Falken Wildpeak AT3W 245/70/17

Installed Falken Wildpeak AT3W 245/70/17's E rated tires on new TRD gunmetal wheels. My Taco is absolutely all stock and wanted to keep it that way. Initially researched the recommended 265/70/17 size tires, but found conflicting information on rub/no rub issues. My goal was to have absolutely ZERO rubs; more importantly I did not want to remove or alter any part of the truck to make tires fit so I decided to target the same diameter as my stock 265/65/17. Although I wanted to go thinner tire for handling and mpg reasons as my truck is my DD, I could not find enough information or photos on the 245/70/17 size to help me sway that direction - I suspected it wasn't a popular size for Tacomas, hence the lack of info and photos, but that wasn't enough for me to dump the idea of going thinner, I had to see it.

So I headed to Costco to hopefully find both 265/65 and 245/70 size tires to get a comparison going, and luckily I found a bunch of Goodyears in the same model and did a side by side comparison, to me there was no significant difference in width. You could tell the 245 was a little thinner, but not by much. I figured the thinner tires will make the truck look a little taller too. Still undecided, I went back to the Falken site, and found that 265/65 was rated for 7.5-9.5 width wheels. The 245/70 rated at 6.5-8.0 width. Being that the TRD wheels are 7" wide, going 245/70 seemed like the safer choice, so I pulled the trigger. Purchased (4) Falken tires off Amazon, free shipping to Hawaii (before the sales tax kicked in on April 1st). Like most Falken AT3W owners said, the tires look better and more aggressive in person (they are not really "photogenic"). The Falken 245/70/17 size have absolutely no rubbing at any angle and articulation. Tires are super quiet (as quiet as my stock Bridgestones) and do well in handling and braking. Thought I'd share some photos since not many photos out there with 245/70 on a Tacoma.

 

Great info.
I'm searching for a wheel so good to know about the tire size.

 

Mahalos II. The researching stage can be fun, but not when there is information overload - which I always tend to get myself into - so thought it would be good to share that with others. Good luck in your search!

 

I've got the same size tire in load range E on my work Dodge that sees terribly abusive conditions on a daily basis. So far I'm very impressed with them. It remains to be seen how quickly they'll wear.

 

Nice thanks for posting. I like "skinny" tires myself, and am looking at some 245 75r17 Wildpeaks on the same wheels that you have, which answers a lot of questions for me. Forgive me if I missed it in your post, but are your Wildpeaks P or LT? Thanks

 

How has the wear down been a year later? Time for my new rubber and these are in my top 3.


Edited for typo

 

Unbelievably good. I now run these on three different vehicles, and they will likely continue to go on more. I don't have exact data on the Dodge, but I'm estimating about 40k miles with at least another 10 - 20k to go. On my current patrol vehicle they are still doing incredibly well. About to have another tire rotation so I'll post an update then. Again, these are all E load tires.

 

Definitely good information! I wish I saw your post earlier, I just installed FW 65/70/17 on your same rims with no lift, just leveled out in the front and I think the tires are too big... believe it or not!! Didn’t think I would ever say that but I’m like you, I’m at daily driver.
I’ll drive home for a while and see how it goes but I may end up selling them and dropping size to the 2/45/70 or 2/55/70/17s. Not many pictures but they look awesome on your truck

 

Hi,
Just got a 2003 4runner for my wife. It has the 265/65r17's. I am thinking of putting the 245/70r17 like you have. Mainly for attempt to improve the MPG. We got that v8 jawn!!!
Did you notice an increase in your MPG with these?

 

With the E-load I see a loss in MPG in this tire size.

 

Because E load is heavier? I would imagine once rolling the weight wont matter. It might matter on lots of re accelerations. In my experience with bicycle racing and wheel weight factors. But I ant not scientist.

 

I mounted the exact same tires last week. 245/70/17 on new semi wheels. No lift and my daily driver led me down the same line of research. The guys at discount tire even asked why I had chosen this size instead of going bigger. Personally I think they look good. The ride is very nice and quiet on the road. The offset of the new wheels helped the stance. Soon I'll take them offload and see what happens.

 

You have any full on wide shots of the truck? Also, nearly a year later, are you still happy with these tires? Just bought my SEMA wheels and am thinnking about this exact size tire, but also considering the 255/80/17 for a little taller sidewall.

 

I don't have any more pictures of the truck. If I remember I will snap one for you when I get out today. I really like the tires! Good traction off road. Quiet ride on the highway. No noticeable gas milage difference. They have held their balance well and are slow to show signs of wear.

 

It is significantly heavier than the P load. 9 # a corner IIRC. MPG losses were noticeable despite living rurally.

I liked this tire in a 245 in the winter, they were excellent in the snow.

I would without hesitation throw another set of these on / pick up a set as a dedicated winter tire, in an E load again, but since selling my house storage has been a premium so I have resorted to a single set of tires doing double duty.

If I was to bug out to Baja I would slap a set of the 245’s in an E load on immediately. They’re very tough tires.

 

Do you have any more pictures of different angles when you had this tire size mounted?

 

No. But I can snap a few if you wish. What are you wanting to see?

 

I'm just curious overall how my truck will look if I go with that size. I found a Michelin tire that size that only weighs 30lb, so that would put me 6lb less than factory weight with the TRD wheels I have. If you could snap a few side, front, & back maybe with one like you posted but from the front?

 

Hope this helps.

 

Thank you for taking the time to do that. Do you have any pictures dead on from the side?