Thoughts on RC4WD Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac 1.9" Scale Tires

[btoungette]

When I first saw the release notice for these tires, I was impressed. And then I saw the height, and I really wanted a set.

I feel the segment for this size tire (3.75" range) is under served. The more detailed scale builds become the more scale parts need to be like their real-world parts, and size plays into that detail.

Enter RC4WD with their offering of the Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac 1.9" Scale Tires.


In the box were the tires and some decals. The tires are stuffed with the typical RC4WD grey foam.

First impression was these things are soft. Very pliable material. I asked my wife to check them out (and she is NOT a scale nerd, or car girl even), and she said, "those are soft... and sticky.'' Her words, not mine. It just so happens that the attributes to RC4WD's new X2 S³ compound are... soft and sticky. Super soft and super sticky, in fact. To use a term a good friend of mine likes to use, these tires are "juicy". This compound is nothing like I've felt for an RC4WD tire. I'll compare it to a few different tires I have on-hand and share more of those findings.

The detail of these tires are spot on to the real tires because these have been Officially Licensed by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.

A couple small things I noticed were a mold line around the circumference of the tread, and a noticeable line around the sidewall of the tire. Both look to be a result of the molding process, and neither are evident on the inside of the tire. Neither should affect the performance.

The tread pattern looks to be open enough to clean, while the center design allows for many edges to grab at rocks and dirt. I like this style of tread design, and some of my favorite tires have a tight center pattern and a more open outer edge.

These tires would look great on a Jeep Wrangler build using the TF2 SWB kit because many full size Jeeps run Duratracs. I wanted the tire to use on my C1 TF2 because I wanted a sub-4" tire (to avoid body trimming).

I haven't had a chance to get them mounted. Now a decision has to be made, do I order new wheels or use some I have on-hand?

I look forward to testing these tires. Once I get them mounted, I'll give them a go and share with you my findings. Stay tuned.

Below are some photos of the unboxing and the detail of the tire.

[Rckcrwlr]

We are glad you like them. We have worked hard to get the "right" Compound and feel we have nailed it. Can't wait to hear how they perform for you.

[btoungette]

I decided on the wheels. I had some TSS 1.9 beadlocks sitting on the desk; so, I decided to mount the Duratracs on them to see what happened.

First, I vented the tires with a leather punch - two small holes in the center tread of the tires. I vent all my tires as I have found that works best for my driving style and the way I set-up my rigs.

I decided to try the included foams to start off. I have a few options in the spare parts box that I will try too. The included foams fill the tires just enough to keep the shape but not overfilling. The tires mounted easily on the wheels. These wheels use an internal beadlock ring, and the front half of the wheel screws to the back half with the scrwes you see on the face of the wheel. No issues with mounting the tires. I did rip one foam as I was removing it from the tire. It was the first one I removed, and I was more careful on the others.

The stance of the tires with the included foams is spot on for what I want it to look like. It simulates an aired-down tire ready for the trail. The softness of the included foams will allow the tire to form around the terrain and get some extra grip. I see an issue with side-hilling because the foam provides little support when the weight of the rig is forced on one side as in a side-hill situation. The rig the Duratracs are mounted on is approximately 7-1/2 pounds, depending on installed accessories.

Here are a few photos of the Duratracs mounted and on the rig.

[Rckcrwlr]

They look great on there. Curious with them vented how they will perform being how soft they are already.

[btoungette]

I'll have to rely on foam tuning to get the support I need since they are vented. I've tried non-vented set-ups before and personally find them unpredictable, especially in off-camber situations.

With that said, I'd say theses tires are soft enough to do great on the trail without venting. Venting is one of those great debates that could be discussed for a while.

For those that choose not to vent, this compound should serve them well. I see no issues with purchasing this tire, mounting it up and hitting the trail.

It's hard to describe the softness and stickiness of this compound.

[btoungette]

I finally got a chance to run the Duratrac tires this past weekend at a local SORRCA comp. Three 10-gate courses in a dry creek bed. The creek does flow during heavy rain and there was some residual water in places from recent storms.

I have to say that this event did not allow for enough time to properly get a feel for the tires. I thought it might, but I need to take them out and run them for a few hours on various terrain like in G6 competitions. I will try to find enough time soon to do a longer run with them.

From the drive-time at the event on Saturday, I felt that the Duratracs allowed some under-steer on a couple off-camber turns on dirty rock. They seemed to push a little instead of gripping the rock like I needed. That cost a few reverse penalties. It could have been from the soft foams allowing the tire to roll. I was not at a vantage point to see the tire in those situations. A friend mentioned he thought the foams were an issue, which I think was expected.

I saw no wear on the tires from what little run-time they had. I didn't see any gouges or damage to the carcass. The tread seemed to clean fine from what little sticky dirt we ran through.

One weird thing I noticed was the tires didn't seem as sticky to the touch as they did fresh out of the bag.

What I learned from the first drive: I need to do some foam tuning. I have the tires vented; so, the foam will need to do more work to hold the tire up, especially in turns and off-camber situations. I also learned that one comp is not enough run-time to properly evaluate the tires.

I love the look of the Duratracs on the TF2. I think they are a win in that category. But, we are about performance and I need more run-time to determine where they stack-up to other tires I've ran.

[btoungette]

I finally made a foam choice. I did some research on the various foam offerings from Crawler Innovations and ran across one that I think will work.




I found out that the closed-cell inner on a 4.25" Lil' Nova foam was the same size as the CWR-3006, actually the CWR-3006 is a comp cut replacement for the 4.25" closed-cell inner. Just so happens, I had a set of the 4.25" Lil' Novas. I took the closed-cell inner foam and stuffed it into the RC4WD Duratrac. It was s tight fit. It filled the tire out nicely. That particular non-comp cut foam would probably be too much for the tire, but could work after breaking it in. I took advantage of a good coupon weekend at RPP and purchased the CWR-3006 foams.










You can see the comparison with the stock foams above. The CI foams are a little wider and a touch shorter and definitely firmer. With the comp cut, they still have softness in the tread area for grip, but maintain support for off-camber situations.

You can see below how well they square-up the tire. CI foams are in the tires on the left.






I'm looking forward to running these in a comp on Saturday. I expect more predictable control with the firmer foams.

While changing the foams, I noticed a small tear in the tire. It was only superficial; it didn't go all the way through the tire. I didn't notice it when I looked over the rig after the last comp which leads me to think that I sliced it with the inner ring. I took some crazy glue and closed it up.






I'll follow-up after some testing this weekend.