Packed with Technology | Falken Wildpeak A/T3W

So I drove on mine today to work and home, it was pouring rain this morning, and they performed well, very little hydroplaning when hitting standing water, on the way home it was misting so still wet but just barely, quiet on highway. Still have slight vibration from 65-75 mph that goes away above and below that speed. Have appt to get road force balance and alignment(has pulled slightly to the right for a little while now) next monday.

 

Ya. I really didn't mind though. I traded mine back in, do to balancing issues though.

 

Mine had same issues. It was the tire. Different tires, both issues went away. RF may correct that though

 

I work in the US plant that makes these tires. Both our US plant and Thailand have had some uniformity issues on some of the Wildpeaks. Quality control should eliminate majority of those from hitting the market. That being said I look at some of these pictures and see some of the tires haven’t been balanced correctly.



Here is a link to some info for the balancing markers that tire manufactures use:

https://www.tires-easy.com/blog/what-are-the-red-and-yellow-dots-on-my-tires/

 

What problems were you having?

I didn’t know a lot about tires before getting a job in this plant. Not that I know a lot, but I’m learning new things everyday. I worked in car dealerships for 14 years. I’ve seen lots of tires getting installed. When working flat rate the techs just mount them and do a quick balance. I never knew about the balancing dots and what they meant. I can say that most techs and mechanics probably don’t either. Most mount the tire and do a quick balance. Get the tire within .25oz within balance. If thy have trouble or it won’t balance I seen where they will rotate the tire a little to try and have it balance out better. I’ve also seen some people mount them with an absurd amount of wheel weights. Some people just could careless. Also a lot of shops have old machines and never recalibrate their equiptment. Some of the stuff is ancient and beat to piss. There really is a lot of factors that can go into play. Softer compounds which most tires use today actually get flat spots from sitting. You can get vibrations just from that until the tires start rolling and warm up. Some roads have a washboard effect. Around here not sure if it’s from the freeze thaw we get or something to do with the paving process or what. You could switch to a different tire with a different compound or sidewall structure and it be total immune to some of these variables

 

This is good to know and from discount tire direct

https://www.discounttiredirect.com/learn/road-force-balancing

 

Looking at the Wildpeaks, are you guys seeing any benefit from the E1 over the SL rating? seems like the 10 ply might be a little overkill, but maybe its worth it out on the trail? what are your thoughts?

 

Best tires for the money, amazing in the snow and mean looking. Had these on my tundra and now on my Tacoma

 

They don't have silica compound, according to DT. So wear better. Store I got mine said they've had better luck with them, than SL

 

My DT thought they had RF machines. Even district manager was convinced. Their training info is wrong. They had to talk to Hunter rep to figure out their quick match only did rollout, not RF. Told them they should invest in one. It'd make a hell of a difference in return visits. So be weary and put eyes on the machine if you go.

 

Guy told me their techs are low paid and 1 or 2 good ones usually. I told manager grab his best, he went out too and helped. So I commend them on that. Intend to ask the same in future balances

 

That pretty much made my decision. But what about ride, is it stiffer on the E1? I am ok with a little stiffer but don’t want to go overboard.

 

They'll be stiffer, but DT will trade them out if you don't like them. Think they told me 30 days. I went with the GY UTs , just cause they have me a similar price.

 

Yeah I went back and looked at GY UT as well, those are pretty sweet, and I have always had good luck with GY’s.

 

My last set of tires were duratracs. I liked them pretty well, even though the started to cup. They're more aggressive though and I didn't rotate and balance enough. Plus I put on heavier springs to account for winch and bumper, so we'll see. UT are stiffer than WP, no silica.

 

I had my local discount tire road force balance (I confirmed actual road force balance machines were present, have no real proof they were used) my wildpeaks FOUR times without any improvement. I loved how they handled snow but refused to continue driving with constant steering wheel shake from 50-70. As of today I am on Goodyear UltraTerrains. Very similar tread pattern and mountain peak snowflake thingy. Just did 40 miles on the highway and can confirm the UltraTerrains balanced perfectly first try.

I am fully aware I probably got a bad set of tires. I really did like everything about the wildpeaks, and still kinda recommend them if you can get a good set.

Discount Tire was great throughout the process but I did end up paying for about 1/2 of the new tires.

 

I hear you. I got the tires for $438 from DTD, $72 to mount and balance at DT. No charge for my next three balance attempts. Since I had the tires for a few months DT refunded about $250, making my new set of UltraTerrains $400($60 rebate as well if I can remember to fill it out). They we're kind enough to not charge me another mount balance fee, but all in I've spent $850-$900. So basically I could have just bought duratracs or KO2s the first time, but I really thought the wildtracs would outperform those two in the snow.

We'll see how the UltraTerrains do next time I head up into the mountains in some snow. Which will probably be tonight. I'll leave any opinions on that matter in the UltraTerrain thread where it belongs, but thanks to everyone here for all the good wildpeak info and experiences.

 

That's same way I ended up with UTs but they didn't have a RF. Wish they did

 

Edit: Costco only mounts tires that about 3% size difference than stock. Discount tire is $19 per tire for a mount and balance, which includes TPMS seals.

I just bought some 285/70/17 for my ACLB. eBay price was about $832 for 5 tires, mounted and balanced at Costco for $15 each. I get them tomorrow so I'll see about the balance. This happened to my new-ish set of KO2's. I didn't really like them anyway though. Gave me an excuse to upgrade to a bigger tire too!

 

I too was fortunate enough to have a similar experience with my KO2's and went with the Falken's. Went 265/75/16's but I'll be going 285/75/16's once I run the tread a little more.