Falken Wildpeak - Tire Pricing

Hey all, I just wanted to ask if anyone knows anything about the current price of Wildpeaks. I've been eyeing tires for the last couple years for when the time comes to replace mine, and I had been pretty set on the Wildpeaks based on reviews and the excellent price relative to other offerings. However, it now seems that these are the most expensive out of the options I'm looking at (Wildpeak, KO2, Discoverer AT3).

I'm looking at 275/70r18, and the Wildpeaks are $370 each (Amazon has them at ~$331, so could probably price match), the K02s are on sale at Costco for $265 each, and the Discoverers are $288 each. Does anyone know if this is just some weird supply chain issue that will work itself out, or did Wildpeaks just earn itself the right to increase the price so much? It seemed like a no-brainer before to go with Wildpeaks due to price/performance benefit, but now that they're so expensive I don't know whether to still go with those or just save the cash and get some K02s or Discoverers...

 

Tires have gone up 30-40% in past year. Tires and everything else cost more now.

Check discounttire and tirerack. Discount showing them at $370. I purchased my 275/70 Wildpeaks a while back, maybe 10 months ago or so, and paid about 110-120 less per tire. Think they were like $250, $253.

Shits expensive. I checked into moving up to a 285/75-18 tire in the last week and that thought quickly left my mind because they are priced over $420 EACH for what I would want. So two grand for tires, installation and tire certs....no thanks.

As far as brands, Ive run all that you mention. Ko2s, get hard with some miles and age. Can be hard to balance. Wet traction is not great. Coopers- I had cooper XLTs first, ran them for 9000 miles. Once replaced under warranty for sidewall crack very early on. Had balance issues ongoing and they never felt stable at speed, took it back like 5/6 times and finally my dealer said they would give me full credit for them (9k miles on em) and I purchased wildpeaks.

Wildpeaks have been good. Quiet for how aggressive. Still need rotation and balance every 3-5k miles. Great traction, great in wet, snow. Still running them and think they are better, based on my experience, than Cooper or BFG.

Lastly, buying on Amazon or other places can be cheaper, but can be problematic. If I had purchased the coopers someplace online, I would have been stuck with them as once they are mounted and used, online dealers will likely not accept returns. Discount was great in trying to get them right and when they could not, have me full purchase credit toward something else.

 

They went up 35% since I bought them a year ago. 275/70/18/E

I bought 4 @ just under $300ea (cad) a year ago. The spare was over $400 last month.

 

Yeah, the plan is to go to Discount and get a price match either way. I also get stuff is expensive, but I don't get why the Wildpeaks are so much more expensive. It doesn't make sense that they'd be essentially the cheapest and then shoot up higher than everything else if it's just a general market price increase. That's why it makes me think it's a conscious decision by Falken/Sumitomo to increase it so much.

What you're saying about performance/quietness/etc is what led me to want the Wildpeaks, but it's now hard to justify spending ~$420 more than a set of KO2s, for example.

 

I wonder if the fact that they come stock on some of the 2022 Tundras has anything to do with it.

Maybe they jacked up prices to make them in line with other premium tires and make it seem like the stock tires are high end.

Either way, great tires and the days of them flying under the radar in terms of price point are long gone.

One of the few AT tires with a tread warranty.

 

Could be. I know they now also offer a 285/65r18 as an "OE" version of the Wildpeak, but they're the AT3W"A" instead of the AT3W. They come in a standard load rating which is somewhat enticing, but the tread is more of an all-season tread and doesn't look quite as aggressive. I don't necessarily need an E rated tire, but I do a fair amount of towing (~5,000lb boat/trailer and a ~6,500lb travel trailer) so it wouldn't hurt to go E.

 

Im sure the price hike is related to popularity, and of course material and supply chain issues impacting all. MANY of the local 4wd and overland shops here in my area list them as the GO TO all terrain tire.

Lots of good AT tires out there. Wildpeaks have both the look and performance. But plenty of good AT tires that perform well, but many have a mild look which is not popular right now. Many great options with better pricing if you dont mind a mild looking AT.

 

supply and demand i would assume. whether its worth it, i guess it depends how much you like them compared to the others.. like, over time will you be bothered more by spending more money or buying tires you might not like as much? You might find them cheaper still, who knows.
Going with the SL will save you money if you ont need the E. As a curve ball, check out the nokian outposts that just cam out, theyre on promtion, well priced and look pretty cool in my opinion but of course no long term reviews yet. I checked them out in the shop and would go with e rated in this tire as the SL seemed pretty soft. Good Luck man, it can be a tough choice, i just went through it.

 

When I'm ready to BUY tires, I'll certainly include Wildpeaks in my search. I've BOUGHT several sets of Michelins over the years and they served us well.

 

Tires are made in Thailand, so you are paying more because of the port issues and shipping containers price increase

 

I loved my wildpeaks on my 4runner. They were a great tire for the money but to see some of the prices now I don't think they aren't a value leader anymore.

 

I'm pretty sure the WildPeaks are made here in the US. @Falken QA did a write up on it a while back. Also a plant temporarily closed so there was some production impact as well, if my memory serves. Also supply/demand.

 

I’ve seen the same thing. $100 more for a falken. Riiiight. I still say falken with disdain after a disappointing set many years ago. They ought to be a discount brand. I personally wouldn’t buy them if the were $50 cheaper than the cooper, toyo, BFG. Sucks too because they’re very eye catching. Frequently catch myself thinking “ooh, what tires are those?” “Dammit, falkens.”

 

Those newish Discount Tire-exclusive Cooper Discoverer ATP II tires look pretty enticing. Discount Tire Direct has them listed at $199 each for 275/70r18, and I think they look pretty sharp.

 

I have a set of Wildpeaks in 275/70/18 I'm thinking about selling. They have roughly 5k miles on them.

 

Just curious, how come you're selling?

 

Just a forewarning, the Falken wildpeaks are gorgeous tires, but as a tech, the wildpeaks are the tires I see the most separation and radial pulls out of.

 

They have a slight vibration that annoys me. I'll probably go back to k02's.

 

Good to know, thanks for sharing. Are you a tech at Discount? Just curious to see if you had experience with the Discoverer ATP IIs.

 

I just bought wildpeaks as well. I wasnt even considering them because 325/60r20 that i got was 550 a tire BUT there was a local tire guy here in slc that was running a special for 1199 for all 4 . Needless to say i now have wildpeaks lol

 

I've posted this on other threads but my wife had Wildpeak AT3w or whatever the name is on her 4Runner. They were fantastic tires. Looked great, balanced, wore evenly, and gave us confident winter traction as advertised. The V6/tranny of the 4Runner found them to be a little heavy but nothing detrimental. Once they got to the end of their tread life, they got noisy, but thats true for most tires. I believe we got 45K out of them. She has Toyo AT3's on there now. And given that they're the same price now, I'd return to the Toyos for the significant weight reduction.


EDIT:
Clarification due to @Wahayes post -

The tires on the 4R were in fact E-rated.

 

Also i have had these tires twice before. I have two VERY different opinions based on weight rating. I had load e on an f250. Phenomenal. Wore like iron great tires. Had s rated on wifes f150. Supposedly were rated for it. Worst tire ever . Were smoked in less than 30k. Had much lower tread depth new. The ones i have are e rated and i only recommend e rated with them.

 

No actually, I'm a tech In a Big O Tires in Arizona.
But please take it with a grain of salt, because there's also people who are wildly satisfied with them. I don't have any experience with the ATP's but I do have experience with Cooper's Discover line up, and they're a good bang for your buck, however they are a bit bouncy (my gen 1's butt gets down with it on the daily, however they're great in rain and on the highway) Nitto Ridge Grapplers are an amazing tire, but I don't see them getting tons of mileage (and they're significantly heavier than other AT's) The Nitto Terra Grappler is a great trail tire and not the best in inclement weather, General ATX's are very nice but I haven't had much time on them, though I do see great weather and highway reviews. a lot of 4runner guys and gals out here have been requesting the General ATX's, Cooper's new Rugged Trek's, and the Goodyear wrangler Duratracs (and of course, BFG KO2's).

 

I was the first guy in my area of the country to run the Falken A/T3W when it first became available a little over 6 years ago now. At the time they were the least expensive tire in the segment. I bought 285/70R17s for $633 delivered to my door.

I quickly discovered that they were the best A/T tire I'd ever used for several reasons. Just an amazing tire. They look the best, work the best in foul weather, are champs off road, have THICK 2-ply sidewalls, wear great, etc. Just a really great tire. The (horribly done) reviews on my YouTube channel got thousands of views and helped launch my channel.

A couple of years later they were becoming so popular that Jeep picked them as the factory tire on the all new JL Wrangler Rubicon. The rest is history.. Now the prices go up on them nearly annually and they're one of the most expensive tires in the class. And it's all because of popularity.

The BFG KO series was the go-to tire before Falken redesigned the Wildpeak. The KO2 therefore was super expensive. Now days guess what? The KO2 prices are going down.

 

I've been running the ATP II for a while now. Super quiet on the road, they hook up like a cat on carpet in any weather, they balanced great, and I got the set for $799. Best unknown deal in tires right now. Are they as good in every area as the Falken Wildpeak A/T3W? No. But they're half the price and they are excellent USA-made tires. I prefer the appearance of the Cooper AT3 XLT over the ATP II, but money talks.

 

The Wildpeaks are a GOOD tire they were a GREAT tire when they were reasonably priced.
I paid $165 a tire for them in 275/70/18 in March of 2019 from Amazon then of course 5% cash back with the Amazon card made them $156.

At $330 a tire I certainly would be going with another option.

 

I'm looking at new tires to replace the Michelin LTX Trail that will come on my '22. I love the look and reviews of the Wildpeaks. However, here in Canuckistan they're $430 per tire for 275/70/18. I'll be going with Cooper AT3 XLT instead for $330 per tire.

 

Yeah my new to me 2019 has the OEM Dueler H/T racing slicks on it. I will likely be going with Cooper AT3 XLT, Toyo AT3, or back to the BFG KO2 (since I had good success with them in the past) due to their light weight, but will be based on availability and cost obviously.

 

Anyone tows heavy with AT3W?

Just got a set for wife's 4runner, I love how quiet it is on the road, its insanely quiet and not longer follows the groves on hwy (previous tires were Nitto Terra Grappler 2) but I tow heavy often but haven't heard much about folks who tow with them.

 

I took the plunge and am going to give these new Nokian Outpost AT’s a shot. I’ve been looking for a good road oriented AT. I’ve done the E Load dance, and realistically this tundra build is going to be a mild trail truck. It doesn’t need E’s, however i wasn’t keen on going all the way down to C. I had KO2’s in E on my Xterra and they were a nice tire. Back then i picked up 35’s for $250 on a crazy 4wdparts 4th of July sale. Can’t say I see them being worth the $340-$360 they’re going for today, at least for what i need them for. Saw some Kuhmo AT51’s this week in D for $250, really almost went that route, looks like they’re being discontinued and you can nab them up for good prices right now. Then i started seeing Nokian pop up. Did some light research and see nothing but stellar reviews for them. They’re just a little tough to find, appears they’re still setting up a NA market. But when you can find them, pricing is very reasonable at least for the pedigree the brand apparently carries. Found 315/70/17s in D for $300, free shipping, no tax. May be worth a solid look. Once i get them on I’ll put up a review after some mileage.