Falken Wildpeak AT4W tires installed (LT275/65/20)

[Tr4ckD4ys]

After much deliberation and only 5K miles in my stock AT pirellis, I decided to double down on my overland build and get my rig some more off-road prowess.

Studying all the different threads on here it became clear that choosing new tires was not going to be an easy task. There is simply no perfect answer to this question at the moment. You want to keep stock size? You’re stuck with few options of questionable range and wear implications. Willing to ignore stock size and ratings? More options but still no guarantee on range.

So after months of thinking and researching this, I got to the “F@*k it!” point and decided to royally screw my range expectations.

I ended up deciding to go with the most bad a** AT tire out there (biased opinion) that also happens to be the heaviest one. The Falken Wildpeak AT4Ws are a great all-rounder if winter, mud & water conditions matter equally to you as sand and rocks. If they don’t, and you’re a Baja-all-the-way person then the KO3s will likely be the better choice.

These bad boys weigh a whopping 65lbs each, for an increase over stock of about ~17lbs depending on the source of information. It’s safe to say that if any rotational mass impact on range can be quantified, these ones will be the benchmark for the max impact. But here’s the thing: my life on the road is only changing in positive ways so long as I make my daily charging 80% now instead of the 70% I used to do:
- Despite 3-ply sidewall and E Load rating, these tires ride smooth as heck compared to the Pirelli stock ATs
- Sound and comfort overall are meaningfully improved
- Wet & Snow traction are best in class, the stock tires won’t even compare
- Compared to the glorified all-seasons that Pirelli calls AT tires (or Nitto Recons for that matter), the Falken’s have real off-road capability, perfect for any overlanding ambitions
- They look hell of a lot better than the stock tires too

Overall, I am super happy I made this choice and stopped worrying about the 50 different threads on tire tradeoffs. Needless to say total cost of vehicle operation was not a factor in my decision. If you’re looking to lower your electric bill, these are not for you.

I’ll keep everyone posted on range evolution. My 5K miles average on my PDM Max is 2.38 mi/kwh.

pics below.

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[COdogman]

Beefy

 

[EVTrukHog]

Those look great... congrats on just pulling the trigger. I'm almost there myself. I would like to see the approximate range hit... the monthly elec bill doesn't bother me but I'd like to see how it impacts my max range while traveling. Well done!

 

[abram]

Thank you for posting, honestly these have been top of mind for me as my replacements for the Scorpions but I kept hesitating based on the weight. My daily needs shouldn’t be affected by the range impact but I’m sure I’d notice on long road trips.

It seems though that all the other Pros of the Wildpeaks outweigh (pun intended) the cons.

 

[EVTrukHog]

After much deliberation and only 5K miles in my stock AT pirellis, I decided to double down on my overland build and get my rig some more off-road prowess.

Studying all the different threads on here it became clear that choosing new tires was not going to be an easy task. There is simply no perfect answer to this question at the moment. You want to keep stock size? You’re stuck with few options of questionable range and wear implications. Willing to ignore stock size and ratings? More options but still no guarantee on range.

So after months of thinking and researching this, I got to the “F@*k it!” point and decided to royally screw my range expectations.

I ended up deciding to go with the most bad a** AT tire out there (biased opinion) that also happens to be the heaviest one. The Falken Wildpeak AT4Ws are a great all-rounder if winter, mud & water conditions matter equally to you as sand and rocks. If they don’t, and you’re a Baja-all-the-way person then the KO3s will likely be the better choice.

These bad boys weigh a whopping 65lbs each, for an increase over stock of about ~17lbs depending on the source of information. It’s safe to say that if any rotational mass impact on range can be quantified, these ones will be the benchmark for the max impact. But here’s the thing: my life on the road is only changing in positive ways so long as I make my daily charging 80% now instead of the 70% I used to do:
- Despite 3-ply sidewall and E Load rating, these tires ride smooth as heck compared to the Pirelli stock ATs
- Sound and comfort overall are meaningfully improved
- Wet & Snow traction are best in class, the stock tires won’t even compare
- Compared to the glorified all-seasons that Pirelli calls AT tires (or Nitto Recons for that matter), the Falken’s have real off-road capability, perfect for any overlanding ambitions
- They look hell of a lot better than the stock tires too

Overall, I am super happy I made this choice and stopped worrying about the 50 different threads on tire tradeoffs. Needless to say total cost of vehicle operation was not a factor in my decision. If you’re looking to lower your electric bill, these are not for you.

I’ll keep everyone posted on range evolution. My 5K miles average on my PDM Max is 2.38 mi/kwh.

pics below.

Can you share what psi you’re utilizing on pavement - and the efficiency decrease you’re experiencing relative to OEM Pirelli? Thanks for sharing!

 

[Singletracker]

Don’t know about the A/T4W, but I have experience with the A/T3W (not on my R1T). I can say that it is the best tire I have ever used - excellent in every category. I assume the A/T4W will be at least as capable. I have little doubt that one of these Falkens will eventually end up on my rig. Can’t wait to see how the efficiency plays out.

 

[seanocono]

They look great! Looking forward to the long-term update.

 

[Tr4ckD4ys]

Thank you for posting, honestly these have been top of mind for me as my replacements for the Scorpions but I kept hesitating based on the weight. My daily needs shouldn’t be affected by the range impact but I’m sure I’d notice on long road trips.

It seems though that all the other Pros of the Wildpeaks outweigh (pun intended) the cons.

Can you share what psi you’re utilizing on pavement - and the efficiency decrease you’re experiencing relative to OEM Pirelli? Thanks for sharing!

Don’t know about the A/T4W, but I have experience with the A/T3W (not on my R1T). I can say that it is the best tire I have ever used - excellent in every category. I assume the A/T4W will be at least as capable. I have little doubt that one of these Falkens will eventually end up on my rig. Can’t wait to see how the efficiency plays out.

ok just a small update here from my first drive to work today morning: 2.26mi/kWh, which is about ~4.5% drop from my usual efficiency on that drive. So far, not bad at all co side ring all the benefits this tire has.

I would say the best way to describe the change in ride comfort over the Pirellis is to say that the Falken E-Load tires feel like driving the pirellis on “soft” suspension setting when you’re actually in “moderate”. Amazing!

On a side note, I’ve always had issues with steering and alignment on my R1T in the first 5k miles, despite the SC trying to fix it several times. The truck would feel like it has a slight right pull, sometimes even despite opposite road crowning. After SC alignment, that issue would get better for a bit but return. I am glad to report that with the Falkens this issue has completely subsided and the truck drives like a different truck. Dead center and steering almost feels easier than with the pirellis. My only hypothesis here is that the Pirellis run at 48 cold, which is close to their max pressure. Maybe they are just a bad quality tire with iffy contact patches at those psi. The Falken can be run at 46 cold to achieve the same contact patch needed for safety. You can run them at 65 if you further want to negate the range impact and you'd still be ways away from max pressure.

 

[abram]

2.26 is a drop in efficiency for you? Impressive! In all my stop & go California traffic I tend to average 1.6-1.8 on the pirellis but can see 2+ on long drives.
Encouraging news though!

May I ask why you’re running the tire pressure so low? (Lack of LT tire knowledge over on my end)

 

[sac602]

Following

 

[EVTrukHog]

ok just a small update here from my first drive to work today morning: 2.26mi/kWh, which is about ~4.5% drop from my usual efficiency on that drive. So far, not bad at all co side ring all the benefits this tire has.

I would say the best way to describe the change in ride comfort over the Pirellis is to say that the Falken E-Load tires feel like driving the pirellis on “soft” suspension setting when you’re actually in “moderate”. Amazing!

On a side note, I’ve always had issues with steering and alignment on my R1T in the first 5k miles, despite the SC trying to fix it several times. The truck would feel like it has a slight right pull, sometimes even despite opposite road crowning. After SC alignment, that issue would get better for a bit but return. I am glad to report that with the Falkens this issue has completely subsided and the truck drives like a different truck. Dead center and steering almost feels easier than with the pirellis. My only hypothesis here is that the Pirellis run at 48 cold, which is close to their max pressure. Maybe they are just a bad quality tire with iffy contact patches at those psi. The Falken can be run at 46 cold to achieve the same contact patch needed for safety. You can run them at 65 if you further want to negate the range impact and you'd still be ways away from max pressure.

While not many miles in your initial sample size, that is an encouraging report! I was expecting a decrease in efficiency in the 7-10% range relative to the OEM Pirelli A/T. If the Falken eliminates the 40MPH drone from my Pirelli then I'm all in...

 

[BCondrey]

Was the original tire the stock 21" version? Thats what I have. Efficiency is good.

May be a stupid question, but did you have to get new rims at the same time?

Stupid question #2, did you have to get the SC to reset the tire size in the config, to make the range estimates close?

 

[Tr4ckD4ys]

2.26 is a drop in efficiency for you? Impressive! In all my stop & go California traffic I tend to average 1.6-1.8 on the pirellis but can see 2+ on long drives.
Encouraging news though!

May I ask why you’re running the tire pressure so low? (Lack of LT tire knowledge over on my end)

While not many miles in your initial sample size, that is an encouraging report! I was expecting a decrease in efficiency in the 7-10% range relative to the OEM Pirelli A/T. If the Falken eliminates the 40MPH drone from my Pirelli then I'm all in...

I fully agree - 14 miles is not sufficient of a sample at all. I do believe that in the long run it’s probably gonna hone in between 5-8% range loss, which is totally acceptable to me considering the benefits of these tires. So far I have 0 drone at speeds 10-70mph. They’re way more composed in sound and steering than the Pirellis. My 14 miles is a mix of suburban roads, parkways and highways.

All of that said: Your impact on range is vastly dependent on your driving style. I do have a moderate to boring driving style. I tend to anticipate slowing down, accelerate moderately and evenly and never go more than 10-15mph over the limit. With this, I believe my range impact from the Falkens will be negligible as stated above. However, the impact on your range will gradually worsen as your driving style becomes more aggressive. This means if I lose 5%, and you drive more aggressive, it could be that you lose 15% as opposed to ie 7-8%. Your driving style is your number one way to help your battery last.

 

[Tr4ckD4ys]

Was the original tire the stock 21" version? Thats what I have. Efficiency is good.

May be a stupid question, but did you have to get new rims at the same time?

Stupid question #2, did you have to get the SC to reset the tire size in the config, to make the range estimates close?

No such thing as stupid questions. That’s what this forum is for.

My original tires are the 20” Pirelli AT tires on 20” OEM rims. My lifetime efficiency is 2.38mi/kwh on those. On your second question: I bought the Falken tires in the exact stock size (275/65/20), just a higher load rating. Therefore I continue to use my OEM rims and no SC adjustments were necessary.

 

[SwampNut]

I had the AT3 on my Gladiator, and loved them, but their load rating was a more reasonable 109 for that vehicle. On the Rivian a 116 is more than enough. The 126 rating is ridiculous and makes the ride harsher while costing efficiency. I replaced the stock tires with the Recon Grappler in a 116 load range.

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