tire troubles

[Adam]

I am having a real hard time getting a smooth ride out of the goodyear duratracs I bought 2 years ago. I've only put 5k on them in that time because I can't stand driving on them. The problem is that from 70ish up to almost 100kph there will be a wobble that comes and goes. I have set th cruise control on a long strait and smooth road and it will come and go around ever 2 minutes. I timed it. I swapped my 31inch ats on and there is no issue. I also tried a buddies set of mickey thompson baja claws off hs chev that where thr same size as the duratracs to rule out a size issue. I took them back twice already and they say they re balanced them and its fixed but it never is. I also noticed that when it starts to do it the hum of the tire turns into a weh weh weh type noise. I rotated the tires to try and isolate a tire but there is no difference leading me to believe more tha one is bad. Any tips would be appreciated.

[Morpheus]

Could be you have a tire with a belt/cord shift in it, which will always balance up to zero, but will still cause problems.

are the AT's the same size as the duratrac's?? If so, swap one tire out at a time and drive it, see if you can isolate it to one tire, then explain what you've done to your tire shop, they should agree and replace the tire for you under defect warranty.

[Miner]

I like the approach of switching out one at a time, if you can get your hands on a mounted tire with the same diameter.

My Duratracs have been okay on the road and are much better now with the Counter Act Balancing Beads in them. The only fix for a shifted belt is to replace the tire, which should be warrantied, however the Beads due a good job of compensating for the lack of Quality Control that has been demonstrated from Goodyear in these tires.

[Spider 007]

I've had the exact same issue with my Duratracs for the last 2 years. I tried everything in the book to get it fixed but I grew tired of fighting with the tire shop and now I just live with it. No need to say I will stay away from the Duratracs (and the shop I got them from) when I need a new set of rubbers this fall...

It's too bad because it's a really good tire and I like the performance both on and off the pavement. Plus, by the time they're done they'll have over to 50,000kms on them so they are also quite durable... but the shaking is just driving me nuts, so I'll be buying something else.

[Miner]

Add Balancing Beads!

What pressures are you running? What size tire and what load rating?

[Spider 007]

I used to have beads in them in the beginning, and the shaking was there. The shop actually blamed the beads for the shaking in the first place and had me pay again to get them balanced with weights. I even got a second shop to verify the work the first shop did, and they couldn't find anything wrong. What makes it nearly impossible to fix is the fact that it is intermittent, and only in a very specific speed range. Now I do my best to stay out of that range most of the time, but sometimes I just have to live with it....

FYI, I run 33x12.5x15 on 15x10 rockcrawler rims. I had procomp tires on the exact same rims before the Duratracs, with no issues at all so the rims are not the problem for sure. For pressure I run 36 in the front and 33 in the back, and I got to those numbers using the chalk line method when the tires were new...

[Adam]

Could be you have a tire with a belt/cord shift in it, which will always balance up to zero, but will still cause problems.

are the AT's the same size as the duratrac's?? If so, swap one tire out at a time and drive it, see if you can isolate it to one tire, then explain what you've done to your tire shop, they should agree and replace the tire for you under defect warranty.

Unfortunately my at's are 31" while the duracraps are 33". If I didn't have the limited slip in the back I would probably try it out anyways.

I like the approach of switching out one at a time, if you can get your hands on a mounted tire with the same diameter.

My Duratracs have been okay on the road and are much better now with the Counter Act Balancing Beads in them. The only fix for a shifted belt is to replace the tire, which should be warrantied, however the Beads due a good job of compensating for the lack of Quality Control that has been demonstrated from Goodyear in these tires.

I have been considering the beads but after reading spiders post maybe it is not even worth the money...

I've had the exact same issue with my Duratracs for the last 2 years. I tried everything in the book to get it fixed but I grew tired of fighting with the tire shop and now I just live with it. No need to say I will stay away from the Duratracs (and the shop I got them from) when I need a new set of rubbers this fall...

It's too bad because it's a really good tire and I like the performance both on and off the pavement. Plus, by the time they're done they'll have over to 50,000kms on them so they are also quite durable... but the shaking is just driving me nuts, so I'll be buying something else.

I am running the same size as you, 33x12.5x15. Except I am running 15x8 Cragar soft 8 wheels. I have taken it back to where I bought them (Canadian tire) twice, and to a tire shop that one of my friends works at...They all couldn't find an issue. At least they didn't charge me. My buddy at the shop suggested to find a place that has one of those hunter road force balancers and they could easily pinpoint which tire or tires are bad and that I could give there report to CT and they would probably replace them...

I am worried that since I bought them fall 2011, but I have not put more than 5000km on them, that they won't honor the warranty. They were sitting in my friends barn after he bought my old pathfinder.

I totally agree about the performance, I took them offroad ONCE, miner was there, and I was happy with them. On the road they are very smooth when it is not having a shaking fit.

I am just glad that I am not the only one who is having these problems. The Nissan IFS front end is weak as is, this just kills the steering parts 10x as fast.

[Morpheus]

Maybe you could borrow someone's spare that is running 33's for testing.

Road force balancing will tell you really what's going on, but expect to pay $100-$300 to have it done depending on where you go. Not really a fair expense to diagnose a defective tire.

[Miner]

For $100-$300 you'd be better off buying another as a spare and rotating it around, that way you still have something to show for your money. Also if they still fail to come to the table you can use the "shaker" as a spare.

Maybe see if the shop you're using will sell you a spare at cost and forget about warranting the bad tire.

[Bow_Tied]

Get a 33" spare. You need one anyway. Used would be ok.

[Adam]

I am in the process of getting a spare right now hopefully I will have time to get it mounted this week.

I found a place that has the hunter machine and they charge 12 dollars per wheel. They guy said if they have to "match mount" them to the rims that it would cost 10 extra per wheel but they said they road test it till it's perfect.

I forgot to ask them but does anyone know if that since they are also a Goodyear dealer, they could warranty a bad tire, without me having to go back to where I bought them? I do have proof of purchase.

[Miner]

They should be able to. Check the warranty information on the Goodyear Canada page. Prices seem good, much better then what I keep getting charged at Goodyear / Bensen.

[Adam]

Just thought I would post an update on this. I brought the tires to a CT that has the road force balancer a couple weeks ago. They got 3 done but one had excessive road force. The guy in the store tried to blame my wheel saying it was bent, but when I picked up the tires the guy in the shop who did them told me it was the tire. I called the manager and they are going to replace the tire! Lucky me the warranty runs out this year, lol.

After all that I put the "bad" one on the back (they balanced it the normal way so I could drive) it still wobbled at 90kmh but not nearly as bad. Turns out I am an idiot. I bought some hubcentric rings to fit the wheels, and PROBLEM SOLVED! I can still feel a bit of a vibe in the rear end on the highway but that should be fixed with the new tire. I am trying to get them to replace a pair since they have like 30% of the tread worn off already...