Falken Wildpeak M/T

TangoBlue

Adventurist
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After hearing so many effusively glowing reviews of Falken Tire's "Wildpeak MT" I pulled the trigger on a set of 5. After all, there are a lot of members out West who have been using them a while now, and not just on I-5 but in a variety of terrains and environmental conditions, but we haven't seen a lot of usage here on the East coast so you can imagine my reluctance.

Cooper Discoverer STT were providing mobility but they had long given up, displaying uneven tread lug wear and providing me a buck-board like ride. About 30k miles on those and they screamed "worn tread", with the windows up and stereo blaring Beastie Boys. It was time for a change. Fun meter was way low on driving the truck because of the ride quality and worn tread, and I found myself reaching for the Prius keys more and more frequently. That ain't right.

I looked at NITTO again and I successfully used and enjoyed their Trail Grappler MT a few years back and considered them, but I really wanted a tighter pattern and more siping due to the more favorable "all weather" aspects of the design. I lusted after their Ridge Grappler but alas, they only offer that in the bro 17-inch size and I'm running 16 inch sized rims. Sorry NITTO. Didn't look at TOYO but they're basically a more expensive, heavier NITTO.

BF Goodrich was a contender but having not been satisfied with the prior performance (chunking, uneven lug wear, noise) of KO, KM, and KM2 why follow the herd and invest in more rubber that was more than likely not going to deliver. True, I have many a colleague that swears by them but then again there is a suspicious "fan-boy" relationship I'm not going to buy into. Besides, out of curiosity I checked on similar sized AT and MT product line prices; both versions were back ordered and were $30 to $50 more a copy. That made for an easy decision - more expensive, less siping, not available, unremarkable experience with earlier models - buh-bye.

Firestone Destination MT2 was a possibility and tested superior during a recent I4WDTA testing on some challenging East coast terrain, in comparison to another leading tire manufacturer. Not many distributors around here offer them and I couldn't get the company on the phone or to respond to my emails, so that effectively ruled them out - nothing to see here.

I've only had these 315/75/16 E-rated Falken's for a couple days now and have only used them on the street and Interstate. The experience has been very positive so far - I can notice fuel consumption decreasing ever so slightly, a perceived less resistance to the road, smoother steering, and far less road noise. But I know too this is the "honeymoon phase" of new tire ownership.

The proof will be the impending winter storm with predicted 6-9 inches of snow this evening and my travels out West next week to Arizona for some off highway work, putting me on the road for about 4 weeks. I suspect over that length of time and my travels, which include Colorado to visit Kate and John and the St. Louis area to visit some friends and family, I will have experienced some of the foulest weather our continent has to offer in January and February. I'll be sure to report back my experiences with the new tires... some Falken's might be the next solution for your OHV.


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I'll be interested in you perspective on them...I have two different stories using the EXACT same tires/wheels, on the same cars in back to back races.

At a KoH event, EVERY single qualifier in the KoH spec class blew at least one tire in qualifying (maybe a 1.5 mile course) including Shannon Campbell. The pits were all screaming for tires because the air kept falling out of the tires during the Everyman Challenge race...we ran out of spares during the main race on Friday.

Fast forward to the NORRA Mexican 1000 (think Baja 1000 but a 4 day stage race down the peninsula)...same KoH Spec cars, 1200 miles of Baja to go, there was no doubt in my mind that we were going to have tire issues...not ONE flat, 5 cars, 1200 miles each.
 
I'll be interested in you perspective on them...I have two different stories using the EXACT same tires/wheels, on the same cars in back to back races.

At a KoH event, EVERY single qualifier in the KoH spec class blew at least one tire in qualifying (maybe a 1.5 mile course) including Shannon Campbell. The pits were all screaming for tires because the air kept falling out of the tires during the Everyman Challenge race...we ran out of spares during the main race on Friday.

Fast forward to the NORRA Mexican 1000 (think Baja 1000 but a 4 day stage race down the peninsula)...same KoH Spec cars, 1200 miles of Baja to go, there was no doubt in my mind that we were going to have tire issues...not ONE flat, 5 cars, 1200 miles each.
Perhaps my post was misleading. I'm going to AZ via Interstate, performing training/testing for 4WD operation and recovery at a private location North of Phoenix in Yavapai County with the I4WDTA. The county's topography makes a dramatic transition from the lower Sonoran Desert to the south to the heights of the Coconino Plateau to the north, and the Mogollon Rim to the east. The highest point above sea level (MSL) in Yavapai County is Mount Union at an elevation of 7,979 feet and the lowest is Agua Fria River drainage, now under Lake Pleasant.

I describe this adventure as a pretty vanilla OHV destination trip that the typical enthusiast might perform with their own project vehicle. There won't be any racing performed but there will be some off-highway travel. The only thing I race to these days is the head.

I add to my original post that my Cooper Discoverer STT were replaced at 30,486 miles. I didn't even wave goodbye.
 
I am curious to hear your thoughts on them in the snow. I have been very happy with my Falkens, but being in SoCal, they have had limited snow use. What snow I have used them in, they have performed well for an MT but I suspect you will have a better opportunity to see what they do.
 
Perhaps my post was misleading. I'm going to AZ via Interstate, performing training/testing for 4WD operation and recovery at a private location North of Phoenix in Yavapai County with the I4WDTA. The county's topography makes a dramatic transition from the lower Sonoran Desert to the south to the heights of the Coconino Plateau to the north, and the Mogollon Rim to the east. The highest point above sea level (MSL) in Yavapai County is Mount Union at an elevation of 7,979 feet and the lowest is Agua Fria River drainage, now under Lake Pleasant.

I describe this adventure as a pretty vanilla OHV destination trip that the typical enthusiast might perform with their own project vehicle. There won't be any racing performed but there will be some off-highway travel. The only thing I race to these days is the head.

I add to my original post that my Cooper Discoverer STT were replaced at 30,486 miles. I didn't even wave goodbye.

Sorry, race on Sunday, sell on Monday perspective. Falken, being the tire sponsor for both events, supplied the tires.
 
I am also interested in your reviews. Looking for some new tires for the van in the near future and was leaning towards the hybrid all terrain/ mud terrains like that Grabber X3 or Cooper STT MAX.

Did you have the Cooper STT Pro or Maxx?
Thanks
Eric
 
I am curious to hear your thoughts on them in the snow. I have been very happy with my Falkens, but being in SoCal, they have had limited snow use. What snow I have used them in, they have performed well for an MT but I suspect you will have a better opportunity to see what they do.

I'm running the Falken Wild Peak AT3W's. Great performance so far in snow and ice on roads, heading to northern Wisconsin this weekend to really test them off road. Its buried up there so we shall see.
 
I'm on the fence about trying the AT Varietal...
My experience hasn’t been positive with them. Lack luster traction in a tire that’s wearing way to fast. I’m not going to get close to 30,000 miles out of the set on the FJ and will be swapping them out before summer.
 
So, my report after approximately 4,800 miles: I'm pleased with the Falken Wildpeak MT 315/75/16 E-rated tires... E-rated because it's a truck and I'm a man.

Traveling on the highways they were sure-footed and tracked effortlessly... and quietly. The quiet operation allows me to fully appreciate the rich sounds of the Beastie Boys and soothing melodies of Rammstein - you know what I'm talking about Scott. The conditions ranged from freezing road conditions, snow, sleet, and wet without any loss of traction or "fishtailing" at posted highway speeds. Even in severe wind conditions with cross-wind gusts of 40-50 mph from Oklahoma City, OK to Amarillo, TX they contributed to the trucks stability. On snow and ice crusted roads of Colorado there was no loss of traction and braking was controlled and predictable. They provided no drama whatsoever with the fickle map routing of Garmin which took me on the tortuous twisting and icy switchback 2-lane back roads through the remote mountains of Northern New Mexico at night. Steering was light and comfortable and they afforded little resistance to turning enabling me to accomplish 900 mile travel days.

Off road in Yavapais County, Arizona they provided the same results, aired down to 16 pounds on the trails, some of which were heavily rutted from winter rain erosion and littered with broken rock with sharp cleavage. Steep climbs and descents were controlled and the MT pattern provided a sure grip despite the severe grades. I never experienced a loss of traction. They even managed the primitive interstate road network of Illinois, so that says quite a bit for the resilience and durability of this tire. Zero damage (chunking) that I can observe in the garage this afternoon. But thinking about it, the tires condition is not so much construction and is probably more related to the superior offroad driving skills of the operator and would be difficult for most readers of this forum to replicate.

To summarize, their design offers little rolling resistance and quiet operation; siping on every lug provided sure footed traction on snow, packed snow, ice, and rain; wide spaced lugs provided no home for mud accumulation; side walls are lugged and feature typical 3-ply sidewall protection, however their proprietary design and manufacture folds some layers of the ply affording even greater tear and puncture resistance.

If you you are considering an aggressive mud terrain type tire, I recommend you consider Falken Wildpeak MT tires for your next purchase. In comparison to other popular makes available on the market they are, IMHO, superior to some of the very popular brand names out there. Overall, their price was better than many other well known, similar type tires and that includes several other specifications (e.g., weight, durometer rating, construction). You want specific numbers? LMGTFY...

It's also important to note that I have no connection to Falken Tire or their parent company, Sumitomo Rubber North America, Inc. I personally purchased these tires at a local tire store at the reasonable price we negotiated, under the ever present "hairy eyeball" of my cherished spouse.
 
I think they may have been a pointed jab..lol!!! And when I was a younger man, a group of us traveled all the way to the big city of Washington DC to see Rammstein live.. they made it to song number 2 before the were arrested and carted off to jail.... grumble.... But that 1st song, sung while on fire, was something to see!
 
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