Falken wild peak vs BFG AT K02. Which one and why?

Will he be able to answer without swearing?

 

I LIKE my wildpeaks but don't love them. Going from cooper discovery to the wildpeak I 100% noticed a reduce in ride comfort. You tend to feel more of the road and sometimes it translate into a small shake feeling. Many others have reported the same. The tire dealer I got the falkens from recommended the Toyo AT3 if I wanted more ride comfort but I got the falkens for $600(265/70/17) installed out the door so it was a no brainer.

I honestly will try something different next time around.

 

Yeah, it's a real shame when companies use women to promote their brand.





It's almost like sex sells or something.

 

It’s definitely an old plant. Been there almost 100 years. There’s some really old equipment and some brand new state of the art stuff. We are adding 8 new VMI Maxx machines on top of the 2 we already have. I’d agree with Michelin being probably the best tire manufacturer. I’d bet Michelin uses the VMI machines as well. Not fully sure of their process in there plants currently. Seen some of their old stuff and it’s built nearly the same way. However there construction setup and ply construction is different. Sumitomo has invested a lot of money to make their products as consistent as possible. Going from manually producing the tire to fully automated. There’s lots of R&D happening not only at our plant but the other around the globe. They aren’t the same tires as the Dunlop’s that were previously made in the plant. Those were made under Goodyear, and while the building process was basically the same. The compounds aren’t. Only 1 car tire comes out of the plant still branded Dunlop. That’s an OE Toyota tire. The other Dunlop’s are all motorcycle tires. The rest are Falken PCR, LTR, and MTR tires. The quality of the tires we are putting out is alot better than the tires we put out under Goodyear. Lots of issues obviously over the past several years getting everything transferred over and dialed in. Problems still arise as they do with any tire plant and the production process. We scrap a lot of tires due to small little blemishes that most people wouldnt even notice. Sumitomo has always put out a good product as far as I’ve seen in the past before even working in the plant. We used to sell a lot of high prices wheel packages with Sumitomo and Falken tires in the shop I used to work at. Always heard good things. Lots of celebrities and stuff buying them as well. Every tire company has put out some bad tires. It happens. I did get a shitty pair of Wildpeaks. The first set I put on my Tacoma had some issues. Second set was a night and day difference. We also sent out a bunch of blemished tires to a distributor that they sent back. Inspectors weren’t doing their job. It was kind of a black eye for us. Needless to say it went over like a wet fart in church.

 

I’ve never understood the wildpeak love from a performance standard. At best they are middling.

As with many things here, my guess is it’s the price point.

 

Talkin bout the Cooper AT3 4S? Those things are a mislabeled highway tire

 

The majority of Tacoma owners, or better yet all truck owners, don't think they are giant off road racing legends. They know they drive 90% or more on paved roads, probably need to deal with some snow and occasional off road duty. Sure there are a few that over estimate the value/performance but most see it for what it is...or was.

Wildpeaks are a decent tire that did offer excellent value when I bought them 4 years ago, but now they are priced much higher. To me that kills the value aspect, I'm buying something else to replace them.

 

I agree with what you are saying. I actually did a plant tour back when it was Dunlop. Very interesting place and I think I threw away my close because that rubber stench was overwhelming. That was coming from someone that spent days around thousands of tire every day. I have new respect for those that work in industrial environments. I also did a Michelin tour and it was a much different experience. Well when I say tour it was more of "this is the plant, you can't go inside because it is all automated and there is nothing to see. What amazed me about the dunlop plant was how much human labor went into the tires from the way they were laid up starting from a carcass. As much as I value craftsmanship, I also know you have good days and bad days and not everyone has skill (enter Union comments here). Michelin spends a lot of money in automation which drives up the price of their product. There clearly is a market for an array of products which is great, and that competition creates a real world of 'you get what you pay for' for the most part with the exception of good year. Their reputation sold a lot of tires, but their market share has been severely eroded in years because the quality just isn't there.

 

It’s funny you mention the smell. It never really bothered me, even on the plant tour before I got hire I never noticed it. Maybe I was just excited and overwhelmed by everything going on. Especially since it was my first time in a manufacturing facility. My one buddy would mention it walking in all the time after having a few days off. I would smell it but it wasn’t overwhelming to me. Obviously back in the mixing department it’s a lot more profound. That’s a nasty area back there.

Michelin must just not want people to see there equipment. Perhaps they designed there own machines or maybe they just have a different process in how they do things. But don’t want other to know about it. In our plant they still walk people around, even around the fully automated machines. Obviously you can get where the operators are for safety reason even though there’s a ton of safety equipment (safety scanners, light curtains, etc.)

However what I did find interesting was when we had a Moto racer come in, a production crew, and model. They let them build a race tire and showed a very vague intro of building the tire. At the end during the tread application they said they weren’t allowed to show the process. Like it’s some top secret process. It may have been 15 years ago. But I’d imagine not so much now. Plus it was put in back when Goodyear controlled the plant. So they know the machine and the process. Any way here’s a link to that video if you’re curious.

https://youtu.be/pCgYPgOECrM

 

I'm running the same tires but do get very minor rub on the fronts when they're at full stuff. Nothing a little trimming won't fix though.

 

I think the KO2s are popular because of how they look. Some people prioritize form over function.

I spent months researching new tires and went with the wildpeaks maybe about 2 years ago. I usually switch to winter tires but last year I didn't. The wildpeaks have been as good as my winter tires or at least good enough that I can't really tell a difference. Maybe in serious ice the winter tires would win, but for most of my driving I'm happy with the wildpeaks. Now I either need to sell the snow tires or swap just to use them up. They have also been fine for the times I've gone off road. I don't do "off roading" as a hobby, but drive off road to get to fun, out of the way places. Never had a complaint with the wildpeaks.

ETA: oh, and I got 265/75/16 so one size up and haven't had any issues and MPG seems unchanged.

 

The old AT3. I would not call it a highway tire.

 

I have the KO2s on my 4Runner but went with the Falkens on my Tacoma. My Tacoma has 16s, so only the E-load tire was available. The Falkens were easier to balance (and stay balanced). Both have performed fine on and off road.

 

Most Wildpeak buyers reference the value so I think that's fair.

I've owned a bunch of 4x4s over the last couple of decades and the BFG AT's have always been popular but I was never overly impressed with them except that they do wear like iron (but just get harder and louder as the miles pile on). The Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs are very popular here because they are so good in the winter (my Town actually uses them on many of their road trucks). I have no personal experience with the Wildpeaks so I can't say anything good or bad about them.

I've done way too much reading on the current, popular Tacoma tire choices and I think the Toyo AT3 would be my choice. A bit more money but apparently better quality. I'm not a hardcore offroader or anything, and that 3-peak winter rating is important to me.

 

I saw a new 2022 tundra TRD pro reveal video from a YouTuber named Truck King and it looked like it had falken wildpeaks on it.

Anyone else notice that?

I’m assuming this is their factory tire choice?