Tire Decision time

[NewUser_7.3]

Hi everyone,

Need help deciding on a new set of tires. Cooper AT3 XLT or Falken AT4W. Both look good, pricing is about the same and the reviews on the Falkens seem to be consistently good, same with the Coopers, but the Falkens are noticeably heavier by about 8 pounds per tire - would that weight difference even be noticeable? I had a V8 Tundra years ago and put bigger heavier tires on it and it felt like a slug after, don't want to end up like that again.

My other concern is road noise, if anyone has had both would love to know which if one is quieter than the other. I had Cooper AT3 on my F150 and they were great, but the tread is a little dull.

 

[Alpoba]

8 lbs is a big deal. Many forum members like to downplay it like it’s nothing, the heavy duty superduty suspension will swallow it up they say. but in reality all that unsprung weight will wear down your suspension, steering and braking components quicker. But the biggest reason is the one you mentioned, the 80lbs tires feel like a slug in comparison to 60lbs duratracs. Again, no one likes to mention this here either, but it’s a fact.

If i had one issue with falken wildpeak at3 37/12.50/18s, it was their sluggish behavior aka poor handling being an 80lbs tire. Right now i’m on toyo at3 37/12.50/18 (71lbs tire) and i seriously can not tell the difference between them and 60lbs duratracs when it comes to handing, they are that good when it comes to every day dry handling. I beleive coopers ats 37s are a 70lb tire too. I personally would take them over any 80lbs tire.

 

[Modman]

The Coopers seem more biased to road if that's what you're doing most. Those will probably be quieter than the Falkens but I don't have direct experience with either. I think 8lbs per tire is a lot as @Alpoba said.

 

[NewUser_7.3]

The closest I come to off roading these days is a campground with an unkept road lol. The Coopers were great on the F150, if a little dull looking. Putting heavier tires on that will put more wear and tear on the drive train, possibly nosier, and worse for MPG seems like a bad idea.

 

[Lunch Box]

The closest I come to off roading these days is a campground with an unkept road lol. The Coopers were great on the F150, if a little dull looking. Putting heavier tires on that will put more wear and tear on the drive train, possibly nosier, and worse for MPG seems like a bad idea.

I am not an engineer, have never owned Coopers, but I do have Falken AT3, 295 x 70 x18. Absolutely love them. AT4 were not out yet. 85% on road use. Know nothing about +/- 8 lbs. I do know the AT4 has a 3 ply sidewall and not knowing the ply rating of the Coopers, could be what contributes to the extra 8lbs.

 

[Alpoba]

What size tire are you looking at? Going from 60lbs duratrac to a 68lbs falken wildpeak is a lot less significant than going from a 60lbs OEM tire to a 37” tire which is over 80lbs.

 

[NewUser_7.3]

Sticking with 285/75/18.

 

[BuckeyeF350]

It's not apples to apples, but I had Cooper Discoverer AT3 XLT in 275/55R20 on my Ram 1500 and just put the Falken AT/4W in 285/65R20 on my F-350.

I only have something like 60 miles on the Falkens, but so far, I like them. They're quieter on the road than the Coopers I had on the Ram, and they don't feel much different than the Michelin LTX factory tires that they replaced.

The Coopers were great tires on the Ram, and I considered them for the F-350, but I'm glad I went with the Falkens.

Falken AT/4W:

Cooper AT3:

 

[Modman]

Know nothing about +/- 8 lbs.

All I know is the OEM wheel and Duratracs aren't exactly "light" when doing a tire rotation. Throwing an extra 13-14% on isn't helping matters.

 

[BuckeyeF350]

Discount Tire says my factory tires were 57.85 lbs and that the Falkens in the size I went with are 67.4 lbs. I wouldn't say sluggishness is something I've noticed between the two.

 

[Nazz112]

Tire weight can be impactful but would be more noticeable on 7.3 vs 6.7

 

[BuckeyeF350]

Tire weight can be very impactful but would be more noticeable on 7.3 vs 6.7

I suppose I should add that I have a 6.7 with 3.55 gears.

 

[NewUser_7.3]

So even with the 7.3 and 4.3 rear end, the weight will really be that noticeable? Years back when I put mud terrains on an ancient Tundra, it had a huge effect on the drivability. Would prefer to avoid that this time around.

 

[JTredway]

The rule of thumb is roughly each pound of unsprung rolling weight is equal to the vehicle carrying an add'l 9lbs.
Roughly every 400lbs that you ± to a truck is roughly the equivalent of 1mpg.
Will you notice the 288 add'l pounds, probably not but it's no different than in a normal car and it feeling "slower" when you have buddies in the car and you are demonstrating speed or horsepower.

When I added my Fuel Beasts and went up in wheel size to 20x9 and stepped up to the Toyo MT (35x12.50) there is a discernable difference in acceleration and my fuel mileage did drop; def more impactful at higher speeds. But I did go from about ~60lbs a tire to 81lbs each + whatever the wheel difference was (roughly the equiv of 9xx lbs, I have the math somewhere). Obviously, other factors can contribute, such as wider tires will have more rolling resistance and such but again the general rule of thumb is 8-9lbs and 400. The diesel is probably less impacted than a 7.3.