Nitto Ridge Grapplers or Falken Wildpeak AT3/W

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texasfan88

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Looking to get new tires for my truck (2018 Ram 1500 Sport 4x4). I currently have BFGoodrich KO2s and although they're great tires, they never had very good traction on wet surfaces. I'm trying to decide between the ridge grapplers and the falken wildpeaks. Overall, here is what I'm curious about and want to know which tire performs best in these categories:

1. Tread life (My KO2s have 65,000 miles on them and are just now at 4/32")
2. Best in terms of traction on wet surfaces
3. Road noise and ride comfort

Also if it helps, my tire size is 275/60R20
 

G-Ride990

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I have been running a set of Ridge Grapplers for a few years now. 295-65r20 size. Tread life is okay but not great on them, I have around 25k miles now and I think they are a bit past half worn. I am sure I would have extended their life a bit if I rotated them more often but no way these would last 65k miles.

I am one of the few guys here that complains about the wet weather performance on these tires. They are average at best in the wet.

Road noise and comfort are top notch. The only time I can really hear them is if I am on a concrete freeway with my windows open. Then they are loud but I think most tires are in that situation.

Overall I don't hate them but I won't be buying another set. Especially because of how expensive they were. I am actually leaning towards KO2s for my next set of tires.
 
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texasfan88

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I have been running a set of Ridge Grapplers for a few years now. 295-65r20 size. Tread life is okay but not great on them, I have around 25k miles now and I think they are a bit past half worn. I am sure I would have extended their life a bit if I rotated them more often but no way these would last 65k miles.

I am one of the few guys here that complains about the wet weather performance on these tires. They are average at best in the wet.

Road noise and comfort are top notch. The only time I can really hear them is if I am on a concrete freeway with my windows open. Then they are loud but I think most tires are in that situation.

Overall I don't hate them but I won't be buying another set. Especially because of how expensive they were. I am actually leaning towards KO2s for my next set of tires.
Thanks for your reply. Yeah again, the KO2s are fantastic tires. They're incredibly durable and maybe given the fact that I've rotated them roughly every 6000-7000 miles, have lasted me around 65k miles, which is 15k miles passed the tread life warranty so not too bad. They're also very smooth on the highway with little to no road noise. Granted mine are D1 rated so it might be a different story if you get E rated tires for instance.

I've read that the Wildpeaks have better wet traction than the KO2s but I wasn't sure if that's what people with similar trucks to mine are actually experiencing or not. It just gets confusing because you hear one thing about a tire but then when I asked the sales rep at Discount Tire the other day, he said the Wildpeaks had worse wet traction than the KO2s and that the Ridge Grapplers were better. He also stated that people were getting around 80,000 miles out of the Ridge Grapplers which I personally find very hard to believe for any all-terrain tire.
 

IDSandman

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If wet traction is a concern, then get the Faulkens. I have ridge grapplers now and the wet traction is sub par. Why I am running a dedicated winter wheel/tire combo. I do like the ride of the grapplers and dry pavement manners. Tire spin on wet roads has me slowing down more than normal when cornering. Ran the KO2 on my last Ram and loved them. Zero issues on wet or snow/ice covered roads. Didn’t run a dedicated winter tire for 2 winters with that tire then found a deal on Blizzaks I couldn’t pass up.
 

BWL

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Go with the falkens unless you need the more aggressive tread and run snow tires in the winter.
 

G-Ride990

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Thanks for your reply. Yeah again, the KO2s are fantastic tires. They're incredibly durable and maybe given the fact that I've rotated them roughly every 6000-7000 miles, have lasted me around 65k miles, which is 15k miles passed the tread life warranty so not too bad. They're also very smooth on the highway with little to no road noise. Granted mine are D1 rated so it might be a different story if you get E rated tires for instance.

I've read that the Wildpeaks have better wet traction than the KO2s but I wasn't sure if that's what people with similar trucks to mine are actually experiencing or not. It just gets confusing because you hear one thing about a tire but then when I asked the sales rep at Discount Tire the other day, he said the Wildpeaks had worse wet traction than the KO2s and that the Ridge Grapplers were better. He also stated that people were getting around 80,000 miles out of the Ridge Grapplers which I personally find very hard to believe for any all-terrain tire.
Mine are the E rated RGs. I would like to add though, I have done some pretty light offroading with my truck. My tires have small chunks missing from some of the tread lugs. I have heard that more serious offroading kills these tires.

Also, in the heat and sun in Az after the first year of owning these tires small cracks popped up between the tread. I went back to discout tire and asked about them and they said that was normal. Which, to be fair, I have not had any issues. But, I was seriously concerned at first. My truck is kept in the garage too so the only time it sits in the sun is at work.

There is absolutely nothing you could do to make these tires last to 80k miles. Guy is full of it.

If you are worried about wet performance I think you should probably stay away from the RGs. I put my truck in 4 auto in the rain because it will spin the tires so dang easy.
 
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texasfan88

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Thanks everyone for your replies. Looks like the Falkens are the ones that I'll be going for then.

@G-Ride990 I agree on the 80,000 miles BS. The only way I see that happening is if people are running them until they are well passed the wear bars and are practically bald at that point. But anyways, it sounds like the Falkens are exactly what I'm looking for and I haven't really heard of any downsides to them either.
 

Treburkulosis

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I have been running a set of Ridge Grapplers for a few years now. 295-65r20 size. Tread life is okay but not great on them, I have around 25k miles now and I think they are a bit past half worn. I am sure I would have extended their life a bit if I rotated them more often but no way these would last 65k miles.

I am one of the few guys here that complains about the wet weather performance on these tires. They are average at best in the wet.

Road noise and comfort are top notch. The only time I can really hear them is if I am on a concrete freeway with my windows open. Then they are loud but I think most tires are in that situation.

Overall I don't hate them but I won't be buying another set. Especially because of how expensive they were. I am actually leaning towards KO2s for my next set of tires.
That is how my dads Ridge Grapplers are too. They wore fast. I am also a stickler on wet weather and tires. I havent asked my dad about what he thinks, but things like that dont bug him. My Toyos have worn very well. They do great in rain too. The KO2's are a great choice. I told him to look into those next.
 

HEMIMANN

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Tire Rack reviewers have been saying recent BFG K02's have very fast wear. General Grabber ATX is #1 (I bought, concur), Falken Wildpeak ATW #2, but made in Thailand. General made in USA.
 
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texasfan88

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Tire Rack reviewers have been saying recent BFG K02's have very fast wear. General Grabber ATX is #1 (I bought, concur), Falken Wildpeak ATW #2, but made in Thailand. General made in USA.
How recent? I just double checked mine and 3 of them say 1919, which means that they were made on the 19th week of 2019, so around the first week of May. The 4th one, which is the front driver's side tire is 1719, or the 2 or 3rd week of April 2019, however I had to crawl under the truck to find it because the tire was turned around and had the 7111 code facing outwards for whatever reason. Anyway, mine are about 2 1/2 years old and they've lasted me for around 65,000 miles. Also, I tend to find it difficult to trust online reviews, especially on tires because you can have one person saying the tires are horrible and then another person with the exact same type of vehicle saying that the tires are great. That's why I try to watch videos or just word of mouth on what to get. Of course sometimes it's just luck of the draw and sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. Lastly, I'm not sure if where the tire is made really matters all that much in terms of quality. After all, the stock Goodyear Wrangler SR-As that come on the truck from the factory are made in the USA and they're absolute garbage. I had to replace them for the KO2s I have now at 43,000 miles. Of course the other reason was because I had mesquite thorns in the sidewalls of all 4 tires but the tread was just about gone at that point as well. The Grabbers might be excellent tires and all. It's just that I don't much about them which is why I didn't mention them.
 

LugsLeadOut84

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I just bought a second set of Falken A/T3W's. I had BFG KO2's on my first RAM (E-rated). They were overkill in both load rating and price, but they performed and looked great. I went with Falken A/T3W's on my 2019 (275/55R20 XL load) and just put them on my 2021 (265/70R18). I did not get E-rated on the last 2 trucks.

I live in the NE and get considerable snow and also make a few trips up to Vermont each winter. I was very pleased with them over the course of 2 trucks. They have a pretty aggressive tread and carry the 3PMS symbol, although you're in Texas so these are all probably a moot point for you.
I find them very quiet. As for wet traction, I haven't had any poor experiences in rain that would stand out, like I had with the old original SRA's.

They're reasonably priced and I think you'll be happy with them, but there are a lot of good tires to choose from.

Just to be clear, Falken makes different models of Wildpeaks. I am referring to the A/T3W. I've heard Wildpeak A/T Trail and the non "3W" version weren't as good.

.
 
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texasfan88

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I just bought a second set of Falken A/T3W's. I had BFG KO2's on my first RAM (E-rated). They were overkill in both load rating and price, but they performed and looked great. I went with Falken A/T3W's on my 2019 (275/55R20 XL load) and just put them on my 2021 (265/70R18). I did not get E-rated on the last 2 trucks.

I live in the NE and get considerable snow and also make a few trips up to Vermont each winter. I was very pleased with them over the course of 2 trucks. They have a pretty aggressive tread and carry the 3PMS symbol, although you're in Texas so these are all probably a moot point for you.
I find them very quiet. As for wet traction, I haven't had any poor experiences in rain that would stand out, like I had with the old original SRA's.

They're reasonably priced and I think you'll be happy with them, but there are a lot of good tires to choose from.

.
Good to know and one thing I should state is that the only reason why I even went with the KO2s was because that's just what was recommended to me by the sales rep at Discount Tire and they had them in stock. I actually was originally wanting to get the Falken Wildpeaks but they didn't have them in stock and because I had huge mesquite thorns in the sidewalls of all of my tires at the time, I couldn't exactly wait for the Falkens to get in stock.
 

LugsLeadOut84

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One last thing that may save you some time....I do a lot of research on price before buying. The best price I found on the A/T3W's was from tirebuyer dot com. They ship directly to a network of national installers and have a pre-negotiated price that you pay the installer. But make sure you tell them about it. My local Pep Boys didn't realize there was a fixed price - especially because it was almost half of the walk-in price ($66 vs $120). Once I brought it up and showed them the email, they said "ohhh I have to override it". I normally don't make an issue over a few bucks but the difference was a tank of gas...

.
 

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I just took off a set of 33/12.50/20 Ridge Grapplers and replaced with 275/60/20 Coopers.
The Nittos are a great tire and mine still look like new and really liked them on wet highways. The negative for me was they were F rated, I did not know there was such a rating, stiff sidewall and road very stiff, too stiff my the plush ride of my 1500. If I was pulling a trailer every day they would be great just wanted to soften the ride. Surprisingly I have them for sale locally at $600 with wheels but no takers, a price less than half new and probably 85% tread. Really disappointed in todays youth, I would put them on my truck in a heartbeat in the old days.
That said, both your options are great tires but I prefer the BFG.
 
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texasfan88

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One last thing that may save you some time....I do a lot of research on price before buying. The best price I found on the A/T3W's was from tirebuyer dot com. They ship directly to a network of national installers and have a pre-negotiated price that you pay the installer. But make sure you tell them about it. My local Pep Boys didn't realize there was a fixed price - especially because it was almost half of the walk-in price ($66 vs $120). Once I brought it up and showed them the email, they said "ohhh I have to override it". I normally don't make an issue over a few bucks but the difference was a tank of gas...

.
Yeah so the price for a set of the Falken Wildpeaks for my truck would be about $44 cheaper on Tire Buyer than at Discount Tire. It doesn't sound like much but saving money is saving money the way I see it. I just don't know if they would be able to order the tires from them because they aren't listed as pre-approved installer on the tire buyer website. The closest one is about 45 miles from me, whereas Discount Tire is about 12 miles, so in all actuality if Discount Tire couldn't order the tires from Tire Buyer and I had to get them installed at this other place, the savings wouldn't be worth it. Now if was a couple hundred dollars or so that I'm saving, then that's different. The other bonus about buying from Discount Tire is that you get free lifetime rotations and balancing which can really add up if you're having to pay for that.

That being said, I do know that if you're wanting to purchase new wheels for your vehicle, Discount Tire can actually order them from another site if you don't find anything you like in their own inventory. It's just that you have to tell them what you want and THEY order it and not you order it and have it delivered to them because I made that mistake and almost had the wheels rejected because they didn't know about it. Luckily the guy at the desk recognize me when I came in the store that day when they were delivered and made an exception on my behalf because otherwise it would've potentially been a $900 loss lol.

However since Discount Tire has a price-match guarantee, I will mention Tire Buyer to them when I go in to get my new tires. They never have the Wildpeaks in stock anyways so they would have to order them from somewhere regardless.
 

HEMIMANN

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Discount Tire is my back up to my local mobile contractor installer. DT is a quality organization with competitive pricing and many locations. I believe they were a Forum sponsor for a time.
 

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Michelin LTX AT2 for the best wet traction, amazingly good on dirt and mud too. I never drove them in snow. Walmart has the Cooper Discoverer for cheap.
 

Jabberjaw

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As someone who ran Nittos exclusively on several Jeeps (with no complaints) this is my first set of Falken Wildpeaks, and I’m pretty impressed. I’m not going to do anything with this truck like I used to do with my Jeeps, but the on road/wet pavement (torrential rain) handling has been really good. I’m looking forward to putting the “3 peaks” rating to the test.
 

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As someone who ran Nittos exclusively on several Jeeps (with no complaints) this is my first set of Falken Wildpeaks, and I’m pretty impressed. I’m not going to do anything with this truck like I used to do with my Jeeps, but the on road/wet pavement (torrential rain) handling has been really good. I’m looking forward to putting the “3 peaks” rating to the test.
How are the falkens wearing on your Jeeps? I considered these before I went with the RGs but honestly looks pushed me towards the RGs. Stupid me lol
 

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How are the falkens wearing on your Jeeps? I considered these before I went with the RGs but honestly looks pushed me towards the RGs. Stupid me lol

Falkens are on my RAM …never ran them on a Jeep. To be completely honest, I don’t think there’s much of a difference between Nitto, Toyo, Falken or even Cooper. They all function the same …they all air down well. Longevity, I couldn’t tell you. I tend to build, use and sell. Like wheels, (excluding beadlocks) it really comes down to looks preference. Aggressive will always wear down faster and be louder on road …but who gives a **** if you like them. It’s like the muffler argument, I like a moderately grumbly muffler, but MTs don’t bother me on the road. Do what you do, then drink some bourbon. Cheers.
 
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