I'm looking to replace my stock Dunlop Grandtrek AT20 tires, and the falken seem to be my first choice.

Living in the west coast of canada, so plenty of rain and wet snow. I don't do any "wheeling", but regularly go offroad/up forestry roads to access trails. Looking to stay with stock 265/70/17 size.

The Falken come in two load ratings in this size - SL and E. It SEEMS E would be overkill, but is SL fine? Can you air down the tire for offroad travel (to reduce puncture risk and more comfortable ride)?

I've heard elsewhere that load C is a nice middle ground, but of course this tire doesn't come in C in 265s

I inquired to Falken directly about the SL vs E-rated 265, and I saw elsewhere they provided a nice detailed response to a customer about their situation.

Was a bit surprised this is all I got back. Not very helpful

Expected due to liability. Can also depend on the person who responded haha. Based on what you're doing with your car, I don't think you'll ever need an E-rated tire.

We run our stock size SL rated AT3Ws all the way down to 15PSI without any issues off-road in desert and rocks. This tire does especially well in wet snow and mud between 28-36PSI with our heavy loads.







We were at 18PSI for the last 2 photos.

I feel like this alone seals the deal for me! You have a ton more gear on your rig, and tackling more difficult obstacles than I would! Thanks!

Sidenote: As someone who has never yet aired down, how do you actually determine what to air down to? I've seen general guidelines on terrain type... but I've heard everything from 20-25psi on "gravel roads" which is a decent range!

There is good reason behind there being such a range. Airing down is discouraged on road going vehicles because of stability and heat build up. Most people and all manufacturers will tell you that you can air down "at your own risk" for those two reasons alone.

The biggest factors for airing down are traction and comfort.

• Traction - the lower you go the more your tire tread flexes and the larger your contact patch.
• Comfort - the more flex you have in your tires, the more they will absorb small to medium bumps.

To a lesser extent, you must contend with ride height, heat buildup, bounce, and sway. Once you start airing down from the "door specs", you are outside of what the engineers assume you are doing with the vehicle - which is mostly road driving.

My suggestion:

When driving over rough terrain, do so without airing down first. Take note of how the vehicle bobs, bounces, and is generally harsh.

Then air down to 25PSI and see how big a difference it makes on handling and comfort.

Then air down to 20PSI (you shouldn't need to go any lower than that), and see if you like it.

Airing down has just as much to do with weight, handling, and comfort as it does with traction.

...and always air back up before doing highway speeds.

while you're going through the process of checking pressures also check tire temps before and after you are driving down gravel roads, and if your tires are noticeably hotter the pressure is too low for the speed you're driving

there are rules of thumb about what temp increase is appropriate for tires and some people bring thermometers and stuff but i just use my palm and back of my hand - tires should be warm but not hot to the touch.

you'll calibrate your trusty hand thermometer after awhile of just feeling your tires in normal situations, get in the habit for awhile of just feeling your tire when you get out of the vehicle on regular road driving with them properly inflated - that's the temp they are supposed to be. your hand thermometer can also be good for finding if a brake is dragging and checking trailer wheel bearings among other things

Also... if you have an OBD Reader like ScanGaugeII, you can get your tire pressures AND temperatures from the TPMS system. ;)

I will completely agree with what @007Tacoma stated above. Over 20,000 miles on our SL 265 Falkens on and off-road with only positives. Great in rain, snow, rocks, mud, sand...you name it, they handled it. We even tow a 2,000lb travel trailer on our adventures and they have really held up to towing as well.

We do air down, 25 psi gravel/light off-road, 20 psi rock, 15 psi sand and have had no issues.

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Just put a set of 5 stock size P265/70R17s on my 2020 Venture today. They look awesome and I'm pleased to report no shimmy or shake on the highway at speeds up to ~75mph. A little more tire noise than the stockers, but not objectionable at all. I'll probably try to take them up to the mountains to find a bit of snow this weekend.

Great last page I can’t wait for real weather to get into the woods/ snow trails and put them into a real test
Mike

We just had our first rain in over a month and I have to say these Falkens are way better than the stock G2's which were trash in every situation. I think these are better than the KO2's.

Excited! Just ordered mine tonight, but they're probably ~2 weeks out direct from Falken. Then maybe another week for the install... can't wait!

The Wildpeaks in SL/P are great in all conditions except the Arizona desert and similar. I have done many trails in Montana on the SL version. They do indeed drive great in rain on road.

As for tire pressures, that's a tough topic for SL tires because very few of us have extensive experience driving SL offroad. You won't find anything in 4WD magazines about SL AT tires, at least nothing useful. For LT tires, the more you air them down, the more puncture resistant they get. But this has not been my experience with SL. In southwestern AZ, the SL Wildpeak proved weak, no matter the pressures. Elsewhere, like Utah, it was great at anywhere between 25 and 35 psi. Meanwhile, others have had no issues aired down in Utah. So maybe the terrain matters more than the pressures. The Utah desert is much friendlier to tires than the AZ desert.

In short, my position is that there is no need to air down SL tires for either comfort or traction whereas SL strength at various psi remains TBD. If you place a wheel over a small rock at 32 psi you will see that the SL version conforms rather well to the rock at street pressures. Deep sand or very challenging rocks are another story (but I climbed Kamikaze near Moab at 35 psi in the rear, 30 up front because I forgot to air down the rear lol).

SL tires still have a puncture resistance at lower pressure, it's just a relationship that's not as steep and doesn't start as high so to notice a difference you have to air way down which makes your sidewall very vulnerable so it's a tradeoff

This is a different tire but the principle is the same
Cooper Puncture Test - YouTube