This! I'm stunned when I see supposedly reputable places using these on nice rims!

 

They used sticker like ones on the inside of the rims.

Doesn’t matter anymore, I’m returning the Wildpeaks for Defender LTX M/S 2’s.

99.9% of my miles are road miles and the defenders will do just fine for the type of off-roading I want to do without any compromises in performance or safety.

 

that’s a great and popular choice!

 

agreed. I just wish I could have found them sooner rather than having to go on this tire finding journey.

I’ll report back once is get some miles on them.

 

defenders could be better with respect to hydroplaning and snow, yet ice is better than ATs. also they might be stiffer than you are used to. for smooth highway they are nice, and they wear very well. as for city, bumpy roads, etc. i prefer something else. defender lt vs wildpeak at or most other 1/2 way decent ats, look at the tread patterns. one will have usually 5 columns of blocks with complete vertical spaces top to bottom and the other will not have any complete vertical path top to bottom. for similar sized tires this is the biggest differentiating factor in behavior. affects hydroplaning, snow traction, etc.

the wobble you got should be able to be fixed with road force. they might need to rotate the tire on the wheel if either are out of round.

but if already 100% on the defenders, they are a good tire. and perhaps the best for normal, non winter driving.

 

No just drive them. Tire production and disposal is terrible for the environment, and you’re thinking of set number 3 in a short amount of time. You made the choice for the more off road version of the tire and got a ride suited for that tire. It sounds like the version you had inadvertently ordered were what you really needed all along.

Have you taken the new tires off road yet? I think you got exactly the tire you wanted, but you just didn’t realize what the compromise would be. Every tire is a compromise of a number of factors, tire rack website has excellent ratings and assessments of these compromises but understood that they are difficult to fully comprehend. Especially for your exact use case, vehicle, and conditions.


Also, yeah get them rebalanced. Road force balanced from a good tire shop.

 

expert copy and paste job here. all 4 are for different purposes yet have overlap in characteristics from one to its neighbor. you can tell just by looking at the treads which is best for what.

 

Thanks for everyone's feedback, I appreciate the input.

I think I ended up with the right tire for the adventures I'll be going on.
99.8% of my miles will be on the highway, and the rest will be overlanding of some sort, but nothing that requires the AT3W or even the AT3WA.

I'm actually starting to think that 80% of the folks who run those beefy tires don't need them for the trails they are doing. Sure, they look the part, and it helps to have a tread like that and be more puncture resistant, but the reality is even your basic highway tire is incredibly durable and capable offroad.

Check out this guy who ran Michelin Latitude Tour HP's for around 11,000 miles in some of the harshest terrain in Joshua Tree you can imagine.

Check out his older videos around the time he bought the GX. He's got video after video of him absolutely torturing those Latitudes. He eventually switched out to the AT3W's, but only because he lives in the desert, and 90% of his miles are on those gnarly trails.

I'll be fine in the Defenders and will report back with updates as I break them in.

 

most dont realize that there is no tire better in every way than most others. by going to the ATs you lose hydroplane resistance, lose mpg, increase noise, maybe lose comfort. You gain traction in some terrains, maybe look cooler.
Then same thing, some tradeoffs, with bigger tires. Bigger gets you lower mpg, loss of roll angle, maybe public garage parking issues. You can get some added clearance, maybe looks cooler.
Then even more with lifts.

When looking at a real work truck, the bigger the gap wheel to fender means that it is more heavy duty. all comes down to need and preferences.

I'm on the interstate many hours each week, and only rarely anything off road. Off road for me isnt rocks, its trails on grass, dirt, hills. So defenders are the best option along with some self recovery gear. especially looking at the channels and considering the speed and hydroplaning.

 

While I am not arguing for or against AT vs more on road oriented tires, but the desert is just on of many areas that people explore and the soil types and conditions are vastly different then many places people off road. The bigger more open lug tires are going to be much better at clearing mud from the treads then an highway tire, same with snow. Almost all of the utilities service trucks who go off road around my area use GY Duratracks. Not saying they are the best, but that are a very far cry from a highway tire and they must like something about them.

But as others have pointed out, on a truck or SUV AT tires do look 100% better on a nice set of wheels then highway tires. So yeah, I would imagine 95% of people run them 99% of the time on the road.

 

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gx-...l#post11280032

gx with rubitrek ATs