Wisconsin Tacomas and bad financial advice

So does this guy. And I love them also Wife still makes me clear the driveway, but I’m thinking about not clearing my half anymore. I am a badass

 

That’s cool. Not saying they are bad, not saying they are so damn awesome. Simply stating my experience. For the shit I get into, they are Garbage

 

Fair enough. I know they're not great in mud, but no AT really is. I almost bought Wildpeaks, but I wanted to try out the new Toyos. So far, so good.

 

I’ve heard good things about the Toyos, they were on my list.

 

I wonder if there is a truly subjective test of the different tires out there.
All I know for certain is my new AT tires blow away the stock tires I had, and I bet most AT tires would. How to discern the finer points between them is the hard part.

 

I think people have too many different variables and their own list of things that matter. Some really want low road noise, maintain fuel economy, wet road grip. Others want real aggressive look and nothing else. Gravel guys might care about tread durability more than they do road noise. Some never drive in snow, or only on pavement. Goes on and on. And you can’t make a tire that’s best at all that, so it comes down to how each person weighs each category. And even then, you can find 5 guys say a tire sucks in the rain, and 5 that say it’s great.

 

It seems like that would be impossible. Different people seem to have different experiences with the same tires.

The Wildpeaks are popular for a reason. I've only heard a handful of complaints. They're definitely a solid choice.

The market is so competitive now. There are a number of excellent choices, and many more that are still pretty good.

The stock tires on my '15 Tacoma were garbage (BFG Rugged Trail TA I think) and so were the stock tires on my 4runner (Dunlop Grandtrek AT20). It's confusing that Toyota would put such crummy tires on their vehicles. I suppose these were probably chosen for fuel economy and ride comfort, rather than off-road performance, though.

So true!

 

My take on Toyota putting highway tires on these vehicles is that the average person buys these without their true potential and capability in mind.

Same reason why low ouput, high longevity halogen bulbs are used with factory low beams (prior to the OEM led option now, for Tacomas). People may complain about poor visibility, but far more would bitch about having to change out high performance bulbs regularly. Price is obviously a factor too.

 

Those Dunlop AT20 are such garbage. I don’t know why toyota uses them as a factory tire. They are trash all around.

 

Four-wheeler magazine does a pretty good tire comparison test every few publications.

 

Agreed with all of this.

I got rid of them after the 4runner almost went sideways on the freeway with less than 1K miles on it. The conditions were pretty bad, but it spooked me enough to research the tires. The snow ratings were so bad, it made me decide to get something better.

I would think these publications can only be so honest, as they can't afford to crap on the brands that pay them for advertisement. I'm sure they try their best to be honest. But, look at Consumer Reports. They're a joke.

 

I had a set of the AT20 on my 05 and I hit the brakes in the rain and slid. Right after that I replaced them with some Michelin

 

As a publisher they won't necessarily crap the bed with any particular brand, but you can definitely tell which ones they favor. And they do tend to rank things and give performance ratings and all of that. And the fact that the official tire of Ultimate Adventure is Falken... Speaks for itself there lol

 

I'm sure Falken pays for that endorsement. And, publications probably favor the brands that pay them the most.

I don't trust anything but actual test results and user ratings. Based on that, Wildpeaks are definitely one of the best tires available.

But, there are a handful of other tires rated as high or higher by their users. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them or buy them. I'm just saying there are other options that are just as good.

I can't say if any of those options are as competitively priced. But, I read somewhere that the price has gone up.

They also tend to run on the heavy side, which is a turnoff for some.

 

I'm 100% with you here, I guess I should have clarified, looking at the way they run the Ultimate Adventure, any tire that can survive that is a tire that has my thumbs up.

I've heard that falkens are heavy, doesn't seem to affect my driving a whole lot, of course I also upsized when I got mine so there are a lot of factors that play here.

 

Bet they're not as heavy as coopers

 

Was wondering when you were gonna chime that tidbit in

 

Good point!

I'm in the same boat, having gone from 265 to 285. I would say that I might get a better feel for the weight difference when I slap mud tires on in a few months, but I might also jump to a 295.

I think you notice the difference when accelerating and at the pump. There's a guy on the 4runner forum running the same 285's as me in SL, and he's getting like 20 MPG I think.

I've heard those things are bricks. It seems that the STT MAX (or was it the pro?) has a tendency to wear unevenly as well.

 

I'm a light footed driver, the biggest effect on mpgs that I've seen is winter gas blend.