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Bryan Irons photos
Falken Wildpeak A/T Review
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Bryan Irons photos
Falken Wildpeak A/T Review
The Falken’s mounted on Black Rock rims attached to the Power Wagon.
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Bryan Irons photos
Falken Wildpeak A/T Review
Mounting the Wildpeaks proved difficult, as we never could balance them out.
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Bryan Irons photos
Falken Wildpeak A/T Review
Despite balance issues, the all-terrain tread pattern kept things civil on the road.
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Bryan Irons photos
Falken Wildpeak A/T Review
We were happy with the way the Wildpeaks combated snow and hydroplaning.
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Bryan Irons photos
Falken Wildpeak A/T Review
The Wildpeaks were much more at home in rocky terrain; they did not like the mud.
Story & photos by Bryan Irons
As fall morphed from warm days to “go get your parka,” we had been keeping an eye out on the local off-road forums for a small outing to attend, and this time with a purpose. It seems between work, family, extra work, life and occasional sleep sessions, nothing more than side street miles had been put on a fresh set of Falken Wildpeak AT’s. It was time for some byway testing.
The Wildpeak A/T 37x12.5x17 is the largest size Falken makes these, and it is a good size to test how streetable an off-road tire is. The warning sticker attached to the sidewall of the tire denoting the possible dangers of off-road driving with oversized tires and modified suspensions just made us smile; this is what we do for fun! We toted our wheel and tires over to West Kelowna’s Trucks Plus for mounting up, thanks again guys! Balancing the big meats on a set of Black Rock Wheels Street Lock 953’s took a little extra effort (read: weight) than we’re used to. While trying to sort the issues out, it was noted that the circumference of each tire was slightly different. We’d like to tell you that strapping a half-pound of lead made for a smooth ride, but that would make us liars. Moving on…
The Street Lock wheels from Black Rock are a great design with the stiffening ring for added bash ability. Black Rock knows what we like to see in an off-road wheel; valve stems moved inboard for extra protection. Another happy plus is the replaceable bolts in the stiffening ring for when… not “if”… we smack them on the rocks. Our 17x9’s with 5-in of backspacing had very little runout and it’s nice to have a top notch North American made piece adorn our rig.
We mounted the wobbly Wildpeaks on a few different wheels and rigs just to see what they could do and where the vibes came from. “Stinky Jeep, our trail hero and a 2013 Power Wagon got the nod. The weight difference between the two vehicles is almost ridiculous and we had to play with tire pressures to find the sweet spot for both rigs when hitting the dirt and facing the dreaded street.
Editors Mack and Stanley are all uppity about the “road noise a tire produces” when we are testing tires. Fine, we’ll play ball; they are the quietest tire in a 37 we have had the fortune of testing. The downfall of this is how many squeaks and rattles appear when we don’t have tractor tires thundering away under our butts. The vibes from the pre-mentioned balancing issues made for a nice back massage when it wasn’t rubbing us raw.
Ice and snow testing only found a little time under the treads, but in that time the multiple angles and siping compared well against the other A/T style tires the Wildpeak sees as competitors. In the rain and slushy streets, they held firm and didn’t show any signs of hydroplaning even with the 12.5-in carcass we had on.
As a trail ride happened to show up on one of our cyberspace explorations, we knew it was time to see what the Falken’s could really do under the Jeep. Being an A/T tire we didn’t expect anything exceptional in the mud we found. Extra throttle managed to clear the treads, but it was a hard fight for traction in the deeper glop. Dirt and rocks is where it’s at for these tires. They produced a nice bulge at about 10 psi. Not shabby for a 3-ply sidewall good for 1600 kg. And with that sidewall we hit up a few rock patches, which the Falken’s simply enveloped, grabbed and motored on. After the day of bumbling around and driving by Braille, we couldn’t find any missing lugs or everlasting scars. Some extra sidewall treads would be nice, but this is an A/T after all.
We were impressed with the traction in the rocks and having a quiet ride would be nice if it could also be smooth and controllable. The balancing issues we encountered and tendency for the tread blocks to build up with mud off-road were its major drawbacks during our time with the tire. With a dedicated trail rig like ours, we really want to give the up and coming Wildpeak M/T a go and see how they have advanced. For a 4WD like our Power Wagon that sees mostly street miles with the occasional foray off the beaten path, an A/T tire is a good choice; we just wish these ones would balance out.
Falken Tire - www.falkentire.com
Black Rock Wheels - www.blackrockwheels.com
Trucks Plus - 778-754-1755 - www.trucksplusauto.ca