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

It'll certainly be helpful to have the same driver / same truck try out the different shoes. But I can assure you, the *Real* wild peaks are fantastic in the winter/snow. 1000's of posts on here confirming that. That's a bummer that Toyota is putting the less than stellar WP's on the new trucks. I have the OEM Michelin LTX At2 or whatever they are (2.5Gen TRD off road ones) and they are fine in the snow. I cant run them like I ran the KO2s and Baja Boss ATs on my old 2014 truck, but they aren't giving me the fits that your OEM tires are giving you. Hopefully you get some good advice and resolution.

 

I had the same thoughts but ultimately like the OEM TRD Pro wheels too much to run a different set for our 6ish month winters. I'm not sure if you guys can find Hakkapeliittas in the US, but if you can they have the LT3s in the 275/70R18 size. We have Haka 10 SUV Studded on our Highlander and they're really terrific, especially on the more ice than snow stuff.

 

Agreed! I like the BBS wheels a lot, except when I'm cleaning them. In ideal world if I go with dedicated winters I'll pick up a second set if someone decides to take them off, but that might be a longshot. I'm looking into availability of the LT3s, I loved the Nokians I had a lifetime ago.

 

Like I said above, I replaced the OEM @Falken QA wildpeaks with real wildpeaks which are now on my PRO. I thought I'd take a picture...You can see that the tread is less aggressive on the OEM's and I don't know if the compound is the same. Probably not.

 

Night and day difference!

 

They are onyx ?… place couple hours from me sells them, had them before on my taco for 2 winters, wore phenomenal, and $500 less then big brands I’ll take it

 

Yeah, that's a noticeable difference. Did you upsize also? I'm torn between actually running 2 sets of tires (Local shop can get the nokian lt3 275/70R18 at decent price but then I back to dealing with swapping twice a year) or doubling down on the single set by upgrading to the "real" wildpeaks (but then the question becomes stick with 285/65R18 or upsize to 285/75R18 or to 295/70R18)... too many choices!

 

I ended up emailing @Falken QA back and forth a bit and they suggested the compound on the OEM WPs and the 'aftermarket' WPs is indeed different.

Thanks for posting these pictures. Makes my not insignificant outlay of cash this morning feel much better!

 

Forgot to mention, I called Falken customer service and they told me it is a completely completely different compound between the OEM and normal 3-peak rated tires... so they do expect a notable improvement (granted I'm sure they want me to buy more tires).

 

I kept the same size for the time being. I may go up at some point.

 

The normal AT3W’s in the photos compared to Toyota OEM:

1.) The real ones have deeper tread.

2.) The real ones have more aggressive tread.

3.) The real ones have more sipes in the outer tread blocks.

Add a different rubber compound and I’m sure the real AT3W’s are better. Like I said mine have been great so far.

 

The OEM/OE Wildpeaks that come on the TRD Pros should be considered in a class of their own as they were spec'd based on Toyota's criteria (weight, rolling resistance, comfort, cost, etc). Majority of the time, a off-the-shelf tire won't work for a vehicle manufacturer as it does not meet one or more set criteria.

When picking a "regular" or aftermarket/off-the-shelf Wildpeak AT3w, whether a P size or LT size, they will contain a higher tread depth (13-14/32nds on P size, 17-20/32nds on LT sizes) as well as the 3 peak rating.

Feel free to call us at 1800-723-2553 ext 2 if anyone wants details on the OE spec AT3w or any of our products. PM here or email to technical@falkentire.com is also a welcoming option.

 

Worst snow sliders I had were my brand new hilux double cab 4WD in Aomori Japan and my old 99 Suburban with AZ tires.

 

I’ve believe that’s for sport. Bonus points for making it look like an accident…

 

I would not recommend siping.

Aftermarket siping can void manufacturer’s treadwear warranty. Also, while siping might provide some nominal increases in traction, you are much better off spending the extra money you would have spent on that service on better tires with appropriate siping and tread.

Aftermarket siping may decrease the tread life of your tire. The engineering, high level of construction of the rubber compound and manufacturing process ensure that pre-molded sipes in the tread do not work against the expected tread life of the tire. Siping itself also reduces dry road performance as it increases tread squirm, tread wear, road noise and reduces gas mileage

 

Thanks, I think I came to the same conclusion that aftermarket siping isn't for me.

But now I'm struggling with the decision of replacing these with 3 peak rated AT tires OR running dedicated hakka snows. When I got the truck I had planned on year round AT tires even though historically I've done dedicated snows on my other vehicles.

 

You're my ghost of two weeks past.

 

Lifelong south central Alaskan here.

While driving Tundras as my personal truck for the last 20+ years, I was always in the camp of running winter rated AT tires and using 4x4 more. Got around fine, and accepted the limitations.

My wife started driving the Tundra last winter and HATED how it did with the Cooper AT3 XLT’s. So for this winter I put Toyo Observe G3-Ice tires on it.

Literally blown away at how well the truck does in the snow / ice. In 2wd with snow tires it will outperform the winter rated AT tires in 4wd in basically every condition I’ve encountered. The dedicated snow tires in 4x4 feel like cheating with how much it has transformed the truck.

Have actually had over 3’ of snow over the last 5 days here. Couldn’t be happier with the decision to run dedicated winter tires.

If you are even remotely on the fence / have ran winter tires previously, then I feel you will be much happier with the added performance of the winter tires.

 

Slow down

 

Haha... what pushed you to land on aftermarket WP over dedicated snows? I know you said earlier you like the TrdPro rims too much to swap them off, but did you consider just having them mounted each time?

 

Man I hope we see 3' of snow over 5 days this winter!!!

Thanks, this is helpful.

 

I run a winch cat in Utah during the winter so I am always driving in storms. Just had one Sunday drop 15" on us. I pulled the stock tires when I got my 22, and put on bfg k02's. No issues they do well and fairly quiet. Most of us that work on the cat crew run ko2's or duratracs with no issues. Hope this helps

 

This statement excludes off-roading in the deep snow.

Well here goes…

The Michelin LTX’s LTX 2’s and now the current Defender LTX’s handily out performed the vast majority of AT tires I have used for STREET use in winter. Conditions include light to heavy snow, ice, freezing rain, and slush. Snow tire would be first choice Michelin Defender would be second.

Michelin’s tire compound is much softer and more pliable (to touch) in the very cold weather which I am ASSUME is a important part of the equation…

I don’t care what people think of my tires (anymore) because real world results is all that matters now.

 

If you have the space to store 4 tires that size, then the best answer is to go get some studded Hakka’s.

Severe snow rated AT tires are like a Leatherman multi tool: they can do a lot of stuff, but they’re not outstanding at any task. Sometimes you need to stop screwing around and get the right tool for a given job.

 

LTX2 turned out working very well. Ran a set on one of my 4Runner's. Very good OTR, wet and Snow traction.

 

For a highway tire that isn’t 3Peak certified, they are pretty remarkable. They punch well above their class.

In regards to truck tires, as Michelin’s age and rake up mileage there is very little loss of performance. I have had sets go about 70k on a Tacoma and a suburban and it was noteworthy how they still performed. I simply can’t say that with any BfGoodrich or Goodyear AT tires I have used (KO/KO2/Duratrac/any Wrangler tire!). I found performance to drop significantly in as little as 20k but usually I dumped AT tires around 40 to 45k because of wet and inclement weather performance.

However I completely understand the necessity of an AT tire for some pickup/SUV owners.