Gooryear Wrangler DuraTrac or Wrangle SilentArmor Tires??

[NYH1]

 I need to get new tires for my '07 Ram 1500 Quad Cab SLT 4x4, Hemi, auto trans., 3.92 Limited Slip Rear End. I currently have 265/70-17 Mastercraft Courser A/T2 tires it now. They have worked pretty well. However, they stopped making then so I need to find another tire that is at least just as good. . . . .if not better!

 
My driving conditions are mostly around town with some highway driving year round in the summer and the winter under very heavy snow conditions (we average 120" of snow a year, with a lot of deep snow storms and we get a lot more snow at hunting camp), on seasonal dirt, gravel, muddy roads (2" to 8" deep, 4x4 and good tires are a must), old logging trails, water covered seasonal roads and trails, getting in and out of hunting camp with some mud as well as other places I hunt and go ATVing during bad weather (snow and mud). I want a tire that handles decent on the road too.

 
I really like the Wrangler DuraTrac Tires. However, I think the Wrangler SilentArmor Tires might be a little better all round tire. Any thought??

 
Thanks, NYH1.

[Larry L]

Let me preface this by saying not every tire out there responds the same on different vehicles. But the Silent Armor Wrangler are a joke on a Chevrolet or a Ford 4x4. My brother works ranches and his Chevy had these on it, a 4x4 extended cab. He could get stuck on asphalt with those tires. Mud, probably the only tire worse would be slicks. The Ford of the ranch owner had the same experience in mud. Both trucks experienced the Goodyear "get brick hard" tires after about a year. Ride quality went to nothing and wet traction disappeared at about 12,000 miles, again, because the Goodyear tires get hard with time. There was nothing "silent" about the tires on the hiway with a few thousand miles on them. Not real bad but far from silent. I think there are better tires out there but again, it depends on the vehicle as to what you get. Might be a completely different story on a Dodge. Bro and the rancher are now running a Firestone full lug mud tire and love them. They are not quiet but neither are having issues with getting stuck anymore and ride quality seems to be staying with the life of the tire. We rarely have snow so it's not an issue here like it is for you. Another issue both had was non-stop flats with the Goodyears. They ended up putting sealant in the tires so they could at least make it to cell phone reception. Tire life for both trucks was around 35,000 miles.

[FPH]

I have also heard good reports on the Firestone tires(Firestone destination I recall) & bad with the Goodyear tires.  I have a Dodge 1 ton with Coopers ATR's on it right now.  Good asphalt tire.....terrible mud tire.  I have had good luck with the BFG AT KO's.  Going back to them.

[cwlongshot]

IMHO both/either would be better then the Mastercrap!!

I bought a Liberty for my wife some years back and it came with a brandy new set of Mastercrap tires.... We tried them for a couple months. They where aweful! I bought a set of Goodyear Silent Armour tires and they are great and long wearing too. (Surpassing the rated mileage anyhow) They went on a 42K. The truck now has 108K and they are about at the wear bars. I would buy another set in a second!

The Dura Trac are newer and likely not as long wearing, but I will almost gaurenty they will be just as good as the silent armour as far as traction maybe not as well wearing.

Good luck,
 CW

[Lloyd Smale]

bfgoodrich all terrains! not the most agressive tire but a good compromise between traction, noise and long life.

[cwlongshot]

bfgoodrich all terrains! not the most agressive tire but a good compromise between traction, noise and long life.

DEFINEATELY Lloyd!!  (How could I forget!!) aside for being a bit more noisy, these are GREAT long wearing tires!

CW

[.54]

Bridgestone Dueler A/T REVO are nice tires. Had a set on my last truck and plan on putting some on my new truck. Think I read somewhere where the REVOs are different from the normal Dueler A/Ts because they use a softer rubber for better grip in wet conditions. They were great in snow.

[NYH1]

 After a lot of reading and talking to a few guys that are running the DuraTrac Tires I decided to give them a try. I went to the tire shop tonight and they're getting me 4 LT285/70-17 DuraTrac Tires. They should have them tomorrow or Wednesday. I'm also going to have them do an alignment while it's there. Either way I'll have them on for the weekend. I'll see how good they work then...at least in some mud on dirt, gravel and seasonal roads. Snow will be here soon enough. I only put about 7000/7500 miles on my truck a year so hopefully they'll last a while.
 
Now I just have to figure out if I want the raised white lettering out or the black lettering out.....decision decisions decisions. 
 
Thanks for the replies, NYH1.

[Lloyd Smale]

had a sent of duelers on my silverado and was really disapointed. i must have had the soft ones. they had decent traction but i only got 30k out of them and they were about bald. Buddy whos shop i got them from said he had a few others complain about there life too and quit selling them. I replaced them with a set of mud terrain goodrichs. there a bit noisy for a daily driver but theres 25k on them now and they about look like new yet. Wish i would have went with the ats as the truck isnt used for hard core off road and the at would have done fine and lasted even better and been a whole lot quieter! 

Bridgestone Dueler A/T REVO are nice tires. Had a set on my last truck and plan on putting some on my new truck. Think I read somewhere where the REVOs are different from the normal Dueler A/Ts because they use a softer rubber for better grip in wet conditions. They were great in snow.

[NYH1]

The LT285/70-17 Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac Tires I had put on my truck. . . . .ARE AWESOME!

 
Took them off road today where we hunt. They are great on the seasonal dirt, gravel, muddy roads and trails. I went through some pretty nasty mud, nastier then I normally go through and they worked great. They went over downed trees 6 to 8 inches in diameter with ease. I was really impressed. If they perform in the snow as good as they performed today off road, I'll be very happy!

 
NYH1!   

[Lloyd Smale]

never owned or used a set but checked one out the other day wearing them and there an impressive looking tire.

The LT285/70-17 Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac Tires I had put on my truck. . . . .ARE AWESOME!

 
Took them off road today where we hunt. They are great on the seasonal dirt, gravel, muddy roads and trails. I went through some pretty nasty mud, nastier then I normally go through and they worked great. They went over downed trees 6 to 8 inches in diameter with ease. I was really impressed. If they perform in the snow as good as they performed today off road, I'll be very happy!

 
NYH1! 

[NYH1]

They really are. They don't make to much noise either, which surprised me. The 265/70-17 Mastercraft Courser A/T2 Tires that the DuraTrac's replaced, have a much milder tread pattern with a solid strip in the center of the tread pattern made much more noise and I could feel the tread when I was driving slow. They worked pretty well and were really good in the snow though.

 
I really like these DuraTrac's! The steering wheel has a tighter feel to it and they're surprisingly responsive driving around town. They handle pretty well at highway speeds, 70 MPH is as fast as I drive. . . . .even in the Camaro. Plus they're 33 inches tall (33x11.5) which is the same height as the 275/60-20 inch wheels and tires (33x11) that came on it. So it sits as high as it did when it was new. . . . .but now has tires on it that a 4x4 truck should have!

I bought a set of 17x8 factory steel chrome wheels and had the DuraTrac's mounted on them. I'm going to get a set of milder road type tires and mount them on my 17x8 factory aluminum wheels. I'm going to run the DuraTrac's from October through March, basically during hunting season and winter. I'll run the milder tires the other six months of the year. I'll probably never have to buy another set of tires for this truck!

NYH1.