Topic: Just ordered some Falkens...

[H8PVMNT]

We have had the slickest winter off all time here and I have been too broke to buy tires. It really sucked driving a too tall, spooled 4Runner with bald, mismatched mud terrains all season.  I am now a very conservative driver though...

I am starting to almost see cords so I finally said to hell with the house payment and ordered a set of Falken Rocky Mountain AT/S in 35x12.50 15.  I was going to buy BFG KM2s but I only had so much cash and I have to commute with my 4Runner now so mild ATs will save me some coin long term so I can buy a set of IROKs of Pit Bulls for wheeling later on.

Anyway I plan to call their bluff and flog the heck out of the Falkens in every off road condition I can find.  A long tern review with mileage and performance updates will follow...

Maybe they will suck, maybe not.  We will see!


 

[Cheesemaker]

Falkens used to be really good all seasons back in the day.  But I've been out of the tire business for almost 15 years.  Almost any tire with really good siping, should give you good wet and winter time traction.  Especially for a DD. 


This reminds me that I need to get into the tire shop and get my tires balanced and rotated.  Got a couple that are hopping the ass end of the truck pretty bad. 

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

I typically hate to run anything less than a light mud terrain but I sold my commuter car last year so these should pay off...  I could justify like 5 sets of tires for my 4Runner no problem.

[Cheesemaker]

My favorite all seasons I ever had were by Avon.  They were the SXT all terrains.

[kneedownnate]

I am sorry.  You'll like them until they wear to the point where you realise how poor the design is

[Cheesemaker]

Nate, like the Toyo M55's?  I don't know how Toyo can call them a traction tire.  Get down to 50% tread and they look like a hwy tire, center rib shows up.  They haven't changed that tread design for 20 years now!!    I hated selling that tire to somebody that wanted a traction tire.  They had tough casings tho, is which is why the crummies used to run them.

[kneedownnate]

Word, find a decent pic of one and look 1/3 down into the tread.  All 5 ribs will turn solid.  Cooper atp is a better choice in the same price range, or hankook rf10

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Yeah I can see how the voids run out at like 50%, but that's nothing my hot knife won't fix.  I bought these for the commute, the reportedly tough casings and the fact that they were literally all I could afford to replace the sketchy miss matched, thumping rags I wintered on. They are cheap 35s for sure.

Don't worry, I definitely don't think they are the bestest meats ever just because I bought them.  I will give an objective review.

I did consider the coopers, but the sizes were pretty limited and I couldn't afford 16s or 17s.

I am hoping these will buy me enough time to pick up a set of swampers in the next year or two for big wheeling... If they work good for a while in the mean time that would be great, we will see.

I've always been skeptical of all terrains in general and the happiest with light muds like BFGs, MTRs or whatever.

[kneedownnate]

The size does kinda limit you on at tires.  I've talked with cooper about building the st maxx in that size but they have no plans. 

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Actually they have the st maxx advertised on a wesite called "Tirecrawler" but the shipping estimate killed my measly price point.  I don't know if they actually exist in 35x12.50 15 but they were on there...

I mounted these up on my old white spokes at a buddies farm tonight.  They are a bit heavy and the sidewalls are extremely thick as reported.  So far they are really good handling and nearly silent on pavement, which is to be expected.  We have a big, gooey muck hole on the way to our creek place that we have been winching through the last few days.  I was nicely surprised that these things cleaned out awesome and performed as good as any light mud terrains I've had. We wheeled right through it in 4.7 low 2nd gear, not really trying to clean them out just for kicks. They're no swampers, but at least as good as my MTR w/Kevlar and BFG and Pro-Comp MTs.  I can't figure out why since they have a total old man tread design.

Any way enough of this, I will start a legitimate review thread and post up the good, bad and ugly on these with picks at different tread depths over the next year or two...

 

[kneedownnate]

Cool, looking forward to the ongoing review!

We sell lots of st maxx, just in more common sizes.  235/85-16, 265/75-16, etc. 

[kneedownnate]

Falken has a new mud tire too...

[woodyth]

ANy updates on these? I just ordered some myself

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

I will update soon.. I have over 20K miles on them.  Some of the lesser tread elements are disappearing as you would expect.  I will the the groover to them going into winter and they should be plenty sticky for snow and ice.  What's really odd is how good these have been in the mud.  Really shocking for how mild the tread is.  No mud tire, but way better than you would expect.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

All right here are a few working photos.  We have this kind of clay lined flat on the front of our place.  I had to drag an 1,800 lb round bale out there to feed the horses while we went on vacation.  It monsooned right before so it was at maximum slick. I can't explain why but this lamo tread design works really well in the mud.  If you expect to turn out of a slick rut, forget it.  But they will make forward progress.   You can see that they don't clean out much so I can't figure out why they work but they do.

Pros:  In summary, these last a while, they were really cheap when I bought them, they are round, black, they work really good in the snow and pretty decent in the mud.  Handling is good on the road. They are quiet.  Carcasses seem really tough. 

Cons: They do run a bit small compared to the claimed size, these are barely even 34s, much less 35s.  The lesser tread elements that make these sticky disappear over time.  I'm sure they would last 40,000 miles plus legally, but they only resemble the tires you bought for maybe 20,000 miles.

As stated above, I am going to groove these before winter and I expect them to do great.  Would I buy them again?  I don't know.  If they stay cheap, like $750 shipped I would probably keep a set around along with a set of swampers.  Overall I have been happier with light mud terrains I have ran in the past.  As good as these are in the mud they don't have much in the way of side lugs and they absolutely will not turn out of a slick, muddy rut.  I have a lot of slick muddy ruts in my day to day life so this can get annoying.

These are basically road tires that can wheel OK, not wheeling tires that can do road OK which is probably better for my needs.

With the mild tread they really shine in the deep snow though since they don't tend to dig.  Carcasses splay out and get happy at about 4 psi. I really mean it, don't even mess around in the deep at 9 or 10 psi.  These have somewhat stiff carcasses that don't come alive until under 5 psi inn the snow. Never lost a bead either. I'd love to have a set of these in like a 39" tire for deep snow.

[SqWADoosh]

All right here are a few working photos.  We have this kind of clay lined flat on the front of our place.  I had to drag an 1,800 lb round bale out there to feed the horses while we went on vacation.  It monsooned right before so it was at maximum slick. I can't explain why but this lamo tread design works really well in the mud.  If you expect to turn out of a slick rut, forget it.  But they will make forward progress.   You can see that they don't clean out much so I can't figure out why they work but they do.

Pros:  In summary, these last a while, they were really cheap when I bought them, they are round, black, they work really good in the snow and pretty decent in the mud.  Handling is good on the road. They are quiet.  Carcasses seem really tough. 

Cons: They do run a bit small compared to the claimed size, these are barely even 34s, much less 35s.  The lesser tread elements that make these sticky disappear over time.  I'm sure they would last 40,000 miles plus legally, but they only resemble the tires you bought for maybe 20,000 miles.

As stated above, I am going to groove these before winter and I expect them to do great.  Would I buy them again?  I don't know.  If they stay cheap, like $750 shipped I would probably keep a set around along with a set of swampers.  Overall I have been happier with light mud terrains I have ran in the past.  As good as these are in the mud they don't have much in the way of side lugs and they absolutely will not turn out of a slick, muddy rut.  I have a lot of slick muddy ruts in my day to day life so this can get annoying.

These are basically road tires that can wheel OK, not wheeling tires that can do road OK which is probably better for my needs.

With the mild tread they really shine in the deep snow though since they don't tend to dig.  Carcasses splay out and get happy at about 4 psi. I really mean it, don't even mess around in the deep at 9 or 10 psi.  These have somewhat stiff carcasses that don't come alive until under 5 psi inn the snow. Never lost a bead either. I'd love to have a set of these in like a 39" tire for deep snow.

Interesting. Never would have guessed those tires would be worth a damn looking at their tread. Glad they worked out for you though! 

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Yeah, it's odd and confusing why they would work in anything but dry dirt and slickrock.  They leave a bit to be desired as far as looks go.  They look tame and mild which doesn't really match our Toyotas.

[woodyth]

Thought these were the same, but apparently not. This is what I got. 235/75/15. Close to stock size.



http://www.falkentire.com/tires/truck-suv-tires/wildpeak/t-tire

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Thought these were the same, but apparently not. This is what I got. 235/75/15. Close to stock size.



http://www.falkentire.com/tires/truck-suv-tires/wildpeak/t-tire

No those are the same.  Wild Peaks and Rocky Mountain are the same tire except for the name on the side wall.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Here is the tread at somewhere a little over 20,000 miles.  You can see how the middle strip looses it's teeth first, then other sipes and tread elements wear off over time.  No big deal if you don't mind grooving them later, but it ticks most people off.  The only reason I can guess for this tread design is to increase total tread life to meet the mileage warrantee.  Maybe it makes them more stable but I doubt it.

[SqWADoosh]

Here is the tread at somewhere a little over 20,000 miles.  You can see how the middle strip looses it's teeth first, then other sipes and tread elements wear off over time.  No big deal if you don't mind grooving them later, but it ticks most people off.  The only reason I can guess for this tread design is to increase total tread life to meet the mileage warrantee.  Maybe it makes them more stable but I doubt it.

Thats pretty lame for an all terrain to look that way after only 20k. 

[woodyth]

The last set of falkens (high countrys)  I owned has almost 80000 on them and they have been great tires, never had an issue and I remember that center stripe being gone first.


Old girl isn't gonna know what to do, oil change and filter, new shoes and a set of marlins new headlights all in the same week.

[OOPS]

Looks like to much air to me.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

No the grooves in the center treads are only a few 32nds deep.  They wear to a solid bar pretty quick.  I have about 30 psi right there but I typically run about 25 for a nice flat foot print. 

[kneedownnate]

Fyi, they've been discontinued - also, you do NOT have to wait for them to go all the way down to the wear bars to get a partial credit.  Falken realizes their mistake in the solid rib tread design showing at several 32" tread and has an adjustment schedule to compensate for it.  Not totally sure what will be replacing them at the same price point yet.  Hankook rf10 covers them in many sizes (and is rated much higher in overall traction), but is lacking in some of the old standard sizes the falkens were available in.

Discount tire will be getting an exclusive mud tire from Cooper (discoverer mtp) at some point late this year/early next year, but no clue what it will look like as of yet.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Fyi, they've been discontinued - also, you do NOT have to wait for them to go all the way down to the wear bars to get a partial credit.  Falken realizes their mistake in the solid rib tread design showing at several 32" tread and has an adjustment schedule to compensate for it.  Not totally sure what will be replacing them at the same price point yet.  Hankook rf10 covers them in many sizes (and is rated much higher in overall traction), but is lacking in some of the old standard sizes the falkens were available in.

Discount tire will be getting an exclusive mud tire from Cooper (discoverer mtp) at some point late this year/early next year, but no clue what it will look like as of yet.

Good to know thanks!  I still think I'll just cut them up for winter.  We don't have a Discount Tire within reasonable distance as far as I know.  How much of a pain is it to warrantee?

[SqWADoosh]

Discount tire will be getting an exclusive mud tire from Cooper (discoverer mtp) at some point late this year/early next year, but no clue what it will look like as of yet.

  Tell me more! By the way have you any feedback on the STT Pros yet?

[kneedownnate]

Good to know thanks!  I still think I'll just cut them up for winter.  We don't have a Discount Tire within reasonable distance as far as I know.  How much of a pain is it to warrantee?

No pain at all, just as long as they're worn down to where they have no tread pattern showing any more.  All warranties would be void if they had been cut, though

Tell me more! By the way have you any feedback on the STT Pros yet?

Very little, but it has been good so far.  Waiting for winter to get some real feedback 

[SqWADoosh]

No pain at all, just as long as they're worn down to where they have no tread pattern showing any more.  All warranties would be void if they had been cut, though

Very little, but it has been good so far.  Waiting for winter to get some real feedback 

Don't much care about how they do in snow. Was hoping some wheelers would have some reviews up on how they do in the rocks, mud, etc.

[kneedownnate]

I honestly won't get much reviews on that side of it where I live.  I constantly ask guys if they wheel and am usually disappointed with their answers, or they stumble and say yea, then describe awkwardly nothing even close to wheeling.  If I get mine and my friend gets his, we'll both go on our virgin wheeling trips and will have some feedback.  Both our rigs are for fishing/hunting/exploration, but we do wanna go to some areas nearby like the high lakes.