265/70/18 on a 2020 LC?

[Madtiger]

I think RT is code for the latest reason they would like us tripping over ourselves to ‘Replace Tires’. All kidding aside, it’s just an updated version of the Duratrac tire. I have them, and also too little experience with them to judge their relative value. I agree with Teck, Falken offers more…tire. That additional tire mass might be steel, rubber, polyester, or all three - I don’t know. My prior LT tires offered more mass too. Horses for courses I suppose, and plenty of folks love those horses for honest reasons I’m certain.

Falken uses cheap steel plies. Other manufacturers use high tensile steel plies. Thus the weight difference.

 

[W4632018]

They give you more tire. Truer to size and among the deepest tread up to 19/32nds.

Falken uses cheap steel plies. Other manufacturers use high tensile steel plies. Thus the weight difference.

Is there any proof or source you used for this information? I was under the impression that Falken made premium tires.

 

[Madtiger]

Is there any proof or source you used for this information? I was under the impression that Falken made premium tires.

On another forum, a member emailed Falken and got the explanation about strength and weight, and I quote:

“The reason the Wildpeaks are heavy is that they use wide steel belts and regular steel rather than high-strength steel. The latter is not used to make the tires stronger but rather lighter. So strength is a wash.”

Of note, when Wildpeaks first came to market, they were significantly cheaper than other high end ATs. So, they became popular real quick...great looking and cheap. Marketing team at Falken did great...with the "folded sidewall" thingy...claiming that their sidewall was just as good as 3-ply sidewall of other proven ATs....how deep their tread was etc.... They became an instant hit among 4x4 community. Most of their claims over the years have been proven to be less than spectacular. And they have raised the prices with the popularity since then.

I personally think Falken WPs are good tires if you can get discount on them. They are above average (again if you can get a good price on them) and if you are OK with the (higher) unsprung weight.

 

[tarpaigh]

On the tall skinny vs wide tire… the contact patch is the same between the two.
This guy scientifically tested both on the same truck and the findings are surprising.

 

[TeCKis300]

On the tall skinny vs wide tire… the contact patch is the same between the two.
This guy scientifically tested both on the same truck and the findings are surprising.

We hashed this a bit in another thread. His findings were generally inconclusive and he does leave it somewhat open ended. The wide KM3 clearly crosses things up and points to another thing he couldn't control for.

The pizza cutter in this specific model tire clearly has a much more compliant sidewall which is ultimately the only thing he can conclude. This is also clear from Baja tires themselves because even as both have the same load rating and are LR-E, the designs are different and the narrow needs 80PSI to support the same max load, vs wides that need only 65PSI.

In off-road, loads are not static. There will be shifting of weight and dynamic loads. A wide will generally have more bandwidth to deform and further increase contact patch. This creates more opportunity for traction from friction and mechanical keying.

 

[W4632018]

On another forum, a member emailed Falken and got the explanation about strength and weight, and I quote:

“The reason the Wildpeaks are heavy is that they use wide steel belts and regular steel rather than high-strength steel. The latter is not used to make the tires stronger but rather lighter. So strength is a wash.”

Of note, when Wildpeaks first came to market, they were significantly cheaper than other high end ATs. So, they became popular real quick...great looking and cheap. Marketing team at Fallen did great...with the "folded sidewall" thingy...claiming that their sidewall was just as good as 3-ply sidewall of other proven ATs....how deep their tread was etc.... They became an instant hit among 4x4 community. Most of their claims over the years have been proven to be less than spectacular. And they have raised the prices with the popularity since then.

I personally think Falken WPs are good tires if you can get discount on them. They are above average (again if you can get a good price on them) and if you are OK with the (higher) unsprung weight.

Is the “folded sidewall thing” not true, or not as strong? That’s why I got the wild peaks couple years ago, because it was a stronger sidewall in an SL tire.

Appreciate the information!

 

[Madtiger]

Is the “folded sidewall thing” not true, or not as strong? That’s why I got the wild peaks couple years ago, because it was a stronger sidewall in an SL tire.

Appreciate the information!

I have seen the pic of sidewall of WP from a sidewall failure…pretty thin. YMMV