2010 Tundra Traction Issues

I have a 2010 Tundra that seems to be having some traction issues. I can barely take off or turn on any type of wet road without traction control kicking in. I even have it kick on during take off on dry roads. I have Falken AT3W tires with decent amount of tread left on them.

The truck did mostly set for about 3 years because I had a work vehicle I drove. I am sure that didn’t help them any. I am wondering if the compound hardened up from sitting all that time? Two of the tires are starting to dry rot a little in a circular pattern around the middle of the tire. I appreciate Ny thoughts on this. If it’s suggested to replace, what do you like? I’m 90% on road but in KY we get a little snow, a little ice, and a little rain through the winter. I just want the traction issues to go away, especially on wet roads. It’s almost a safety issue at this point. Thanks for your feedback.

 

What psi do you run in the tires? And what do you consider ‘a decent amount of tread’? At 5/32, I consider my tires done for unless it’s middle of the summer and no rain. But that’s me.

 

The tires are at factory recommended pressure. They have 7/32 tread.

 

Michelin Defender is the best all-around tire you can get. Pricey, but cheaper than an accident.

 

That is odd. I wouldn’t think they would be losing a significant amount of traction at 7/32. But perhaps the compound has hardened. It sat for 3.5 years but how old are the actual tires?

One other thing - are you sure the tires are losing traction or is the TC kicking in for some other reason- like a bad wheel speed sensor? You can turn off the Nannie’s (hold the traction control button down for 5 seconds, then let up and hold it down for 5 more seconds to see the TRAC and Squiggly Road lights on the dash illuminate) and take the truck for a drive. If your tires are spinning easily, it’s definitely the tires that need to be replaced. If the traction control stops intervening and it drives normally, you have another issue like a bad sensor or need to recalibrate the yaw sensors (look up Zero Point Calibration).

If you need new tires, I’ve had very good luck with Coopers AT3 in the LT and XLT flavors, Big O AT (which I don’t think is available in KY), Michelins LTX AT2, and Nokian’s new Outpost NAT. I just the Nokians on a few months ago and so far, they are the best tire I’ve run. But we get snow 5 or 6 months out of the year and I wanted something that did better than the Coopers in the snow (which did well, TBH, but could use some improvement). The trade off is the Nokians are a little louder around 40 mph but normal road noise masks is at highway speeds. The Coopers AT3 XLTs were the quietest. They were also super smooth and handled great especially when loaded. Empty, you had to mind the pressure a little more. My AT3 LT’s were a little noisier and harder to keep balanced but handled identically. All of those options are much lighter than your Wildpeaks.

 

Good information. We got snow tonight so I will try turning off traction control and see what happens. I bought the tires in October of 2019 so they are a little over 4 years old. How harsh was the ride with the Cooper XLT? I have the P-rated Falkens. I’ve always held back on the LT tires thinking the ride would be rough. I wouldn’t mind shedding some weight though if I need to replace the tires. I had the Michelin and I thought they were terrible in snow. Very little traction.

 

The Cooper XLT's were a little on the firm side. My rig is heavy and I tow often so it really wasn't a deterrent for me since they handled heavy loads and trailers EXTREMELY well. And they were whisper quiet when new. I could modulate the stiffness with tire pressure but, like I said, I tow and haul often so I just left them aired up a bit. But Cooper does make the same tread pattern with a modified tread compound that they call the AT3 4S that is the p-rated version of the tire. Tread depth is a little shallower but it is a lighter carcass and and much lighter tire. I plan on running either the AT3 4S or Nokian's on my sequoia when the the current Michelins wear out (which will be end of this coming summer, most likely). Yes, I own both a Tundra and Sequoia and wouldn't have it any other way. The Mrs drives the sequoia and hauls the kids around, but we load it up for family road trips, outdoor adventures, and to take the travel trailer out.

 

I should also add that snow traction is tricky. We get different types of snow here throughout the year and I find that when it snows just below or above freezing, you get wet snow that slicks up quickly, then turns to ice. Right now, it's cold out and has been since it started snowing earlier this week. So the snow is more powdery - which doesn't really stick to itself - but also doesn't turn to mush, slush, then ice. It's cold enough that the snow crunches when you walk on it. haha. So I have better initial traction right now in a couple of inches of powder between the times the snow plows come out than I do in an inch of wet, heavy snow. I also air down a few psi in the winter which improves traction. But generally speaking, the Coopers did really well - almost exceptionally well - in winter road conditions. The Nokians do show them up, just a bit, though. But for an overall rating, the Coopers were WELL worth the money.

 

I doubt very much it is the tires if they are under 5 yrs old. My daughter drove her truck this last year up until the late fall with almost bald BFG ATs and the traction control never kicked in even in the rain. Even now with plenty of snow (over 14” the last couple of days), I have to really accelerate hard for the TC to kick in, but it is on winter tires now.

 

I am going to turn off the traction control and drive in the snow that fell overnight and see what happens. We got some dry powdery snow so it should be a good test. It is also 10 F so it has the potential to be very slick so we shall see how it goes.

 

If I need tires I like the look of the Cooper XLT, but I see they don’t come in 275/65/18 or at least I can’t find them. What size did you run? I like the AT3 4S version, but I wish the sidewall looked the same as the XLT. Did you find there to be much difference between the Nokian and Cooper in any other areas?

 

I had the same issue with my Rock Warrior. I changed the diff fluid, and it got much much better. If u have changed ur diff fluid recently, then im not sure if tires are the culprit. I have 35x12.50r17s on my tundra, and they took a beating before i did my diff fluid. Also maybe air down ur tires a few psi lower in the back for better traction. Thats what i do right before i see snow in the forecast. hope this helps

 

It’s been at least 100,000 miles since I changed the differential fluid. Can’t hurt to try that. Thank you!