Tire Conicity/Radial Pull

Anyone know what these two things are? No looking at google....

I didn’t either until I bought a new set of falken wild peaks at3.

Installer called and said two of the four tires had conicity. Said all four tires were a bitch to balance so they took it for a test drive and noted severe pulling to the right. Swapped the tires and it pulled to the left.

Tires had been a special order. Luckily they had a set of KO2s in stock and mounted those with no issues. They also ate the $$$$ difference.

I know these tires are popular here and they’ve also received high ratings. Just passing along that two of the four I got were defective and all four were a hot mess to balance.

 

huh. Interesting. Never heard of those terms but I just had a set of 4 AT3s and they balanced really easily and I have less pull than I did with stock tires.

Were they the E rated versions?

 

It’s a measurement under tire uniformity, most people just use uniformity to describe a fucked tire. I think there are 5 or 6 different measurements under uniformity, conicity being one of them.

But many people have also had a hard time with uniformity of KO2s. So I wouldn’t hold it against falken, it’s just shitty QA which seems to be common with many off road oriented tires.

 

Yes.

 

One bad tire and I giggle and say “that’s just my gosh darned luck!”

Four tires that are hard to balance, and I snicker and think “Duratracs”.

One tire that is so bad the car pulls hard to one side and I scratch my head and say .....”hmmm.....that’s a dilly of a pickle”.

Two tires that are so misshapen that it scares the techs and I think “this is not right”.

Four tires that take forever to balance, including two that make the car want to drive in tight circles and I throw down my pink top hat and say “Fuck this, I’m warning the good people on TW that something’s seriously amiss!” Then I change my profile title to note I’m holding a grudge.

FWIW, I’m. I’m not a bfg fan. FWIWx2, they were stupid easy to balance.

 

All tires have radial pull. Some are more than others and when you get two that are severe the same way, you will get a pull. This has nothing to do with balancing, but how the steel belts are aligned to the casing. It wouldn't make sense for them to call conicity without test driving it first, and I would be shocked if they actually did. Probably a tech who confused his terms.

Now in terms of quality, I believe the wild peaks use a clam shell mold vs the BFGs using a segmented mold. The difference is that with the clam shell they have to use more heat and pressure which lessens the likely hood of a perfectly round tire. Another thing with the BFGs is Michelin's quality control is second to none in the tire business. This obviously comes at a cost and is the reason that Michelins are more expensive. If you got BFGs at Falken prices, you scored for sure.

 

If I remember correctly, the average manufacturing defect in tires is about 1% across the industry. That's 1 in 100 tires. It's not uncommon to come across defect considering how many tires are produced and sold every day.

 

Please note original post. They test drove it.

More detail: they swapped tires and noted that it changed the direction of pull relative to the location of the two bad tires. I talked to the tech and he said the pull was immediate and severe. Said it was scary.

I did get the BFG at falken prices...it’s why I’ve gone to the tire store exclusively for 20 odd years. They know how to take care of you.

 

Thanks for reminding me to buy a lottery ticket tonight.

 

Unfortunately, tire defects usually occur in batches. They are not typically a 1 off thing

 

Just fill in the blank : Skippy should ______ buy a lottery ticket tonight.

 

After 23,000 miles I have nothing but praise for my AT3W's. Sucks you got some bad ones, but it sounds like it's worked out well for you.

 

Thanks for the kind words.

I’m still holding a grudge.....it’s official.

 

I don't blame you. I have been known to do the same.

To be clear though, I have the SL's.

 

I love mad libs

 

I got you. Hug it out bitch.

 

It’s still too raw...

I’m hoping your sig brings me many hugs ...

 

Noted.

I saw a lot of potential in that blank. Your use of “penis” was both unexpected and ingenious. Some may say, noteworthy.

 

Just my .02 peso's, hard to believe that all four tires would be defects,sounds more like a wheel problem that those tires didn't like or were not mounted properly. On some tires we have to seat the bead and air them up to operating pressure then deflate and re-seat them to get them to seat properly and balance well, YMMV. But yes good deal on the BFG's

<<<Alignment tech for tire shop

 

Hopefully not hugs from me...

If you want something to make you feel better, I just today got my less than 2 year old truck back from the body shop to fix body rust...