My Cybertruck's Range Dropped 30% After Switching to Goodyear Duratracs, I Think I Made A Mistake

Let’s be honest: The Tesla Cybertruck was polarizing long before a single tire touched pavement. With its angular silhouette, stainless steel skin, and unapologetic detachment from every design convention of the past half-century, it looks less like a pickup truck and more like a rejected prop from a low-budget sci-fi thriller. It’s the kind of vehicle that elicits double takes at stoplights and startles pedestrians in parking lots. Some call it revolutionary; others call it ridiculous. But no matter where you fall, there’s one universal truth: you can’t ignore it.

Bold Design Meets Existential Performance Debates

And yet, as striking as the Cybertruck looks, the real divide isn’t just aesthetic; it’s existential. Behind that brutalist façade lies a machine that’s proving to be as controversial in function as it is in form. For every owner proudly flexing torque curves and flaunting torque vectoring in a Home Depot parking lot, there’s another frantically refreshing Tesla forums, trying to figure out why their range has plummeted or why the wiper blade sounds like a metronome from hell. This is not just a truck; it’s a lightning rod for a culture clash between digital utopia and mechanical reality.

“Picture for attention on how my Cybertruck looks like a toy in front of this lifted 250. Question: is changing my tires (not wheels) to Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac the same size, etc? From the stock all season ones.

My mileage per kWh has tanked. I used to get almost 2.4 miles per kWh, and with these tires, even after running them in, I get 1.7 miles. Did I mess something up? I knew it would drop, but I didn’t think it would drop this much. Thank you.”

Navigating Traditional Swaps in a Modern EV Era

Tire swaps have always been a staple of truck ownership, slap on a meatier tread, feel tougher, go further. 

Tesla Cybertruck Features Unveiled: Exoskeleton, Power, and Utility Explored

• The Tesla Cybertruck features an exoskeleton constructed from ultra-hard 30X cold-rolled stainless steel, providing exceptional durability and resistance to dents, damage, and corrosion. This material choice contributes to the vehicle's distinctive angular design, as the stainless steel panels are laser-cut and folded along straight lines, a process known as "air bending," which eliminates the need for traditional stamping methods. ​
• The Cybertruck offers multiple powertrain configurations, including a dual-motor all-wheel-drive (AWD) system producing 600 horsepower and a tri-motor AWD system, known as the "Cyberbeast," delivering 834 horsepower. The Cyberbeast accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.6 seconds, showcasing performance that rivals many sports cars. Additionally, the vehicle's adaptive air suspension provides up to 12 inches of travel and 17.4 inches of ground clearance, enhancing off-road capabilities. ​
• Equipped with a 6-foot-long cargo bed offering 120.9 cubic feet of storage, the Cybertruck includes a motorized retractable tonneau cover that seamlessly integrates with the vehicle's angular design. The bed features built-in 120-volt and 240-volt AC power outlets, allowing users to operate tools or charge other equipment directly from the vehicle. Furthermore, the Cybertruck boasts a towing capacity of up to 11,000 pounds and a payload capacity of 2,500 pounds, making it a formidable contender in the pickup truck segment.

But on an EV, every added pound, every inch of aggressive sidewall isn’t just a cosmetic flex, it’s a direct tax on your range. The result? A nearly 30% efficiency nosedive and a growing chorus of owners now grappling with buyer’s remorse in real-time.

How Tire Modifications Impact EV Range

And yet, the tire swap dilemma is only the beginning of the Cybertruck’s complicated adolescence. Tesla recently issued a recall- yes, another one, this time for improperly torqued accelerator pedal fasteners. It’s the kind of flaw that would have been laughed off in a mid-’80s F-150 but now sends shockwaves through an EV community already on edge. NHTSA documents show thousands of affected units, further fueling the argument that Tesla’s stainless steel wunderkind may have hit the showroom floor half-baked, more prototype than production.

Off-Road Mods and DIY Innovation

Still, what’s more compelling than the recalls or the range of complaints is what’s happening around the Cybertruck, specifically, the grassroots movement to turn it into something it was never really meant to be: a canvas for off-road experimentation. Cybertruck owners, like their Tacoma and Wrangler predecessors, are starting to lift, lower, wrap, and wrench these things into something entirely their own.

It’s a phenomenon we’ve seen play out for decades in internal combustion truck circles, now seeping into the EV world like oil through concrete.

Tire Debates and Performance Tweaks

Take David Coward, a Cybertruck owner who chimed in during a tire debate gone viral: “There’s no way that’s accurate. I have the same tires and drove it across the United States to Moab and then Colorado. Didn’t notice much of a difference. I am now running 24” forged wheels and 35s which is at least 40 pounds heavier per corner than stock and still a very slight difference.” Now, whether you chalk that up to individual driving habits or pure optimism, it’s clear that a new subculture is forming, one that sees the Cybertruck not as a delicate EV but as a base platform begging to be modified, lifted, and pushed beyond its software-defined boundaries.

Balancing Upgrades with Digital Calibration Challenges

But there’s a caveat, several, in fact. Start adding unsprung weight and aggressive tread patterns, and your carefully calculated miles-per-kWh crumble. Rolling resistance, tire compound, sidewall flex, and air drag all conspire to kneecap range and throw off digital systems. And yes, your speedometer can be affected, too.

Traditional gas trucks could be recalibrated easily with aftermarket tools. But with the Cybertruck’s digital brain, where everything from acceleration mapping to speed readout is controlled by code, it’s not clear whether owners can, or should, mess with those parameters. Some Model Y owners have reported 2–3% speedometer discrepancies after similar mods. In other words, Tesla's software might not be as adaptive as we thought.

Embracing Efficiency and Innovation in Electric Pickups

What we’re seeing here is the great cultural reckoning of electrification. Lift kits are no longer just the domain of 6.2-liter V8s and diesel blowers. Rivian R1Ts are getting taller. Ford Lightnings are sitting on 37s. Even the Mustang Mach-E has been spotted squatting on aftermarket coilovers. The EV truck market is entering its adolescence, and just like with Tacomas, compromises abound: poorer efficiency, altered handling, inaccurate gauges, and a whole new level of complexity that makes modding feel more like software engineering than backyard wrenching.

Cybertruck as a Cultural Icon

And yet, this movement isn’t slowing down, it’s accelerating. The Cybertruck, bizarre and flawed as it may be, is fast becoming the poster child for EV mod culture. Expect more of these posts. More range complaints. More mismatched expectations. And perhaps, eventually, a more nuanced understanding of what it means to own a truck in the electric age. Until then, Cybertruck owners will continue pushing boundaries, chasing aesthetics and capability, and learning, often the hard way, that not every mod plays nice with lithium-ion and silicon.

A Mirror of Innovation and American Truck Legacy

The Cybertruck, ultimately, isn’t just a vehicle; it’s a mirror. It reflects the tension between tech utopia and good old American truck instinct. Between software and sweat equity. Between digital efficiency and mechanical chaos. Some will get it. Others won’t. But if you’re swapping tires and watching your range evaporate, just know, you’re not alone. Welcome to the future. It’s weird, it’s stainless, and it’s probably running on 1.7 miles per kWh.

Image Sources: Facebook Group Cybertruck Owners Only and Tesla Media Center

Noah Washington is an automotive journalist based in Atlanta, Georgia. He enjoys covering the latest news in the automotive industry and conducting reviews on the latest cars. He has been in the automotive industry since 15 years old and has been featured in prominent automotive news sites. You can reach him on X and LinkedIn for tips and to follow his automotive coverage.