I have been looking into these simple cause its an aggressive tread for not alot of money. From what I can learn from my google-fu. Most people that bag on them do it cause they are from Walmart. You find a few problems here and there but far less then I have found for other tires. But thats all just my .02
If you look on the GY website you can't find any info on them its as if they don't exist. They are a cheap tire built for walmart badged as Goodyear. They are nowhere near Duratrac quality. That being said I know someone who has them on his YJ. They work and are cheap. They don't ride as good as his Duratracs did and they are much louder. Wet road traction is also disappointing. We also noticed that Duratrac worked better off road, especially in the mud. He plans to go back to the Duratrac when these are shot. He's only had them for a couple of months so I have no knowledge as to life expectancy and even though they look pretty good they are showing wear. When he first got them, two would not balance but they exchanged them at no charge. From others in town that have them it has become a standing joke about the Authority lottery. Make sure you get back asap if you have one that doesnt feel balanced. I was thinking of these until I did some research. My OEM Bridgestone Duelers are better than the GY Authority so I will wait until I can get some Duratracs. If you need tires now and on a budget they will work. If you can wait for better I would. BTW people in colder areas seem to give better reviews.
Alot of the reviews are good. Unfortunately you cant trust reviews anymore. I only plan on wheeling a few times a year. But the thing Im worried about is the tires being poor quality. I love the way they look but duratracs are just too much for me, considering I dont offroad alot
Well that is why I don't want to bash too bad untill my bro in law has more time on his. My OEM Duelers perform just as well off road and way better on the road. The Authority is as loud as some mud tires without the benefits. We also can't seem to find any info on where they are made. Why goodyear seems to do all but disown them is also puzzling.
There's no info on the website because it's not a tire they sell. They make the tire for Walmart exclusively. It's just like the Cooper ATP...you won't find it on the website because they make them for Discount Tire Direct exclusively.
Bottom line is the carcass is the exact same as Duratrac. They even have the same 3-ply sidewalls on select "E" rated sizes. The Kelly Safari TSR, Goodyear Duratrac, Fierce Attitude MT, and Goodyear Authority are all the exact same tire on the inside with variations in the tread on the outside. If one has balancing issues they all will. If one rides rough they all will. There is no true difference, other than tread design.
There's no info on the website because it's not a tire they sell. They make the tire for Walmart exclusively. It's just like the Cooper ATP...you won't find it on the website because they make them for Discount Tire Direct exclusively. Bottom line is the carcass is the exact same as Duratrac. They even have the same 3-ply sidewalls on select "E" rated sizes. The Kelly Safari TSR, Goodyear Duratrac, Fierce Attitude MT, and Goodyear Authority are all the exact same tire on the inside with variations in the tread on the outside. If one has balancing issues they all will. If one rides rough they all will. There is no true difference, other than tread design.
Thank you WXman. Late response but, I'm on a second set. I live in the Nevada desert. I switch over when I hunt and scout. Sometimes I get lazy and leave them on a bit. My compromise for not going full MT. Noise? I expect M/S to make more noise than A/S. I'm rough on them off road and have yet to blown one out. Granted I'm mostly running dirt roads, river beds and semi-rough trails. My roughest crawl would be getting across a small gully . I changed them because of age, not wear. They get cycled into my spares and my trailer which uses the same rim.
That's pretty much it. Lots of companies do this. They get a name brand company to make a product specifically for them so they'll have something nobody else has. Walmart does it, DTD does it, lots of places do it. That doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad product.
Goodyear isn't going to expend the money to have a totally separate line to make Authority tires for Walmart. if they did that, the price would be so high it wouldn't benefit Walmart to sell them. These tires come from the same design and construction as the Duratrac and others I mentioned. The only thing they changed is the tread design. Goodyear makes these tires with 4 different tread designs and 3 different brand names to maximize profits.
A Duratrac in 265/70 is what, $235 or more? The Authority version is $170. Multiply that by 4 or 5 tires and it's a huge difference in cost...plus Walmart will give you mounting, balancing, rotations, and road hazard for like $60 more bucks. It's a steal.
They look like an incredible bargain to me. I am not a fan of Walmart but when my TA KM2's wear out I plan on giving these a whirl in LT265/70R17 Load Range E.
I don't think so. There are very limited sizes for this version. If they become very popular we may see something in the future. If this is the same core tire as the Duratrac with a different tread design, running mass production runs in limited sizes may be how they are keeping the price so low.
I worked at Sears Auto Center for three years. Sears did stuff like this too. Goodyear would brand a tire the "Weatherhandler" for Sears, and the ______ for someone else, etc., etc., and the tires were EXACTLY the same, except for the name.
The idea was that ppl could not use price match policies if the names were different, even though the tread patterns were exactly the same.
I wouldn't get them if you plan to do any wheeling. Sidewalls are super thin. Not that the duratracs are much better. I had gotten a sweetheart deal on some authorities and destroyed two the first time I wheeled with them. Sidewalls blew out. I had a total of 8 failures from full blow out to sidewall bulge. I ended up getting a free upgrade to duratracs from Goodyear and only had one minor sidewall bulge that was replaced by the dealer. I put about 25k on them before I sold that jeep.
That is a lot of vulnerable sidewall in a low grade load range, i.e. asking for problems. the minimum load range for a typical new Jeep or Rubicon in LT255/75R17 or LT265/70R17, is going to be a D and these Goodyear tires are also available in a E. Those sizes will not have a "weak sidewall" issue.
They did have these in 285 but due to liability reasons, they have discontinued them. 265s are the largest you can get now. If you need bigger, you must go to the Duratrac, Safari, Attitude MT version.
Has anyone run these as a DD? How did they perform/last? I live in upstate NY and have hot, rainy and snowy weather. I started this because I wanted to see if anyone had person experience with them and not just wheeling with them
Reviving this old thread. I now have just over 7K miles on my Goodyear Authority tires. I live in North Texas where we see some of the most varied weather in the country. In winter we can have temps in the teens or lower with several inches of ice (not snow), in the spring we've had record widespread flooding the last 2 years, and in summer we see weeks of nothing but 100+ temps (part of the highway just buckled yesterday due to extreme temps). So far I have really liked these tires. While I may have purchased them at Wal-Mart, i certainly didn't let those idiots touch my Jeep. I took the tires to a shop I trust and they balanced all 5 perfectly. They run smooth and even at highway speeds they aren't as loud as some tires ive had that didn't have nearly as aggressive tread pattern. Around my area, you're not going to find any boulder fields to play in, so a tough, thick sidewall isn't really all that important since you're not going to be slicing them on the rocks. They've done quite well in the mud and crossing some creeks (i was impressed). Unfortunately, I don't get to hit the trails often, so they have spent most of their time on the road. Even in torrential rainfall, i've not had a single problem with hydroplaning. Overall, I would definitely recommend these tires.
i run them on my 06 rubicon love them i have plowed with my jeep pulled a chevy HD duramax out of the mud they WORK well in everything i have encountered they are a little noisy they wear really well i'll buy them again
Kinda apples/oranges here but I ran a set of the Kelly TSR's on an XJ for years, and LOVED them. I got them cheap through a place I worked - they were OEM on (of all things) Coleman pop-up campers. We bought out a ton of old Coleman stock when they shuttered their plant, and I scored 5 wheels with the TSRs on them for $100 each. Awesome tire. Lots of road use, not a lot of singing, excellent wear (5 tire rotations), great traction offroad (snow, mud, sand, gravel/rocks but no "crawling"). I really liked them, and was looking for a set for my new-to-me TJ but can't seem to find them. Good to know they're a "clone" tire, I can hunt some other name badges now! FWIW these were metric size but they equated to a 30x9.50 (and worked great on the XJ with a 1" spacer kit).
And I just looked - the Authority IS on the Goodyear site...
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