Falken Wildpeak A/T3W (P) or Michelin Defender LTX M/S (LT)? (2 Viewers)

[Moby]

Appreciated all!

I will likely try out the LTX and carry chains. I've never had to chain up a Landcruiser or my GX460, including stock tires. I learned to drive in snow in a '80 Chevy Malibu station wagon that would spin the back tires if it just looked like it might rain. That needed chains

I may buy dedicated snow tires at some point depending on how the LTX M/S do. I just don't think that I need the tread of the Falkens 90+% of the time.

 

[Itsky]

another thread relevant to this topic:

Michelin LTX defender vs KO2 snow performance

Currently have both tires but an offer stands to sell my KO2’s. The only real reason I’m hesitant is due to the road trips I have planned to Colorado that would require a decent amount of driving in snow. I don’t plan to take more than two trips/season so I don’t want a dedicated winter...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[scottm]

Definitely hard to get an apples:apples comparison. Snow conditions, even during the same event, can vary greatly from hour-to-hour with temp changes, road use, etc. For those with infrequent snow/ice use this can make evaluations difficult; a bad day on a the best tire may be perceived as poor performance. Compared to 9F snow temps where even summer tires can get reasonable grip. We've had snow on the ground since before Halloween this year. A large part of our life is white roads.

In my experience, I would put the LTX in the same traction category as any other 4-season 'mud + snow' tire. There's no 'killer app' technology to it that gives it any specific advantage. It's a good all-season highway tire. If running it, my advice would be to carry chains for when the worst hits.

For those needing best-in-class white road performance you should get a dedicated snow tire (not a studded tire). Tire tech has made huge advances and the top-tier brand's snow tire offerings are fantastic, better than chains in many regards. Next in line would be the 3PMS tires. There is tech behind that rating. Though opinions and experience can vary greatly. Look no further than the recent KO2 vs AT3W thread here. 'They suck' vs 'They're awesome' comments abound with no true comparative data. The advantage to an IH8MUD user is the 3PMS AT is the Swiss Army Knife of overlander tires; trail, highway, or snow it does it all very well.

Hopefully, it goes without saying here, but airing down is essential for maximum traction. Get good at it and use that tool often. Air down aggressively if speeds are low.

Lastly, the one tire that I'm intrigued by is the Nokian Rotiiva AT+ that @scottm is running on his 21. What's interesting is Nokian has this classified as a summer tire. Perhaps that term is relative to a Scandinavian?

I've run a number of "All weather" nokian tires on various vehicles and kids and wife's vehicles. These are my first AT nokian all weather tires and I'm very impressed. They are marketed toward commercial users and are pretty stiff at recommended pressures. Max pressure is 80 psi.

A few days ago I came home in our first big winter event, around the bottom of lake Michigan. It was brutal, lots of cars on their roofs, trucks spun out across and blocking the road, no plows. Temperature solidly at 32° the whole way, rough going. Right lane was glazed ice with cars lined up at 30 mph. I had to get in the left lane and pass them at 40 or so in several inches of wet slush. I occasionally had to grab the brakes or switch lanes and these tires did not give a hint of slipping. I'm sure I could have run faster in the slush, but I'm not in that much of a hurry.

Today I'm headed back to Chicago. I left home in wet snow, now stopping for gas at the Michigan border and it is dry. These tires have to do well in all conditions at highway speeds and they do. Different pressures for different conditions make a huge difference. I adjust regularly, stopped 6 miles from my house and added 3 PSI. I have a collection of crap pressure gauges, this digital one from McMaster-Carr seems to be the right one for me.

I bought this truck to have capability and safety. These tires are a dramatic improvement in those areas for the conditions I drive in. This is what I value in a vehicle, and why I drive Land cruisers.

 

[Moby]

Got the Defender LTX M/S installed today. I'll still most likely end up buying dedicated snow tires. I decided on the Defenders because I didn't want to try and make one set of tires work for everything.

Felt great @40psi on the 30min drive home. I'll experiment up to 42 psi. Ride isn't noticeably stiffer than stock and the steering was more precise and predictable. Will put a couple hundred miles on them this weekend, including a mountain pass and likely snow, so I'll do one more update here after I see how that goes.

Edit: My wife just ran some errands and agreed that steering felt "tighter" overall (in a good way).

 

[Moby]

Very happy with the Defender LTX M/S so far. Drove 6 hours with some hard rain, standing water, snow/slush over Mt. Hood (PNW cold, so 32 degrees ) and dry and fast. Very smooth, tracked great. Did feel the size and weight of the LT 285/65R18 some, just needing to downshift a bit more. But the engine doesn't seem to care. It's not a fast drivetrain but it just shrugs off weight. I tried to use this as justification for a supercharger. It didn't take.

 

[swild]

Very happy with the Defender LTX M/S so far. Drove 6 hours with some hard rain, standing water, snow/slush over Mt. Hood (PNW cold, so 32 degrees ) and dry and fast. Very smooth, tracked great. Did feel the size and weight of the LT 285/65R18 some, just needing to downshift a bit more. But the engine doesn't seem to care. It's not a fast drivetrain but it just shrugs off weight. I tried to use this as justification for a supercharger. It didn't take.

How have the tires treated you? Have you done any offroading? I just put Falken Wildpeak AT3W's on my rig, and I do not like the highway feel. I drive 99% highway and only 1% basic overlanding stuff. Would love to hear your review.

 

[Moby]

Still really happy with them. Only light dirt road use, mostly highway.

 

[El Skywalker]

How have the tires treated you? Have you done any offroading? I just put Falken Wildpeak AT3W's on my rig, and I do not like the highway feel. I drive 99% highway and only 1% basic overlanding stuff. Would love to hear your review.

Did you purchase the LT or non LT?
I'm looking at getting the S load version of these tires.

 

[Moby]

LT