22 TRD Pro first time in snow.... yikes! Should I switch out the OEM wildpeaks?

Just drove in snow for the first time... less than an inch and the road were not treated, so it was certainly a bit slick... but, I'm blown away by how bad the truck was. I actually slid straight through a light as it turned red with what seemed like zero ability to stop (luckily everyone else was paying attention).

Are these "fake" wildpeaks that are not 3 peak rated the problem (still feel like I got duped on that one)? Would real wildpeaks make a big difference? I bought this truck with the expectation of confidently spending a lot of time driving in the snow... right now my wife's sienna is by far the best snow vehicle we have. I was planning on just using the factory wildpeaks for at least a year, but now I think I need to spend some money on tires. I felt more confident driving my old fwd cars than I did in my trd pro tonight.

 

Downshift and engine brake. These trucks are heavy. They have no issue going especially in 4wd, it’s the stopping that they aren’t good at. If the roads are bad, I drive around in S3 or S4.

 

Do you have previous experience driving a full size suv or pickup in the snow? Tired can make a big difference, but the driver makes the biggest difference. Pickups have weight more heavily biased towards the front of the vehicle which causes them to behave differently than a passenger car (minivans are virtually passenger cars…). And they weight a great deal more.

 

Surely it’s the trucks fault…

 

I've been driving in new england for 30 years... I'm no newbie when it comes to snow. I have lots experience with large RWD SUVs, small cars, and minivans, but admittedly only limited experience with a pick up... I was expecting the weight to come into play when stopping. But the traction was shocking how bad it was, I'm not talking about just a few extra feet than I was expecting, it was worse than any other bald tire I've driven in the snow.

 

A newbie would expect that too.

 

Yeah, they’re really bad. I replaced mine after the first snowfall in Colorado! The new Toyo’s are markedly better.

 

Seeing as how the only people who would be able to judge a difference in the OEM Wildpeaks on the TRD Pro and the commercial 3 peak rated Wildpeak would need to have experience with both on the same truck in the snow, I think the answer isn’t going to be forthcoming right now. Just not enough of those people, if any right now.

I have no complaints with the performance of my commercial AT3W’s on my 2007 now on their second winter. We get a decent amount of snow in the Black Hills, but for most of the winter it is dry powdery snow.

Trucks with nothing in the bed are markedly inferior in snow to other 4X4 vehicles with more mass over the rear axle. You’re not getting as much traction or braking effectiveness from 50% of your tires.

You could try adding 200lbs of tube sand back there. Might help, I usually do that in the winter and it does help.

 

"I was expecting the weight to come into play when stopping"

It does... it's called Physics... - An object in motion, stays in motion...

These trucks are over 6,000 lbs... it's going to take a while to stop that much weight in snow/ice. Plan on added distance to stop them when there is less friction between the tires and the road. It helps if you have really good tires with lots of siping and deep channels to push the snow/slush out. Slightly narrow tires also helps push them down thru the snow to the pavement.

Expect similar results on turns/corners ... That physics comes into play again... they want to keep going straight.

 

Thanks for trying to be helpful instead of just telling me I have no idea how to drive in snow Did you go with the Open Country AT III? Same size or did you size up?

 

Ha ha. Yeah, you’re welcome. IMHO, they’re only just passable for winter driving and far from ideal. And yes, they didn’t fill me with confidence during our first snowfall. Yeah, OC ATIII. 285/65/20s.

 

That's what I meant by "come into play"... you guys are really looking to flame me tonight. I didn't mean I thought it would be helpful.

 

Try loading up the box with weight. That should help the rear traction.

I have the Michelin OE tires and I hear that they are like slicks.

I am going to change them for ones you have!

 

Pop on some blizzaks and then go have some fun.

 

No flaming, just passing on about 50 years of driving in the deep ice/snow of northern Vermont. I've driven on all kinds of tires, from bias-ply to sand retreads to radial, bald to good hakkas/hankook snows. 2wd, 4wd and Quattro on trucks and cars. I laugh and shake my head, when I see the out of towners flying by me on the interstate where I'm doing 50 or so, on black ice, and watch the out of towners go flying by, in their huge suburbans or denalis on their way to the ski resorts with AWD... I usually see them a ways down the road, in the ditch... I'm a speed demon... on good roads, but will drive to the road conditions when it's nasty out. You can feel what's the right speed, when your tires aren't solid on the road, take that into consideration at turns and stop lights/signs.

Update: I had a set of Nokia WR's with the mountain peak saying they were "winter rated"... maybe... if it was just a dusting. This was on an audi A6, Quattro , that was very heavy. That damn car was like driving a skating rink with those tires on anything more than 2" of snow. Scary as hell. I sold those tires as fast as I could, and got a set of hakka 5's (nokia) - the car was rock solid in the snow, all 4 tires would go thru just about any amount - I was pushing thru snow that was about 6" higher than the hood of the car! My wipers couldn't keep up. all 4 tires digging in! rooster tails all around. The thing was a tank in the snow with those tires.

 

Don't worry this forum is filled with Toyota elitist snobs lol, some guy just HAD to point out he is missing 4x4 when the guy posted up he got a new interior trim piece... Always like shitting on ppls parades, and other side don't offer support for mods and tell ppl you bought wrong trims lol

 

My Toyos have been solid in CO snow. I definitely give myself plenty of room to stop. My wife’s AWD Highlander won’t go through as much snow but it’s more sure on snowy roads. I’m impressed with AWD vehicles.

 

There is no replacement for good studded winter tires..PERIOD!

 

It was actually along Hwy 83 where I was convinced that I wasn’t keeping my OEM Wildpeaks.

 

What tire are those?

 

What tires are those? I had a set of nokian hakkapellita non-studded on an SUV years ago that was amazing in the snow (spent most of the winters in northern VT at the time). I don't see many options for the tundra though, seems like most dedicated winters tires don't come in the right sizes. I don't really want to run studded tires, and originally thought I'd just run winter rated AT tires year round rather having two dedicated sets of wheels & tires... This would be the first vehicle that I didn't have two sets of wheels and tires in the past 20 years. I was hoping to not have to deal with two sets, but maybe that was a pipe dream.

 

Hakka LT3?

 

I had high hopes for the OEM Wildpeaks but am disappointed to hear these negative experiences with them. We don’t get a ton of snow where I am, but I do need to get around in snow a few times a year. I grew up driving in Colorado, so hopefully I can still get a few years out of my stocks before moving on to something else. I managed to make the Goodyear Wranglers on my Tacoma work okay for a few years, and they’re definitely not great in the snow…

 

I have had zero issues with winter driving yet. Mine does great in the snow, even riding on the factory loafers. I will upgrade to some good all terrains next year, though.

 

Yeah, I was really surprised how bad they were (Back when I was first allocated the truck in June I thought I was getting 3 peak rated tires, until I realized they aren't real wildpeaks)... I actually ran all season tires last year because my winter tires were spent and I didn't want to invest in replacing them since I knew I was getting rid of the vehicle, so its not as if I was used to dedicated snows last winter. I was hopeful that I'd be pleasantly surprised by how they performed, but instead it went the other way.

 

Looks like these are (Canadian?)
Onyx NY-W187 studdable snow tires.

 

I've heard the OEM Wildpeaks aren't the same as the regular Falken Wildpeaks, but I've not heard they're THAT terrible.

My own experience with my truck (2020 Tundra, TRD Off-road Package) has been pretty much great; but with that said, it's a given (and if you didn't know, now you do) that in general, given the heaviness of a truck plus the weight distribution (or lack thereof - considering most of the weight is over the front tires, and not the back), traction/etc. aren't as good as other vehicles. I love my truck, but I also load it up with 300/400# when I know it'll be bad outside for a few weeks, or we simply use the wife's 4Runner.

 

I’ve been on the Wildpeak AT3W-A (or OEM) through this latest patch of snow showers (2-3 inches per day for the last week) and I’ve been really impressed. I’m a pretty cautious driver in the snow at freeway speeds if it doesn’t look good but around town I love drifting our side streets. To be honest I find the stability control to be incredible around the corners and I’ve tried to get it really sideways and it won’t let me. A lot of how tires ride in the snow is subjective though. Everyone wants something different. I’m sure if I had the non mildpeaks it would be easier and if I had true winter tires it would be really easy. But stopping early and softly seems to do the trick for me

 

I have a ‘23 Pro and replaced the OEM wildpeaks with the 3 peak snowflakes from Falken. I drive in mountain passes otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered.

There are already several posts on the subject.

 

83 gets nasty. Wind blown,hills and curves. Sounds like another potential round coming to us.