Hydroplaning

Yesterday I was caught up in heavy holiday traffic and torrential rain in Dallas on the highways and a whole mess of bridges, narrow lanes, and poor drivers. Luckily I was in my truck and it did amazing for the conditions. Now considering replacement of the stock Michelin tires and I would like input on the good, the bad and the ugly experienced by others who have driven in challenging environments. Suspension upgrades are complete with adjustable SPC UCA's, Vated coil overs pushing 3.5", Dobinson's HD leaf springs, Bilstein 5160's, yellow Sumo spring bump stops, Roadmaster HD active suspension, BDS traction bars, and all the small things like brake line relocate, carrier bearing drop, front diff and sway bar drop, bump stop extensions, etc. Pretty good setup that will haul anything I can fit in it so I need to upgrade the tires to a E load rated HD version that will complete it but not sacrifice too much of the wet road manners. Off road, yes, hard core, not a chance. What tires would you buy/not buy, and why? So far Toyo AT3 is topping my list, however I never have driven on them, always preferred Michelin and have ran a few BFG ko2s with good results. Hopefully I can fit 285/75 on my stock 18" TRD rims with at most a 3mm spacer ring up front only. I think that would put the front track width very close to stock after the lift since I am almost certain it was narrowed just a small amount. Rim swap or bolt on spacers are not happening, I will settle for 275/70's before those options, and they would be better for towing anyway.

Edit: MPG is no concern, it's a Tundra, nuff said!

 

Considering your truck and tires are new, hydroplaning could happen by driving too fast for the conditions. I would not consider it a fault of the stock tires, the stock Michelins are decent compared to most factory installed tires. If you like Michelin, their Defender tire is better than the AT2 IMO. Ive had Defenders before and they were great on road, excellent handling, ride, rain, snow, and offered surprisingly good performance for light offroad. They also wear and last really well.

If you want to move to an AT tire, there are many great choices. Plenty of threads with reviews and such in the tire/wheel section of this site. Know that moving to a larger tire on a Tundra with 18 or 20 inch wheels generally means moving to E load, so expect 1+ MPG drop and a bit harsher ride. BFG, Falken, Nitto, Cooper, and more all have good tire choices. I am currently running Wildpeak, 275/70-18 and am happy with them.

Since you need good wet performance, look at all season and AT. Refrain from a MT tire, they can be great at what they do and look nice, but on road and wet traction is a low point for a MT tire.

 

Yoko G015

It was amazing in water, snow and slush, the 285 75r18 is in E load range and 129 load index.

 

I think maybe you misunderstood, I wasn't having hydroplaning problems. I stated good performance from the stock Michelin tires, just need to try and switch tires but keep the Michelin like performance against hydroplaning if I can find a capable tire that will do so. Appreciate your input!!

 

A little FYI, this is also a good choice because it is slightly more narrow than many 285/75's. Spec is 11" That could seal the deal for me by giving adequate clearance. Much appreciated!!

 

Ah, gotcha. Well from what I have read here and personal experience, BFG in E load is not the best for wet traction. Head the same about Ridge Grappler in wet and snow.

But really, any of the major brand AT tires do handle things pretty well. And you can find some good off brands, cheaper that are right up there in performance. Hard to beat the Michelin defender for a all around, good performing, riding and wearing tire but they do look tame and are all season vs AT.

On a Tundra I have run the Michelin AT2, Cooper XLT and Wildpeaks. Liked them all ok, but the stock Michelins were P load, so pretty squishy and edges wear from turning. Other two were great on road, wet, snow but E load so firmer. Have run BFG ATs on many jeeps and SUVs, always C load and they always were good tires. But it seems that BFG now is NOT the BFG of several years ago- complaints on wear, wet tractions, etc on the newer tires. That said, plenty of folks run and love them, they are selling a ton of them.

Best bet is to choose 3 or so tires you like based on how you use the truck, price, mileage warranty, etc. and look those up for longterm reviews. Discount tire and tirerack will have reviews listed, and you can search this site in the wheel/tire section for reviews/thought from folks here.

 

My fault for a poor title choice. Just trying to find out who is running tires that are causing hydroplaning concerns. With such a small contact patch it's really EZ to have problems, and you are correct in speed is a huge factor.

 

i have falcons and could not be happier!

 

Assuming you mean Faulken, are they the wildpeak's? I notice that they are quite popular here. Seem pretty good too, have you had more than one set? Kinda looking for those repeat buyers who have driven on the same brand and design for in excess of 100000 miles like two or three sets or vehicles. Those are the ones who have really truly tested a tire. Not that I don't appreciate your input, I do, just want to try and get the most information posted to benefit any and all who may reference this thread.

 

It was said once about BFG K02s not great for wet traction and I can confirm. Its the one and only reason I switched to Nitto Ridge Grapplers. The ridge grapplers however have been fantastic.

 

Falkens maybe?

BFG KO2 are garbage in wet conditions. First hand experience sliding through an intersection because the hill I was coming down was wet. I was not speeding, or being reckless. They just require you to slow about 3 times sooner than any other tire I've had when wet.

Wildpeaks have been good so far. Not enough miles to truly judge, but I got such a stupid good deal nothing else was as good a value.

 

Except the new one all of ours have Cooper of one type or another. Hard to beat them for the price.

 

Kinda thought someone would be mentioning Good year Duratrac, when I bought my truck I was really hoping it wouldn't have those. Many of the Tundra's in my area are equipped with those from the factory. Just by looking, seems like more of a mud tire, but never owned them. Had a set of Wranglers though, but not enough miles or variable conditions.

 

My 21 came with Bridgestones... no opinion yet but they have been decent over the years

 

I had BFG KO2s and can confirm: they suck on wet pavement. I have Falken Wildpeaks now and they are just as quiet and even better in wet conditions. Great tires.

 

I had 34” ridge grapplers for about 30k miles. They were awful on wet pavement, snow and ice. I live in n ny where we regularly get feet of snow in the winter. Not many downpours or storms though. I just switched to 35” duratracs. It was a complete difference. Wet and snow traction is a lot better. Stopping distance greatly improved.

A deer ran out in front of me today and I stopped from 60 mph pretty fast and my truck weighs a lot due to a truck cap and decked drawers. Abs kicked in but I never lost control.

The difference could be due to the ridge grapplers having 30k miles, but I dont remember them being this good new. It was between the duratracs and KO2s and I’m glad I chose the duratracs. No balance issues or shaking either.

 

I have a set of Duratrac’s on my 2007 in the stock 275/65-R18 load range E.

They ride like shit. Murdered fuel economy, vibrate like mad, the edges cup out immediately on the front tires, they’re loud, and traction is no better in most conditions than an all terrain. In fact I found the Goodyear Silent Armors I had on prior to have been better in wet conditions and significantly better in snow.

The only good thing about the Duratrac is that mine have worn like iron except for the cupping issue.

So overall I will avoid this tire in the future and stick with a well balanced all terrain.

My father in-law has the Toyo all terrain on his F-150 EcoBoost and I’ve driven that truck several times. They hold their balance better, and are noticeably less noisy than the stupid Duracraps on my truck. I drove it a bit in some light rain and encountered no problems at all. So thumbs up for the Toyo.

 

I second the Falkens. I've had BFG kO2, Nitto terra and ridge, Pathfinders a/t, and good years in the past and I'm buying the Falken at3 from here on out. I worked a ton during the ice storm (I'm in DFW as well) and they performed great. They perform great in dry and wet conditions as well in my experience. Not that those other tires were bad (Nitto and goodyear are at the bottom of my list), but the Falken are just better in my opinion.

 

I've got a coworker who recently put goodyear ATs on his 3/4 ton ram and he absolutely hates them. I haven't had any good experiences with goodyear all weather or all terrain in the past personally, but there's others who have so YMMV OP

 

My first set of Goodyear’s were pretty good, the old Wrangler Silent Armor A/T. The only issue was keeping balance, the front end of my Tundra has always been tough to keep tires from vibrating a bit at highway speeds. Every time the alignment is checked it’s in-spec though. Maybe I need them to dial 1 more degree of negative camber.

 

I've currently got the ridge grapplers and I can second this. As soon as they're wore down I'll be going back to the Falken wildpeaks

 

I have had in this order, BFG KO2 , nitto ridge At and now falkin AT3, Like the looks of the nitto’s, ride of the KO2 and the traction from falkins. My overall beat tire is the falkins.

 

I had no issues running the 285/65/20 KO2s (11.5" tread width) in the heavy rain. If hydroplaning is of high concern, a narrower tread width is in order.

 

Toyo AT3 go with your gut. I have have them for roughly 15k miles and have rotated twice. I see very little visual wear so far. I had the Toyo AT2s with very similar results and got 60k from that set.

Can’t go wrong with Toyo reliability after all it’s only 2 letters away from Toyota!

 

I have really been amazed at just how good the Wildpeaks are in most situations and mine are in the stock size on my LB SR truck too. They were easily the cheapest alternative for me when I got rid of the AT2 which I was equally amazed with at how much they just sucked overall in wet conditions which has been confirmed now over and over by the Falkens in the rain!

I also put a set of Cooper XLT on my Element AWD and though it is a tiny toaster compared to our trucks they are also an amazing choice and just like the Falken on my Tundra look pretty aggressive but work better in all conditions than I expected!

YMMV literally of course.

 

I currently have the Toyo AT3s on my GX. No issues, balanced well, quiet for an AT, I will be putting them on again unless I go to the Toyo MT.

 

Well folks, I appreciate the feedback a whole bunch. Got a deal worked out for five Yokohama GO15 285/75 18 mounted and out the door $1300. Maybe sell the Michelin set for $200 on craigslist. So for $1100 my truck will be rocking some decent new shoes in the near future. Probably get an exhaust upgrade after that.

 

I've read good things about those, also in the market for tires and doing waaay too much research. Could you post a few pics when you put them on for us people who obsess way too much about tire choice?, thanks!