New Tires: Falken Rubitrek?

Mosby

Mosby

Well-known member
I need to replace my Chevy Colorado truck tires. My current Falken Wildpeaks are getting pretty thin on tread. They have performed rally well on a lot of trails and unmaintained roads. They don't make the same AT3W anymore and I don't like the new upgraded version, so I've spent the last few days looking at these primary alternatives:

- Falken Rubitrek
- Toyo Open Country ATIII
- Yokohama Geolander A/T4

My primary focus is always tire traction/performace on wet roads, snow and ice, so I look for tires with a lot of siping and softer rubber compounds that can do a lot of highway driving and get me up and down jeep trails. For lack of a better word...hybrid.

Not a lot of information on the Rubitrek but it is similar to the Wildpeaks I have now and they've been great on highways, horrible roads and trails. I found reviews on both the Toyo and Yokohama claiming wet and snow traction could be or needs to be improved.....and that is always a deal killer for me, so I keep coming back to the Falken Rubitrek.

Anyone have first hand experience with the Falken Rubitrek? Thanks.
 
check out Nokian tires, made in Finland, been using them for about 4 years now. Great on ice and snow and pretty smooth for a 10 ply
 
MABELS BIRD said:
check out Nokian tires, made in Finland, been using them for about 4 years now. Great on ice and snow and pretty smooth for a 10 ply
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Thanks for the recommendation. I had Nokian tires on a Volvo years ago and they didn't work out well but I'll take another look.
 
I would also take a look at the General Grabber A/TX. I had them on my F150 and really liked them.
 
Michelin LTX m/s (mud/snow). Been running them for 20 years. Great on the interstate at 85 mph too. Excellent all round and long lasting.
 
I go on large rock filled trails in an area of Colorado that I elk hunt in that eliminates some tires from consideration. The area I hunt in Idaho has clay roads that turn into a thick mud paste after a rain, so the tire will need some wider grooves to be able to clear out mud to some extent. I hunt a lot in SD and Iowa in the winter on unmaintained roads so it needs to be able to cut through snow and large drifts without putting me in the ditch. I drive a lot on I29 ,I35, I70 and I90 in the winter on packed snow and ice highways and not all tires are great on winter roads or driving long distance. I've run multiple sets of tires in the past and switched them out as needed but my wife is tired of having tires stored in our garage.

When I was working and used my truck as a daily driver, most of my hunting was within a couple hours of my house and if the weather was bad, I didn't go. Most tires worked well because of how I hunted and where I went.

Now I'm retired and I travel across states and go to remote places to hunt. I drive for days at a time to get there and back and I don't always know what the weather or roads are going to be like. I carry chains, shovels and sometimes a come along to get out of trouble.

My truck is made for how I hunt and works well for what I do. Tires are my pain. Nobody keeps tires in stock, reviews are all over the place and there are a lot of variables that impact performance and opinions. I love when I ask the local tires shops questions about tires and I get a blank stare back. Most of those guys don't hunt or leave town, so they really don't use what they sell. When you look at tire reviews...one will say they were the best tire they ever owned and another said they sucked in snow. Who do you believe? That is a common issue with most tire reviews I've looked at, so I go with what I know or I just roll the dice and try something new.

Normally I get to the point where I get tired of thinking about it and order new tires. I am getting close to that. Most tire companies make good tires and I'm sort of looking for a unicorn that does everything reasonably well. Hoping to figure it out in the next week or so and order something. If they don't work, I'll figure out something else. All part of the process. Thanks to everyone for the recommendations. I'll let you know what I decide to buy.
 
I run the K02's on my truck and The Faulknen trail ATs on my outback. The good old Cooper discoverers are no slouch. I used to do a lot of off roading. I quickly learned that all terrain tires were basically a jack of all trades but master of none. If you're going to need a tire to get you out of a bad spot get an aggressive tread and put up the noise and poor performance in the rain. I made a mistake a few years ago by driving a mile or so down a frozen mud road in Iowa. By the time we got done hunting the sun was out and the road was troughed. I was glad to have had the K02's. The absolutely best mud tire is a thin tall, aggressive tire. Good luck finding them.
 
I had never ran an aggressive tire until the truck I have now. I started by replacing my stock tires with ridge grapplers and they really didn’t much for me. Didn’t clean at low speeds. 3/4 ton truck, cupped bad. Picked up gravel and flung it on the highway. Chipping and poor tread life. Fuel mileage no better than the mts Im running now.
I’m on my second set of maxxis razer mts. I don’t think I will go back to anything less aggressive. I think others the geolander g003 mt etc would be a good tire for what I hunt.
I don’t do ice and purposely avoid it and wouldn’t do differently with another tire. Packed snow I take a wood dog box with dogs in the back. Or if I have to take crates for motels or another reason I carry two cat litter buckets with the lids taped shut and 75 lbs of sand in each one.
 
Some Nokians are made in Tenn & Maybe in Ohio too. The only state I know studs are illegal in is MI. They do not damage pavement at all. I used to have a driveway that is 400 ft of blacktop. I purposely put on my studs 1 day when it was over 90* & tried to damage some of it. 1 ton f350 with a souped up 7.3 power stroke. Spun the tires first with a relatively empty truck & then I put 1 ton of scrap in the bed & let it set for an hour & then tried all kinds of maneuvers & I could barely scratch it. I am not saying it is impossible to damage pavement, but it would be really hard. The only thing that happened that day was that some of the studs pulled out. They will not pull out of Nokians. I have twice been going to SD from Ohio & got on black ice & never knew it until I stopped & got out of the truck. The best size mud/snow tires I ever had were 7.50/16 Firestone town & countrys. Tall & pretty narrow.
 
birddude said:
I run the K02's on my truck and The Faulknen trail ATs on my outback. The good old Cooper discoverers are no slouch. I used to do a lot of off roading. I quickly learned that all terrain tires were basically a jack of all trades but master of none. If you're going to need a tire to get you out of a bad spot get an aggressive tread and put up the noise and poor performance in the rain. I made a mistake a few years ago by driving a mile or so down a frozen mud road in Iowa. By the time we got done hunting the sun was out and the road was troughed. I was glad to have had the K02's. The absolutely best mud tire is a thin tall, aggressive tire. Good luck finding them.
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I like skinny’s too, I run 255 85 16 cooper discover on Tacoma… 2nd set never had a flat
 
The only difference I've noticed between the K02 and the Coopers is the K02's are little less noisy and the rock throwing is a little less. I also never had a flat with the Coopers.
 
I went through this last fall for my tundra. I did a ton of research and got the new Cooper Strongholds. Not a true snow tire but has the 3 peak snowflake rating. Had the same warranty as Yokos but were a little cheaper. I don’t know how the tariffs have affected prices. I love them here in Montana, very good.traction and very quiet on the highway. Some reviews were they were noisy but not my experience. Love the 10 ply on rocky crappy forest service roads, a little assurance of not getting a flat. I mostly drive the speed limits in eco mode and my mileage went from 19 mpg to 18 mpg combined town and highway from the worthless stock tires. Good luck
 
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