After getting a puncture off-road over the weekend from a piece of iron wood (yes I found a stick stuck in the edge of the treads at the sidewall), it’s time to replace the stock limited wheels and Yokohama’s.

I know there are a million of these threads, but after reading through them I’ve boiled the options down to the falkens and the nittos. That said, if there’s a tire that you think better fits my needs pls let me know.

I’m looking to purchase a tire in 265/70/17 that will:
-not get punctured by an 18” stick
-be good off-road on the weekends, but also quiet for commuting as this is my daily
-handle snow and wet weather well
-have decent tread life.

I’ll probably be putting these on grey vtx rogues. Thanks in advance

Well, I can't speak about the Falkens because I've never run them.
We have been running the Nitto Ridge Grapplers for a few thousand miles and are very happy with them.
On pavement they are surprisingly quiet.
On snow and ice they perform well, definitely acceptable.
Off-road they grip rocks like a champ.
Having only a few thousand miles, not sure about their longevity yet.

I have had Toyo Open Country A/T for 5,000 miles and am satisfied with them. They are as quite and handle as well as the factory Bridgestone and traction is much better. They also have a 65,000 mile warranty which most of the others don't. Don't know how well they will resist a side puncture, but the road hazard warranty will cover it. I did a lot of shopping, and found that 4 out of 5 shops that handled a lot of brands recommended the Toyo's.

If I was locked into the Nitto or the Falken, I think I would go with Nitto.

Bill

Nitto is the better brand when it comes to quality. Yes the Falkens are cheaper thus the reason why they are so popular, but they are also cheaper for a reason. Falkens are rebranded sumitomo tires. I have them on mine and I have already had to replace two of them due to them being out of round.

So if I had to do it all over again I would go Nitto or Toyo.

I had a set of Nitto Terra Grapplers on one of my vehicles. Even new they were louder than any set of BFG KO's or KO2's I've owned. They were no where near as tough either. I doubt I'll ever buy another set, sticking with BFG.

Any balancing issues with the ko2s? are they c load or e load?

that's interesting--i had a set of those on my last vehicle and they werent any louder than the oem tires.

I love love my Falkens. Balanced with little to no weight, they're quiet and do great in snow.

All sets of KO2's have been load E and the current set balanced perfect. Previous sets have had a tire or two that were tough to balance. I wouldn't go load E unless you need the ability to air down. That being said they are super tough tires that will handle about anything you can throw at them, they are just heavy.

Maybe I got a bad set, not sure. They had a "roar" to them from day one. Drove nice and smooth though.

The AT3W? Man that's a bummer. I've got a set on each runner and love them. They are very quiet and handle rain and snow well. They also hold their own off road. I wouldn't consider Falken to be a discount brand...they are a subsidiary of Sumitomo, but design their own tires. Are they a little cheaper? Yes. But it's a pretty new tire still (2016) and they've slowly worked their way towards pricing parity with the other similar tires -- my guess is supply and demand -- people seem to like what they're getting.

I previously had K02s on the 5th gen and the AT3Ws handle the road every bit as well, and they have worn better and do not seem as susceptible to a missed or late rotation.

I would gladly buy a 3rd set if I had to right now, but I will say that the Nitto RG and the Cooper STT Pro have been on my radar for when I upsize my truck again. Personally, I'm just looking for something a little more aggressive. The wife's truck will def get another set of AT3Ws though.

Love my AT3W's. Great on road in rain or snow and quiet. Off road they are a champ. Can't beat them for performance and pricing.

Recently ran Yankee Hill which has a great deal of snow on it, Falkens took me to the top without a problem.

For puncture resistance, I would get the Cooper STMAXX.

Moving to Tires and Wheels section so more people will see it.

thanks all--i think im going to give the nittos a go