RGS88
Member
- Thread starter
- #1
Just so the title doesn't sound too click-baitey, up until this last week I've only ever had fantastic experience with Falkens. Ran the AT3W on my Gladiator, Land Rover LR4, Range Rover Sport, and Grand Cherokee.
I ordered a set of new 275/70/18 Falken AT4w, and a set of 18x9 GFX wheels from Discount Tire. About 25 miles into my ride home I noticed a slight vibration in the steering wheel when driving above 70 mph. My stock 17's were butter smooth on that same stretch of road. Initially I chalked it up to the tires being Load Range E, wider, heavier, etc... You can expect to feel more of the road.
Symptoms:
1. Started with a very slight shake/rumble around 35 mph, which would go away after tires warmed up I believe
2. Slight shaking around 55-65 mph, which would go away after a little bit
3. Heavier shaking around 70 mph, which would occasionally go away after a little bit of driving, but would then return.
I could never nail down what would cause it to stop shaking, road surface didn't seem to have any impact. I feared it was my torque converter, transmission, or maybe driveshaft. I'd never had such intermittent shaking caused by an imbalanced tire. To make things even more convoluted, the first shop never installed hub rings on the wheels, but even installing those didn't fix the shakes.
4. By days 7-8, after 4 attempts at rebalancing, the shaking was almost constant anytime I got above 70 mph.
5. I was feeling shaking in the pedals/floor, seat, and steering wheel.
6. Road Force balancing machine wasn't showing anything off. At this point I assumed the wheels must have been out of round or something.
( FALKEN AT4W)
Nothing was showing up on the Road Force balancing, they lined up the red/yellow dots appropriately with the valve stems, but nothing would fix the issue.
Resolution:
The manager gave me my options, and the two most attractive options were to have them order me a new set of AT4Ws (which would take 3-5 days to ship), or I could try the BFG KO3 which was in stock.
I went with the KO3 (275/70/18, load range E).
Immediately I could feel the difference just leaving the parking lot. Got up to highway speed = NO MORE SHAKING. Put 140 miles on them and they ride like butter, no shaking, no road noise. I've run KO2s in the past and loved them; these feel exactly the same to me. They're ever so slightly smaller than the Falkens were in the same size. My speedo is off 1mph now so I'll go back in with Forscan and get it dialed in again.
I think it's safe to say it was just a bad tire, maybe a bad belt, out of round, compound issue, I don't know. I wouldn't hesitate to buy Falkens again, but this was my experience at this time.
BFG KO3s -
Shout out to Discount Tire though! Especially the Madison (WI) east side location. They were fantastic and worked quickly to find a resolution.
I ordered a set of new 275/70/18 Falken AT4w, and a set of 18x9 GFX wheels from Discount Tire. About 25 miles into my ride home I noticed a slight vibration in the steering wheel when driving above 70 mph. My stock 17's were butter smooth on that same stretch of road. Initially I chalked it up to the tires being Load Range E, wider, heavier, etc... You can expect to feel more of the road.
Symptoms:
1. Started with a very slight shake/rumble around 35 mph, which would go away after tires warmed up I believe
2. Slight shaking around 55-65 mph, which would go away after a little bit
3. Heavier shaking around 70 mph, which would occasionally go away after a little bit of driving, but would then return.
I could never nail down what would cause it to stop shaking, road surface didn't seem to have any impact. I feared it was my torque converter, transmission, or maybe driveshaft. I'd never had such intermittent shaking caused by an imbalanced tire. To make things even more convoluted, the first shop never installed hub rings on the wheels, but even installing those didn't fix the shakes.
4. By days 7-8, after 4 attempts at rebalancing, the shaking was almost constant anytime I got above 70 mph.
5. I was feeling shaking in the pedals/floor, seat, and steering wheel.
6. Road Force balancing machine wasn't showing anything off. At this point I assumed the wheels must have been out of round or something.
( FALKEN AT4W)
Nothing was showing up on the Road Force balancing, they lined up the red/yellow dots appropriately with the valve stems, but nothing would fix the issue.
Resolution:
The manager gave me my options, and the two most attractive options were to have them order me a new set of AT4Ws (which would take 3-5 days to ship), or I could try the BFG KO3 which was in stock.
I went with the KO3 (275/70/18, load range E).
Immediately I could feel the difference just leaving the parking lot. Got up to highway speed = NO MORE SHAKING. Put 140 miles on them and they ride like butter, no shaking, no road noise. I've run KO2s in the past and loved them; these feel exactly the same to me. They're ever so slightly smaller than the Falkens were in the same size. My speedo is off 1mph now so I'll go back in with Forscan and get it dialed in again.
I think it's safe to say it was just a bad tire, maybe a bad belt, out of round, compound issue, I don't know. I wouldn't hesitate to buy Falkens again, but this was my experience at this time.
BFG KO3s -
Shout out to Discount Tire though! Especially the Madison (WI) east side location. They were fantastic and worked quickly to find a resolution.
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