow reports. But a buddy called from Steamboat Springs and said it was coming down. It got cold last night but not for long enough down here. Time to get some tires. I think I want to take my body lift out if I'm going to smaller tires... I knew this would happen. Duratrac's are still the first choice for the winter. I'm really trying to make sure there isn't a better choice before I pull the trigger. Turns out Methods are coming out next month (but only in 17's) so I might be sticking with the same wheel size.
Street: quiet and confident. these tires feel great on the road. I haven't had a quiet tire in a while and it's a more welcome change than I realized. Haven't had them in the wet yet, but on the dry pavement they feel smooth and solid.
Sand at 35psi: 4wdhi got me the best results. It hasn't rained here in a while and I went through the soft powdery stuff with some slight slippage but not even close to getting stuck. Drove over and across the deep ruts without any issues. I would bet, that these tires, aired down to about 15psi would barely need 4wd on the beach. I air down when I go exploring, but I like to be able to to quick trips on and off without having to worry about it.
55,000 treadwear warranty with rotations every 5,000 miles - the only downside here is that the tire place needs to do it, so there is an official record; the upside is that they do
it for free.
285/75/16 is my size, and the tread looks deeper and meatier than I thought it would based on pics. $205 per tire mounted and balanced, $50 alignment. Overall I am very happy with these so far.
Love my AT3s. Not noisy in my opinion. I have the E rated tires and they do well on and off road. Have about 18,000 miles on them and jus starting to wear evenly. I rotate every 5-6k miles.
sand at 15psi: pretty exceptional. I went miles before I even needed 4wd, and this was in fairly soft, powdery deep sand. In 4wdhi they were really excellent. tracked pretty well, barely any slippage at all. When we see some snow around here, I will add this as well.