truck tires

[Don N.]

I'm somewhat skeptical to ask any tire question from what I have asked before, but here goes.......any one's thoughts or experiences using Michelin's Defender LTX M/S tires on their tow rig?

[Javi]

Got them on my Dually... like them a lot..

[sourdough]

I just put Michelin Defender in the search bar and came up with this -

http://www.keystoneforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28613&highlight=michelin+defender&page=4

Started by….you guessed it! I have them and love them. Approx. 18k on them now.

[SC Dreamer]

I have had great success running LTX on 4 wheel trucks and get a lot of miles on them. I do not get the same result on dually where I can't rotate every 5k miles at oil change time. For the money and get good mileage I use the Firestone Transforce. I don't get as many miles on them, but cost per mile it makes better sense to me on the dually.

[sourdough]

I have had great success running LTX on 4 wheel trucks and get a lot of miles on them. I do not get the same result on dually where I can't rotate every 5k miles at oil change time. For the money and get good mileage I use the Firestone Transforce. I don't get as many miles on them, but cost per mile it makes better sense to me on the dually.


^^^^^If for some reason you did not want the Michelins I have to agree with the above. I had not owned a Firestone tire since about 1990 due to bad experiences but they came on the truck listed below as OE. I was very pleasantly surprised. Rode and wore great. Removed them at 48,xxx miles (because I change tires at 40-50k miles) and they still had 8/32nd tread on them so would have gone 60k easily.

Edit: I should have noted that the Michelin's are better IMO.

[Javi]

I have had great success running LTX on 4 wheel trucks and get a lot of miles on them. I do not get the same result on dually where I can't rotate every 5k miles at oil change time. For the money and get good mileage I use the Firestone Transforce. I don't get as many miles on them, but cost per mile it makes better sense to me on the dually.

Actually, it is really simple to rotate dually tires if you don't have fancy wheels... :whistling:

Rear driver's side... inside to driver's front... outside to inside, drivers front to outside rear..

Rear passenger side... outside to inside, inside to front, and front to outside rear..

[ctbruce]

I have the Michelin tires you ask about on SRW 3500 Silverado. Really like them. I have 35700 miles on them and zero issues. I'll buy them again.

[notanlines]

The Michelins came on the F-350 and were changed out at about 66,000 with the same tire. The Ford dealer in Albuquerque beat the Michelin dealer by $150.00 on the set. We are approaching 126,000 and will have new Michelins put on when we get to Albuquerque in August. How can you beat that?

[grey ghost]

I've been running on Michelin LT tires for years now and I've NOT had a problem since I switched over. No more sitting on the interstate 6" from 80 mph traffic that just plain refuses to get over even a little bit!! If I ever get a new 5ver, I will pull directly to Direct Tire and have a set of Mchelin's put on it for certain!!

[grey ghost]

oops, sorry I misread you post, I thought you were talking about tires on your rig, not your truck. I used to run michelin tires on the truck but Discount Tire talked me into Bridgestone this time, said they were getting mileage out of them rather than the michelin. So far so good, no complaints, YET!

[sourdough]

oops, sorry I misread you post, I thought you were talking about tires on your rig, not your truck. I used to run michelin tires on the truck but Discount Tire talked me into Bridgestone this time, said they were getting mileage out of them rather than the michelin. So far so good, no complaints, YET!

Keep an eye on those Bridgestones. They came on my new 4runner and they consistently seep/leak air...all of them, at about the same rate.:confused: No valve stem issues. I haven't dug deeply into it but I attribute it to the tires. Why/how? :banghead: The prior 4runner had Michelins and I had no air loss. I have had 2 other sets of Bridgestones on SUVs and was not happy with any of them....but that was several years ago. Just an fyi.

[Pmedic4]

Replaced the Firestone Transforce on my truck, with the Michelin LTX. The Transforce OE tires only got about 36,000 and they were treadbare. One tire dealer said most people like them when i said i was disappointed with the tread life. Only about 6.000 on the LTXs, so we'll see.

[FF/PM]

I ran them for 60,000+ and just changed them out for the same. Now bad experience at all. Handle well in all weather, even snow. Good mileage, great wear. I rotate at all oil changes and check the air at least monthly and while towing. I'll do it again in about 59,000 miles!

[Alpine]

My truck new came with TransForce. Second go around I purchased Michelin LTX M/S 2.... I'm back with the TransForce! :D:D:D And it was not because of price!

[travelin texans]

Got almost 70k out of the OEM Michelins on my 1 ton dually & nearly half of those miles was towing a 16.5k 5th wheel, replaced with the same tires. Yes they do cost more, but if you consider you'll get 2 to 3 times the mileage over cheaper tires they cost less. I've ran Goodyear, Firestone, Goodrich, Yokohomas (best of what's been mentioned) & Discount Tires Falken brand & the absolute best mileage was right at 40k from the Yokohomos, the Falkens lasted almost 30k, the rest were 35 to 37k. So for my money I'll pay the extra for the Michelins.

[cynjon]

I only got 30K from the Firestone Transforce HTs that came on my truck from the factory...not bad, but not great either. I thought they were good highway tires (quiet and smooth) but sub-par in the wet/snow. I was going to go with the Michelin Defender LTX but ultimately decided to go with something just a little bit more aggressive for winter and mud. I had the new Cooper Discoverer A/T3 XLTs installed last week and they are fantastic. Quiet on the highway, they look great and should be really good in the slippery stuff with all the siping that they have. That being said, I have not heard anything bad about the Michelins and if you don't venture off road much, they would be a great choice.

[66joej]

Heard from an "unreliable" source that OEM tires are not the same quality as off the shelf tire dealer tires. Had LTXs new on 2 - F250s I had back in 2011/2012. Best was 30-35k miles from them. Religious about pressures and rotating. Pulled a 11000# GVWR 5er usually loaded to that number.

[JRTJH]

I've heard that "inferior quality OEM tires" as well, but can't imagine Michelin or any other tire manufacturer allowing poor performance of their name brand product and expecting people to purchase replacements based on dismal results the first time....

I know several people who get better mileage from a second set of tires than from the OEM set, can't tell you why, but I would be very surprised if any tire manufacturer wants their product to give inferior performance while expecting a "repeat customer" when it comes time to replace the tires. Seems if they were "second rate" tires being delivered to OEM car manufacturers, that info would have been leaked to the public by now with the statement from all the tire companies that when you buy from us, they will perform better....

[sourdough]

I've heard that story for years as well and used to believe it; but, in reality, as John mentioned, WHY would a car dealer, or tire manufacturer, want to put inferior/defective tires on a new vehicle? That doesn't make sense to me.

I often thought that maybe they used the "blems", those that failed inspections, for OEM tires, but again why? And, there may have been a time way back when but I don't think that is the case any longer.

[notanlines]

Sorry, but I'm not buying the low quality OEM tire story either. Any company as big as GMC, Ford or Chrysler isn't going to buy crappola from some tire company either. Now, if your truck came with B F Goodrich, it's too late. You already have crappy tires.

[MerlinB]

I had a service manager at a car dealer one time tell me that "club tires", i.e. Sam's club or Costco, were of inferior quality compared to the same brands at independent retailers or tire company stores. Seemed weird to me.

[JRTJH]

I heard that same "line" about Levi's 501's "back in the day".... The 501's that cost $25 at Montgomery Wards or Penney's were supposed to be inferior to the 501's that cost $100 at Macy's or DH Holmes.... I never found my butt to fall out of one pair any faster than the next (depending on the amount of bleach used to make them fade faster, that is)......

I think most of the "we sell better stuff" is probably someone trying to "ring up a sale" more than someone "who knows what's really the basis of their claim"....