I'm looking to experiment with a trial separation from BFG ATKO2s. curious about more info on the Falken's. do you have the AT3W? I'm thinking of replacing the BFGs on the 40 with them. I'm on the roads most of the time with that and like the siping for icky snowy days around town. other than the balancing...would you get them again? what vehicles do you have them on?
I actually realized I've had 3 sets of Falkens on three vehicles; on my 100, an FJ Cruiser, and a 2015 F150.
The balancing thing is a pretty big deal to me but if I excluded that I'd say I've been happy with them. I need to get by a non-chain shop and just shell out to get them done right instead of letting discount have so many shots at it.
I don't think they are better than KO2's or Duratracs in snow but I got around fine in that 21" of heavy stuff we had here in Loveland last spring (after making it home on the washboard ice from Frisco). I don't think I can ask more than that. I haven't had KO2's in a long time to compare but I remember the KO2's were really good in snow.
Offroad they have been very good, no complaints. When I first got them I paid close attention to tread wear off road and noticed the guys with KO2's had some "chunking" after challenging sections; whereas the Falkens seemed to hold up better with a different tread pattern. Then later I heard BFG had a quality control issue so maybe it was an isolated issue. Never a question from me on the sidewall durability - I run mine in the 16-22 PSI range depending on how hot they are when I air them down after getting off the road. If you run them at lower pressures I don't know how they would handle it with such a heavy vehicle on them.
On road they are one of the quieter AT's I've owned. I have 25k on this set and IMO they don't show it. Noise even on concrete sections of 25 at 75mph is unobtrusive. I have a set of five, and rotate the spare at 5k intervals and they are wearing very evenly.
I never "wheeled" the F150 but wanted to mention it because I towed a lot with it and it had the ecoboost which has way more power than my Toyotas have, and the tires still wore very well; albeit I rotated them religiously.
I'm not very brand loyal with tires and will buy whatever has the right performance characteristics, reliable, and is at the right price. So I suppose Falken has been in that sweet spot a few times when I was shopping, but I wouldn't swear by these tires and I wouldn't argue with anyone if they say there is a better tire out there - I'm sure there is. I'm kind of bored with the Falkens and hope in a few years when I go to shop there is a new option, they haven't made any changes to much of the AT tire lineup in a decade it feels like.