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Bryan Irons
Falken Wildpeak A/T3W Review
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Bryan Irons
Falken Wildpeak A/T3W Review
The Outer Apex is an additional circular bead which ads an extra layer of protection to the sidewall area in its thinnest spot without creating a stiff sidewall.
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Bryan Irons
Falken Wildpeak A/T3W Review
Loose mud would fill the voids, unfortunately the Land Cruiser didn’t have the power to spin clean the treads.
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Bryan Irons
Falken Wildpeak A/T3W Review
3D Canyon Sipe Technology worked well to give the tire winter traction.
Story & photos by Bryan Irons
Overlanding is a serious gig; long days on the trail, many times alone in the middle of oblivion, and up to your own devices if things go awry. It’s not an extracurricular activity to be taken lightly, but will certainly bring you back to nature no matter if you’re doing it right, or terribly wrong. Selecting the components for these solo journeys are critical as well, and the Falken Wildpeak A/T3W was Darren’s choice of rubber for his Land Cruiser that has taken him and his family throughout BC to some amazing locals.
The 35x12.5x15 Falken’s have developed a strong reputation in the short time they have been on the market as a dependable, year-round tire with the coveted “3 peak snowflake” highlighting the tires ability to get traction on slippery ice and snow. After some break-in time on the street, we really wanted to find out for ourselves if the A/T3W was up to traveling through some of the toughest trails western Canada has to offer.
For an All-Terrain style tire, the 15.6mm (20/32nds) deep tread blocks are skating in Mud Terrain territory and allowed the Wildpeak to easily ford through muddy trails that would pack up a normal AT tread design. Seeing as the hefty Cruiser is “powered” by an already anaemic diesel, tire spin is not an option so the deep voids are welcome. They do, however, contribute to the slightly elevated noise level.
A few features that Falken is very proud of in the A/T3W are “outer apex sidewall” and “heat diffuser technology” for off-road longevity. The Outer Apex is an additional circular bead which adds an extra layer of protection to the sidewall area in its thinnest spot, without creating a stiff sidewall for when we are aired down on the trail. This added reinforcement is also handy as it conducts heat generated from the flexing sidewall and uses a radiator style heat diffuser technology to resist delamination common on tires running at speed with low tire pressure. Do they work? After a few thousand kilometers of bush and highway jaunts in the heavily laden Cruiser; no failures of any sort have been detected.
“ 3D Canyon Sipe Technology” is a complex way of saying “interlocked sipes” (we’re good at deciphering these types of phrases after a career as a “Cost Effective Nutritional Distribution Engineer” - aka: pizza delivery punk). The siping pattern gives plenty of tiny biting edges like any siping does, but with them interlocked, it doesn’t make the tread block wobbly or unstable and less prone to chunking when used in sharp rocks.
Between the siping and the deep tread blocks, the ability of the Cruiser to transition from icy city streets to untouched, snow laden trails doesn’t require any fingernail biting. The tires took it in stride no matter the terrain or time of year. The 3-ply carcass also moved well on rocky trails and we never had any puncture issues in all the kilometres trekked.
Our last experience with Falken was with the defunct AT line that left us shaking… literally, and caused us to question Falken’s bold stride into the off-road arena. With the introduction of the A/T3W, we’re glad to see that they have listened to their customers’ needs and have developed a durable, competent, and universal tire. Welcome to the front of the pack, Falken!
Falken Tires – www.falkentire.com