DIFFERENT TREAD DEPTH

I have Falken Wild Peak AT3 tires with 15,000 miles. They have about 1/2 life remaining. I had to replace one due to severe puncture. The tread depth is 1/4 inch on old and 1/2 inch on the new tire. I had it mounted on the left rear. It's not four wheel drive.

When I pulled out of the shop I heard a clunk from the left rear. I heard it again in a parking lot. I checked the lug nuts & they weren't quite tight enough. After tightening sufficiently I didn't notice the clunk again but I'm not 100% that was it.

It drove perfect at all speeds, nothing abnormal. My worry is possible damage to the differential with 1/4 inch more tread which makes the spin ratio different. At $350 per tire I'd rather not buy another one as I will be replacing the whole set sometime next year but with a different brand tire.

I doubt that 1/4" of tread depth would make much difference in spin ratio or cause any issues with the differential. This could happen any time anyone had to use a spare tire that is different from the other ones on the vehicle, so it should not be a big concern...

Also, $350 for tires that carry a 55k tread life warranty but only last ~30k miles...WTF ??

That's an auto-no-buy IMO, as they look the same or very similar to every other AT tire, based on the pics I've seen. Surely you can find longer lasting tires from another brand for less $$.......just sayin

Well, BigOleFordFan, I think you're right. I did change it over to the right rear as that's the drive wheel. I also threw thr torque wrench to the lugs. I never bother with the torque wrench but being as they are brand new lug nuts I figured WTH. I think the specs are 150 ft lbs, but I went with 125 ft lbs. That should suffice.

Regarding the FALKEN WILDPEAK AT3, I saw them priced closer to what I originally paid back in 2021...$280 each but even at that price I wouldn't purchase them again based on the horrible tread life. One I bought them based on a friends recommendation. He actually got about 60,000 miles from his set. The difference though, his were made in Thailand. My set was manufactured in CHINA. That really ticked me off.

The new one that I actually got under warranty due to a huge lag bolt puncturing it was made in Thailand. I don't know if that's the reason for the accelerated wear, but still, I won't be purchasing ANY tire not manufactured in the USA from now on, not that that's even any guarantee on a quality tire.

The reason I went with the Falkens is because I had COOPER DISCOVERES to start. I got them new in late 2018. That was when I lived in SC. I moved to WNC in mid 2020 and we have over 1/2 mils of a gravel drive. The Coopers had 2 tires with gravel straight through & the remaining 2 tires developed bubbles/broken belts in short order. UNBELIEVABLE as there as more than half the tread left on all 4. Just garbage.

So, the Falkens have held up well to the gravel, just not any good as far as tread wear/life. I rotated every 3000 to 4000 miles as well. No uneven or abnormal wear, just plain old wear. That's the story. Thanks for your reply!

I'd bet anything your clunk was the lug nuts. I've had more than my share of those experiences, and they'll make all kinds of weird noises that sound like something else, like a binding clicking sound that makes you think a transaxle is going out, or a series of thumps that makes you think the rear end is falling out. If the shop just ran the lug nuts onto aluminum wheels with an impact and didnt use a torque wrench, almost guarantee that was it. And even if they were properly torqued, as soon as you drive it a little bit, it's not unusual to have to re-torque.

Since its not a 4wd vehicle just move it to the front.