Tyre Topic: Falken Wildpeak MT01

[twisted32]

This Tyre Topic is for members to post about the Falken Wildpeak MT01. Post your thoughts on grip, noise, wear, airing down, or anything else you consider of interest to other members.

Falken Wildpeak MT01




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[twisted32]

Well I decided to give the Falken MT01's (265/70 R17)a try, on paper they stacked up, 3 ply sidewall, Japanese manufacturer (made in Thailand), limited but good online reviews and the price was right.

So far after approx. 15000km, and 4 trips (3 weekends to Flinders & 10 days in the Western Vic High Country) the results have been disappointing.

The Good:
-Quiet for a mud terrain
-Strong sidewall (instills more confidence than the Kumho MT51's)
-Good levels of on road grip both wet and dry (for the aggressive nature of the tyre)
-Very good offroad grip predominately steep, rocky, low range tracks.

The Bad:
-After the 3 weekends in the Flinders (nothing that our group would class as overly harsh) excessive tread block damage was evident including undercutting of outer lugs on the two front tyres, caused by downhill descents (rear side of the lug). Falken rep was contacted, and to their credit I found out this week they are supplying two new tyres (after numerous conversations, and my expectation to loose those tread blocks on the planned High Country trip. Of note, other gen 4 Pajero's on these trips showed little tyre damage (Toyo MT's, Nitto MT's, ATZ P3s).
-After the 10 days in the Western High Country, they are looking very sad. Lost at least one complete lug, and numerous partial lug losses over all 4 tyres. Whilst grip levels were good, they also wore considerably (most notable when a 3000km, 5 tyre rotation was done on return). njswb was my travel buddy for this trip, and his older Toyo MT's while also showing small cut/chip damage to tread blocks, did not loose any tread blocks. There were some "interesting tracks" on this trip (spud spur, black river etc) but I did not expect this level of damage. The tread compound simply appears to be inadequate for our rough, rocky terrain (pure mud is probably a different story).

I would not be recommending these tyres to anyone envisaging anything but mud use.

[sharkcaver]

FYI....My MT51's have suffered the same lug damage as your pictures show, so they are no alternative either. Not sure what I will go with next. I'd hazard a guess it wont be wildpeaks.

[twisted32]

FYI....My MT51's have suffered the same lug damage as your pictures show, so they are no alternative either. Not sure what I will go with next. I'd hazard a guess it wont be wildpeaks.

These Falkens replaced Kumho MT51s. The MT51s had a much harder life, and were replaced at 60k (30% tread remaining), and only had minor chipping, no missing tread blocks.

That is why I am so disappointed with the Falkens, correct pressures, driven with mechanical sympathy and this kind of damage from less than 2000km off road...

[Rdpaj]

What pressure did you run them at? Any chance that they might perform better at a different PSI?

Only ask because I’ve heard wonderful things about Falken and looked into them myself recently, wouldn’t expect them to get damaged so easily like that!

[twisted32]

What pressure did you run them at? Any chance that they might perform better at a different PSI?

Only ask because I’ve heard wonderful things about Falken and looked into them myself recently, wouldn’t expect them to get damaged so easily like that!

I didn't expect damage like this either.
Pressures for low range work were 18-20 psi hot. Same pressures (within 2 psi) were being run in njswb Toyo MTs, over the same country with much less damage ( no tread block losses).

[Rdpaj]

Wonder if the wildpeaks run hotter so require lower speed or slightly higher pressures?

I saw the guy on 4xoverland (YouTube) just fit a set to his latest build so will be interested to see how he goes.

[nj swb]

Wonder if the wildpeaks run hotter so require lower speed or slightly higher pressures?

Twisted 32 & I run the same TPMS system, with internal sensors. From memory, the Falkens were always slightly cooler than my Toyos (I consider these Toyo MTs to be the heaviest, stiffest, noisiest, thirstiest and hottest running tyres I've had - and right up with the best for serious off-road work).

[Rdpaj]

Ah damn that’s pretty disappointing! Had high hopes for Falken.