Tire Advice - Wildpeaks 265 or 275?

Hi all,

I have a 2021 Venture in Chicago. The tires are not all-terrain, although they are great on the highway. I am looking to do some light off-roading and trails soon and wanted to pick your brains on experience and any advice you might have.

I do a lot of highway driving (60 miles a day), but like I said, also looking to do some light trails and off-roading in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan.

I'm thinking the Falken Wildpeaks, but not sure if I should stay with 265 or go up to 275. Will 275 affect my highway driving a lot? I also don't plan on lifting.

[edited] I think I'm sticking with 265 but should I go with the P or LT?

Any advice or thoughts on this would be really appreciated! Thank you!

 

P265.

The passenger rating means it rides softer. With only mild off-roading you don't need the exteme protection, or heavy load ratings of an LT tire. There is a good chance that you will rub with a 275, although it's easily fixable without major modification. 275 (only offered in LT, I believe) is way heavier and will hurt your MPGs. The stiffer tire will also wiggle around more on the highway and expose imperfect roads more. It will also cost more, and finally since it's larger, take up more of the front wheel gap which will really, really persuade you to lift the truck. ;-)

*First hand experience.

Now, if you're ready to open that can of worms known as modding and lifting and beating on your new truck, like I was? Then 275. But be prepared.. I wasn't. lol

 

I cannot speak for no lift options. However if you plan to lift here are my personal and my gang's experience.

For highway use I like SL Rated (non LT) Falken Wildpeak AT3W P285/70R17. I got these yesterday and really really soft on highway. They were softer than the XL Load (non LT) Falken Wildpeak AT3W 275/55R20 I had before.

One of my buddy use Load C Falken Wildpeak AT3W LT275/70R17 which is a nice balance between on-road and off-road. Much stronger than SL rated ones.

I still love the Load C BFG KO2 LT285/70R17 and also Load C BFG KO2 LT265/70R17. I really love KO2 for its off-road performance and I do use them on my daily driver as well.

I have use Load E BFG KO2 LT275/70R17 which I extreamly love off-road as they are extreamly strong offroad but my wife did not like the firm ride on-road.

I do like to try Load D Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac for its know performance for on and offroad use. I'm little scared as people say they get noisy after sometime. Since I have no personal experience I'm not going to say anything on that.

With my driving style I don't have any complains on KO2s, I have done little mpg test videos with KO2 275 & 285 and very happy with both. For on-road performance I give my vote for non LT Falken Wildpeak AT3W.


This is my latest MPG test with KO2 285s.
https://youtu.be/nzrcjKHEKeM

 

C rated 265’s and call it a day.

 

I personally like the 275's. We have Cooper AT3 LT's, which we had on our Tacoma also, because we also do some mild off roading and our off roading includes rocks...sometimes. But as mentioned above they do have a little stiffer ride, and our mileage is at 18.7 roughly. I probably drive like an old grandpa.... oh that's right, I am one! The vehicle is used for a daily driver on paved roads. The tire wear is good. I cannot speak about the 275's rubbing or not since we had a lift from brand new.

 

This is great information! Thank you for all that! I think I'm definitely going to stick with the 265.... but now the real question becomes if I want to stick with the p rated for a better ride or go with the LT to be more comfortable in trail situations....hmmm.

 

Not a bad choice is OP is willing to venture outside of the Wildpeaks (see what I did there??).

That said, I imagine the C Rated 265 K02 costs significantly more than the P Rated Wildpeak, so whether or not the C rating was worth it would be up to the OP. One thing to note is that you need to run more air in the LT tire so it's still going to be stiffer than the P tire, and even though we're nearly splitting hairs at this point.. if you do go off-roading and air down, you'll need a better air compressor to air-up the LT tires afterward than you will to air up the P tire.

But yes.. you've got it OP. Better comfort on road or a little more performance and protection off-road? The C K02 weighs the same as the P Wildpeak, so your MPG's should be the same. GL!

 

BTW not to forget some members talked about many benefits of going skinny 255/80R17.

I think regardless the load rating Wildpeaks are much cheaper than KO2s. I guess It could be because KO2 are made in USA vs Wildpeaks are made in Thailand. Both sets of my Wildpeaks are made in Thailand.

 

I have the Wildpeak 275/70 R17 C weighted on my stock 2021 Off-road Premium. No rubbing, very happy. Slightly stiffer ride, better on corners, getting 20 mpg on highway 65 mph avg speed.

 

My wildpeaks are Canadian they fill the wheel well pretty good also p rate is good for 90% of anything you would throw at it
J

 

Now the KO2's are on my mind
Decisions, decisions...

 

So what is the final outcome lol

 

One more vote for P rated 265/70-17 Wildpeaks.

 

I had KO2's and liked them. Some have had a negative experience with them as well. But, most people I talk to like them.

The guys I know who run Wildpeaks seem to really like them as well. I have heard very few complaints, and they seem to all be related to balancing issues. I would not hesitate to purchase or recommend them based on what I've seen and read.

I don't think LT tires are necessary unless you potentially will be driving over jagged rocks or other heavy off-road use. That said, I have been on C load tires since 2 weeks after I bought mine and really don't mind the ride.

 

I have the 265 KO2’s on my venture. I do think the larger tires look better but for what I do the stock size works fine for now. The Wildpeaks are great tires too and I don’t think you can go wrong with either one. Good luck!

 

I'm leaning towards the 265 but still torn between the 265 and 275. Definitely decided on the Wildpeaks though.

 

265 wild peaks here with no complaints. I like the look well enough, although next round I may go to 275’s. I just have the SL and I’ve been happy so far, road manners are super nice on highways, good in the snow, and I’ve bounced around on some light trails/horrid michigan dirt roads. Almost went KO2 and almost went 275’s on the falkens..

 

I went with the 275 because the “wife wants”.

I had them on the TRDOP stock whees with no rubbing. I found some TRD Pro Wheels and had discount swap them over to those and now they rub. From what I’ve researched the Pro wheels are the size size as the stock (17x7). I would have preferred to stay at 265.

 

I went with Goodyear Duratrac OEM size after the tire store could not get the Falken to not have a shimmy at certain speed the blue Runner has the Falken next to me

 

According to my books you have an upgrade to Falken Wildpeaks. (I mean I think Goodyear Duratracs are better than Falken Wildpeaks)

 

Few things I would like to see when discussing tires.

Many people does not specify whether its LT vs P. And do not specify what load rating they have, P (SL or XL) and LT (C / D / E or higher if you are insane.. LoL). I also like to see have you looked at if you have 3-peak-mountain-snow-flake rating or just m+s rating.

For some I guess tread wear and temperature rating could be a bid deal too.

Some might look at actual side wall construction as well. Like some tires have real 3 plies on sidewall vs 2 plies on side wall. (I'm not talking about the ply "rating" or the actual plies on main tread. This is about real plies on the sidewall)

Also minor things like where its made. Like made in USA / Japan vs made in China / Thailand,etc.. (yes minor things like that bothers me too..)

I just share these points as I personally look for these details when I buy tires and hope it helps for anyone who is in the market for tires.

 

OP, I've had both 265 P Wildpeaks as well as 275 C Wildpeaks on my 2020 Venture so feel free to ask any more specific questions you may have.

Based off what I've seen, and this thread has finalized my thought... the lower offset TRD Pro / Venture wheels will rub with the 275 Wildpeak, but the regular TRD OR wheels sit far enough in to where they apparently do not rub.

 

Sent you a PM! Thanks!

 

If any of the areas you will be going off road have sharp rocks, thorns, or any other features that can cause punctures, you might want to step up to a C or E load light truck tire. If none of that applies, a P-metric SL load should be fine for your intended use.

P265/70R17 SL load weighs 46.5 lbs
LT265/70R17 E load weighs 52.9 lbs
LT275/70R17 C load weighs 57.1 lbs

Falkens tend to run on the heavy side. Another good tire similar to the Wildpeak is the Toyo OC III which will weigh a bit less. Both have good reputations for wet/snow traction.

 

KO2's only come in a LT load rating. When you compare a Wildpeak with the same load rating as the KO2 they are comparable in price.

P-metric tires will always be cheaper than LT tires of the same brand.

For example, here are prices on Tirebuyer.com:

Toyo Open Country A/T III:
P265/70R17 SL load $176/tire
LT265/70R17 E load $217/tire

Falken Wildpeak A/T3W:
P265/70R17 SL load $170/tire
LT265/70R17 E load $224/tire

BF Goodrich T/A KO2:
LT265/70R17 C load $207/tire
LT265/70R17 E load $220/tire

 

Go with the 265 P rated. It's the most economical and lightest. The 275 is only marginally bigger, but 11lbs heavier. You'll notice that every time you accelerate, and at the pump as well.

The stock tires are so mild looking, even the 265 Falkens are going to look bigger in comparison. I recently had my stock tires replaced with P265 General Grabber ATX, and they look noticeably larger than the stock tires, though technically they are the same size. I actually had to take a look at the sidewall, I thought maybe they had put a larger size on.

Even with a stock size, 44lb tire, I've noticed 3 tanks in that I've lost a little over 1.5mpg, and acceleration has suffered a bit. These are only like 3lbs heavier than the stockers, so I think it has to do with the increased rolling resistance from the more aggressive tread.

 

I have always used General Grabber AT/X on my other vehicles and loved them .