Advice?

[ericcris10sen]

So I'm running DuraTracs 31"s and I'm overall happy with them, but disappointed with how weak their sidewall is. First day I got them, I was in Alaska and I was driving home, and noticed a giant ass hook dug into the sidewall. Awesome. Just 2 days ago I noticed one of my tires was severely flat. I changed the tire and put my Kelly Safari TSR spare on (I have to say, I love Safari's. BEST tire I have ever owned and I will never get another tire other than those). I took the tire to a shop to get it looked at and hopefully fixed and they said the sidewall is broken and it can't be fixed (or they can fix it but more than likely it'll break again).

So since I love Safari's, I bought one because that's my overall goal for all my tires, I want them to all be Safari's (damn Alaska, I couldn't order the TSR's so that's why I had to get DuraTracs). UNFORTUNATELY, this is the problem. Apparently even though the tires are the same size, the tread on the TSR is more aggressive and is bigger so if I were to put it on, it TECHNICALLY wouldn't be the same size. The mechanic said something about some spider bar or some spider thing wearing out or something like that if I were to replace the old TSR for the new one. ONLY reason I have my spare TSR on there is because the tread is worn down and is the same size as the DuraTracs.

So does anyone have any suggestions? Should I keep the TSR for a spare or should I just see if they'll refund it and get another duratrac? If I had plenty of money, I'd ditch all 4 duratracs and put all new TSRs on, but I'm going on furlough in a week for a month and a half and to spend $800 for 4 TSRs (including installation, etc), would really take a chunk out of my bank account. Really is disappointing that it's technically not the same size because of the tread. I haven't had issues with the duratracs other than the f-ing sidewall, but I really want something with a more aggressive tread.

 

[Silver dude]

You are currently running 2 Duratrac and 2 TSR's one bald the other new.

You have a few options.

1. Sell the two Duratracs on Craigslist to acquire wealth to buy two matching TSR's.

2. Run what you have till the Duratrac's blow and get replaced with TSR's. I am a mechanic (city bus tech) myself and it would likely be acceptable to have the newest TSR on the front as in 2wd it's disconnected from the drive train. In my personal Xterra experience I've had to replace tires due to sidewall failures and have never had a problem with a bald - new tire causing issues.

3. Avoid the miss matched tread depths and replace your bald TSR with a new TSR. Generally axles should have matching treads that's what the tire salesmen and books say. Front to back isn't as much of a issue as left to right.

4. Win the lottery and buy all new tires or find a place that has a 6 months no interest credit card deal and pay it off in pieces.

5. Replace the TSR's with Duratrac's keep your new TSR for spare.

 

[ericcris10sen]

You are currently running 2 Duratrac and 2 TSR's one bald the other new.

You have a few options.

1. Sell the two Duratracs on Craigslist to acquire wealth to buy two matching TSR's.

2. Run what you have till the Duratrac's blow and get replaced with TSR's. I am a mechanic (city bus tech) myself and it would likely be acceptable to have the newest TSR on the front as in 2wd it's disconnected from the drive train. In my personal Xterra experience I've had to replace tires due to sidewall failures and have never had a problem with a bald - new tire causing issues.

3. Avoid the miss matched tread depths and replace your bald TSR with a new TSR. Generally axles should have matching treads that's what the tire salesmen and books say. Front to back isn't as much of a issue as left to right.

4. Win the lottery and buy all new tires or find a place that has a 6 months no interest credit card deal and pay it off in pieces.

5. Replace the TSR's with Duratrac's keep your new TSR for spare.

Awesome info! Thanks! I've decided to keep my Dura's until they become bald or become flat and then I will replace it with a TSR. While the sidewall isn't strong, things happen and that's what you get when you take it off road and it's scraping against rocks, gravel, etc. So far I haven't gotten stuck in anything and even went to some sand dunes and got out of some deep soft sand so I'm pretty happy so far with how it handles what I do. My new TSR is on the roof and I have my bald/spare one still on, since it's pretty close to the dura's tread.

I'll definitely do what you said and if one tire blows or whatever may happen, I'll put the new tires up front and on the same axle. <----great info!

 

[ericcris10sen]

Going to buy another tire tomorrow. Getting rid of cruddy spare and then I'm using two TSR's up front and one of the original tires as a spare.