the LR4 19inch tire dilemma

[bgsntth]

I'm in the same boat - wife has demanded I replace the Cooper Zeon's on her 2008 RR, as they are really loud at all speeds - constant hum. We need AT's, so waiting for the review of the Conti's, especially regarding road noise.

 

[eljefe]

I just put these 255/55/19 Continental All Terrain tires on. Hopefully they are great

 

[aztris]

New to the forum and hoping to pick up an LR4 shorty. Plan is to swap out tires right away. I was looking at Duratrac’s and Zeon LTZ’s on Discount Tire and noticed something interesting. The Duratrac’s on Discount’s site actually have an S speed rating, not Q like other sites. They are also significantly more expensive.

Is this a new or different version? Has anyone successfully ordered a set? I was able to add to my cart and they even showed up as fitting the LR4, but they aren’t in stock anywhere.

 

[kdegLR4]

Set of 5 Conti ATs (255/55 19) arrived today, just waiting on the appointment to get them mounted. Nice aggressive looking tread, but the longitudinal channels seem to be the major feature. Should be a ago summer of testing on gravel and dirt roads...

 

[aztris]

So after doing the research and finding Duratrac's listed in 111S, I was pretty set on them. Then I noticed something interesting. Duratrac's are listed at a whopping 42lbs a tire!!! Zeon LTZ's are listed at 37lbs. That a very significant difference in un-sprung weight. Although, I'm not sure how much I trust the data on Discount Tire's website.

After seeing that I was leaning towards Zeon LTZ's. Considering the fairly significant price difference in conjunction with the weight difference, they seemed like a good alternative.

Then I saw all the posts about road noise and humming. More people complained about the noise with LTZ's than Duratrac's.

Now I'm back at square one and no idea which to choose. Any one tried both and can compare road noise?

 

[ryanjl]

I think a lot of the people who are complaining about road noise have little experience with an all terrain tire. I've had my LTZ's since September, and have about 7,000 miles on them. By all reports on this board, they should be making a lot of noise by now.

Yes, they are a little noisier than they were when new. They are also noisier than the Michelins I replaced (which, by accounts on this board, are some of the most quiet tires you can get for the LR4). But they are still relatively quiet for the kind of tire they are.

LR4's come with substantial sound deadening, thicker window glass, etc. If I have my windows up on the highway and stereo at just a normal volume, I'm not sure I can hear the tires at all. Maybe a little. But it's definitely never risen to a level where I'm bothered.

 

[cperez]

LR4's come with substantial sound deadening, thicker window glass, etc. If I have my windows up on the highway and stereo at just a normal volume, I'm not sure I can hear the tires at all.

I've been meaning to ask about this exact issue. I was having a hard time believing that any of the tires we've been discussing could actually be so loud that it would impact buying decision. I've had different brands of tire on my LR4s and have never noticed any difference at all. Everyone has different perceptions about things like this, I guess. That's cool.

And when I am on the highway by myself, my stereo is never at "normal" volume!

 

[catman]

New to the forum and hoping to pick up an LR4 shorty. Plan is to swap out tires right away. I was looking at Duratrac’s and Zeon LTZ’s on Discount Tire and noticed something interesting. The Duratrac’s on Discount’s site actually have an S speed rating, not Q like other sites. They are also significantly more expensive.

Is this a new or different version? Has anyone successfully ordered a set? I was able to add to my cart and they even showed up as fitting the LR4, but they aren’t in stock anywhere.

Duratrac S or Q speed rating

All-terrain tires do get louder as they wear, all tires do for that matter. I had a set of Grabber AT2 on my LR3 and while they got louder near the end, it was nothing like the Duratrac's on my wifes RR. They are almost obnoxious at this point and there is reasonable tread left. As much as we liked the tires, I am not inclined to use them again, for our use (which is on-road anyway), something like the Terrain Contact seems like a better choice. It was designed as more of a street tire with off-road looks (per the design history articles of the tire that I read as it first came out).

 

[aztris]

I was wondering how many of the complaints were due to people not having any previous experience with AT tires. I ran BFG AT K02 predecessors for many years on a truck and I don't recall ever even noticing a noise. I had friends with BFG mud terrains and they would hum a good amount, but the AT's were fine.

Anyone have thoughts or additional data on the huge weight difference between the LTZ's and Duratrac's? I own/have owned BMW M3's for the last 12 years and even 1lbs or so change in un-sprung weight is noticeable. Granted these are very different vehicles, but I think 5lbs of rotational, un-sprung mass at each corner would be noticeable.

Living in a wet area, I want something that does well in mud, snow and also wet road surfaces. I'm definitely picking LTZ or Duratrac, just having a hard time between the two.

 

[aztris]

Interesting info in that post. Still plenty info on Goodyear's site about Duratrac's which is odd if they are supposedly going away. That said, their site didn't show any 255/55/19.

Thanks for the feedback on the Duratrac noise. It's interesting since it seems more have complained about the LTZ's and others have said the Duratracs are fine. All very subjective I supposed.

Duratrac S or Q speed rating

All-terrain tires do get louder as they wear, all tires do for that matter. I had a set of Grabber AT2 on my LR3 and while they got louder near the end, it was nothing like the Duratrac's on my wifes RR. They are almost obnoxious at this point and there is reasonable tread left. As much as we liked the tires, I am not inclined to use them again, for our use (which is on-road anyway), something like the Terrain Contact seems like a better choice. It was designed as more of a street tire with off-road looks (per the design history articles of the tire that I read as it first came out).