Falken Wildpeak AT3W 116t 265/75/16 55,000 Mile Review

So I have had several different types of AT tires over the past 10 years or so (Duratraks, KO2s, Geolanders, Toyo, etc.)and I wanted to do a write up of these Falken Wildpeak AT3W tires I've been rolling on for the past 35k+ miles.

This is basically a half-life writeup and my personal opinion to how these Wildpeaks stack up against other AT tires I have owned.

Back in April of 2020 I purchased a set of Falken Wildpeak AT3W 116T SL 265/75/16 tires. My goal was an aggressive looking tire that had good on road mannerisms and could still handle any offroad situation
I'd find myself in. The tires needed to be light as my Taco is my daily driver....I wanted to maintain descent MPG so I decided E Load wasn't really practical for how I use my truck. I also didn't want to break the bank since my truck was still basically new. $540 for 4 new meats shipped to my garage door seemed cheap. 43lbs per corner was light for large AT tires, so I pulled the trigger.

I did some research on these initially and read a lot about balancing issues.....nonsense I said... it won't happen to me....
Well it did, however the shop I took it to dual plane balanced them correctly to rectify the situation.

These tires have a touring type ride quality to them still after over 35k miles. Very smooth, not rough or bumpy at all even at 37-38 psi. Like all the different AT tires I've ever owned, they get a little stiffer at around 20k, but honestly these are probably the least noticeable change in ride quality at 20k out of any AT tire I've had. My Geolanders were close, but they were a very mild AT tire compared to the Wildpeak.

Road noise is very quiet. I'm pretty surprised after 35k that I'm still not getting that loud hummnnmmm when on the highway. They did get a bit louder at around 20k, but again, some of the AT tires I've owned (mainly C load Duratrac) get LOUD at 20-35k. These are still nice and quiet. My KO2s and Duratracs were the worst for noise after 20-40k.. just loud, harsh, and rough... these Wildpeaks are surprisingly still smooth and quiet.

These tires really are probably the best I've had in the rain. The remnants of Hurricane Ian dumped on us all weekend and we had a couple travel hockey games. Even with the flooding and raw conditions and 35k on these bad boys, I never felt unsure or uneasy in heavy rain, or during hydroplane situations. These tires have proven to be the best AT tires I have owned when it comes to the rain, no slip, no slop. My KO2s were worthless in the rain after 20k -- matter of fact most of the aggressive AT tires I've owned were fairly crap in the rain after 20k-40k (especially with an empty bed and an empty gas tank).

We haven't had a ton of snow, over the past couple years, but we have had a few storms. The older I get the less I enjoy driving in the weather, the mystique of playing in vehicles in snowy parking lots or pits has all but faded for me. I've had these treads on the snow, sleet, freezing rain, etc., and I have no complaints. Although I'm not the best source, I generally use 4wd and take things slow when we get anything over a couple inches on the roads. I will say when we got dumped on last winter, I was about 40 miles from home and I didn't have any problems getting back. My KO2s were pretty solid in the snow and from what I can tell these Wildpeaks are every bit as good.

I dont get offroad much and when I do its nothing that a general street tire couldn't handle (I guess). I have had my truck to the mountains, on some beaches, service roads, and mild trails... no worries any place I have ever been. Like I said, I'm not offroad much, and when I am I take things slow.... I mainly am a commuter that occasionally goes off the beaten path, so I purchased these tires for their on road performance.

Mud.... aside from the occasional trip to our muddy township recycling plant, I haven't been in any substantial mud to be able to comment on how these tires actually perform in the mud.

Maintenance... now I maintain my truck pretty good for the most part, oils, lubes, filters, etc..... I am not the best at rotating tires every 5,000 miles. I have rotated front to back about every 8,000 miles or so. At about 18,000 miles I started to get vibrations at highway speed and I thought.....here we go, the 20k mile breakdown of the rubber. I wound up getting all 4 tires re-balanced since I initially had the dreaded balancing problem. That fixed nothing, long story short.....my ubolts wound up being grossly undertouqued.... cranked all 8 to 52ft/lb. Vibes eliminated.

Overall these tires are all around the best AT tires I've ever owned and I have a feeling I'll be rolling on these for another 35k with regular rotations. Despite the balancing issues that have been noted by many, noise levels are quiet, good grip in the snow and rain, smooth and soft even when pumped up to 38psi, lightweight to save on MPGs, and $540 for all 4 (pre covid prices).

That being said, I will be most likely be trying out the Hankook Dynapro AT2 tires at 39lbs each when it does come time to change these....

 

WoW, great review! Thank You

 

Thanks. Aside from balancing issues these tires have been primo.... hopefully someone reads this and it helps them.

 

I'd like to ad that I love my (C Load) Duratracs. They have the most aggressive thread, so yes they are louder. They are not a Highway tire. Compare their thread to the K02s & Wildpeaks, you will see the difference. They are as close to a M/T tire, but with much better road chararistics.

They've been so good in the snow that I sold off my dedicated winter tire package that came with the Taco. 4 years later now, I just got them re-balanced with my tire rotation, (just in time for winter next month). Yes they needed it, and yes they still hum, but they are much quieter now since the balance.

I will buy Duratracs again, but will not buy K02s, nor Wildpeaks. I would probably consider the new Goodyear Ultraterrains, as they look pretty close to the Duratracs.

Only disappointment, is that they don't come in a 33" 255 pizza cutter size.

Carry on.....

 

I have been very disappointed with the life of these tires. I have right at 30k and two tires are about 3-4/32 and the other 2 are at 5/32. Alignment is good and nothing else seems amiss. All 4 tires have signs of dry rot already. Performance wise they have been great. I will see what @Discount Tire has to say this afternoon.

 

Interesting..

Do you have E Load?

 

Nope, I have the 116T SL. I am hoping it is an anomaly, I might as well run a M/T if I am only going to get 30k

 

Hmmmmm. I didn't measure, but I have plenty of tread left at almost 40k miles now.. hopefully you can get it sorted out for free.

 

Just updated the title to 40k. I just rotated all 4 tires and cleaned things up/sprayed mavcoat on my suspension components prior to winter.

I have 40k and so far these are, hands down the best AT tires I've ever had. Still very quiet, MPG is still good, no slip or slop in the rain or snow. Ive still not been in any deep mud, and I'm not offroad a bunch, but still at 40K the on road mannerisms of these tires are all great!

 

Thanks for the report.
My situation is similar, and also run 265/75-16.
I have had three 4x4 Off Road Tacomas and have run BFG, Toyo Open Country AT, Cooper STT and ATR, Destiny Dakota AT, and Hankook DynaPro ATM (2 different times).
I have had interesting results with them all.
In the end, I have been the most impressed with the Hankook, both times running them.
Reasons include: not expensive, quiet on the highway, superior in the desert and beach sand driving, great in mud and snow, too (although they both get little action where I four wheel).

I have been curious about the Falkens, so thanks!

 

Funny you should say that. I'm planning on getting the 265/75/16 hankook dynapro At2 extreme 116T tires when these wear out.

At 39 lbs per corner I'm figuring these may be even better than the Wildpeaks

 

Nice write up!

I've had a number of different AT tires. Wildpeaks, KO2's, Duratracs, Terra Grapplers, Discoverer AT3's, along with a few MT's.

Wildpeaks are definitely my favorite, great on road and off. The Cooper Discoverer AT3's were a very close second. Equally great on road, and very good off road. The wildpeaks look better so they get the nod.

 

Same here. I really can say these are , so far, the best AT tires I've had and I've got over 40k on em... we will see how much snow we get, but I still have 100% confidence in these in any conditions.

Did you have any experience with the hankook dynapro AT2? Just wondering

 

No, no experience with the Hankooks. They look pretty good though

 

Interesting how the Wildpeaks shot up $200+ now.

 

When they first came out, nobody knew much about them, now they have a pretty good rep so price goes up. In America, price goes up anyway.
I have the same tires, about 45K miles, ~50% wear. Rotate every 5-6K miles, 35psi all around. No complaints.

 

3 years back they were $125 each.

Now they are almost $100 per tire more.

Guess that's what happens when a product gets popular... They start off affordable, then as the demand rises so does the cost....


Tires in general are pretty expensive these days.

I'm at 45k now on these and they are starting to hummmmmm.... They still have good grip and onroad mannerisms.. they're getting a little louder now... I'm gonna probably push these to 60k.. everything that is a comparable in size and weight is $200 per tire or more.... Annoying.

 

No surprise they jacked the price up, but that is a huge jump in such limited amount of time. That said they are priced right along similar comparable tires.

I’m looking at the Toyo’s Open Country’s and Falken’s.
I briefly looked into the Hankook DynaPro ATM, the reviews don’t look that good. After 10K mile things go down hill it seems.

 

Honestly every AT tire I've had has degraded at around 20k and gotten loud. At 40k I've noticed that other AT Tires I've owned ed wound up getting splashy in the wet and rain.

These tires haven't done that. I have no complaints . I have been getting more road noise lately, but these things have been great so far and I'm not rotating as much as I should (every 7-8k).

I'd certainly recommend them for their on road mannerisms. I don't have enough time offroad to make a good recommendation. Even at $200 per tire they are worth the money.... From what I've seen there's an updated version called the Falken Rubitrek... Apparently they made some tweaks to make the on-roaf mannerisms even BETTER.... Without sacrificing the off road capabilities.

They might be worth a look... I'm thinking I will probably try the Hankook Dynapro AT2 Extreme tires in another 20k or so.

 

Yeah the world of truck tires is different, I’ve been playing with fast family wagons/sedans. Completely different world. Interesting how the tires driving characteristic change over a relatively short amount of time for truck tires.

My truck came with Goodyear Wrangler with Kevlar forget the specific model, I’m away from home. These tires have worn like iron. Bought my truck 4 years ago and thought the tires would last maybe a year given their tread depth. I put 25k on them, on top of whatever mileage they previously had. They are finally done now, very sketchy in the rain. Pulling out of 1st gear in the rain slowly wheel hop happens pretty often still. Wouldn’t trust them in the snow now, but we got zero snow this year.
If I was loaded up with a bunch of extra weight they probably wouldn’t have survived so long, but I have done a decent amount of towing with them.

Pretty good review on the new Falken Rubitreks vs the Wildpeaks.
https://jeepshunters.com/falken-wildpeak-at3-w-vs-falken-rubitrek-a-t/