Michelin LTX AT2

[SBeretz]

EARP, thanks for the response. I mainly paid a little more for the Michelins to try and get some extra miles out of my tires. I haven't really had any issues with any of the tires on my truck for handling a 5ver or towing, but I was just wondering. I plan on rotating every oil change (7500), so hopefully that is enough to keep them in check. I could rotate a little more if needed, but alot of folks don't seem to be having many issues with irregular wear. Overall, I am very pleased with the tires thus far. They seem to be a well built AT and do everything I need them to do. I kinda look forward to trying them in the snow. With the siping and block pattern, they look like they are going to be excellent. Scotty

 

[seafish]

Well guys, good luck on the mileage!!!



The AT2 is an excellent tire--it handles extremely well in ALL conditions( though I do not drive offroad much at all).

My set of 4 also balanced with only 2 small weights. My local tire guy actually remarked on that when I picked the truck up. He normally sells Hankook and Cooper tires-- He had to special order in the Michelins for me and I guess it always takes more weights to balance those other brands; I DO think that it is a dam good sign of excellent manufacturing if the tire balances more or less right out the factory door (of course cheap or damaged wheels can effect this too).



In any case, I have been extremely pleased with my At2's, EXCEPT for the fact that I got only 20k miles out of them so far and I am definitely going to have to replace them easily within 3k miles more, probably less.



Then again, it's only fair to note that I have never gotten more then 20k miles on any of the Michelins that I have run on my trucks around here. I mostly ascribe that to the fact that my truck weighs in at +8400# unladen, as well as the psspoor roads that I drive on, including 1 mile of rocked driveway everyday.



I HAVE pulled 15K several times on the curvy roads around here and the tires and truck did not seem to notice or handle any differently when doing it. These seem to be an extremely well built and stable tire in the load E rating, stock size, at least.



But like I said, I hope you get better mileage then I did out of them. My neighbor who hauls horse day in and day out on the same roads I drive has NEVER gotten better then 10k miles on his tires. He just purchased a set of the At2' at Cosco... I'll let you guys know how many miles he gets out of them... I don't think it will be better then 10k miles:-laf



Next time, I am probably going to try the Toyo OC MT or maybe the Toyo OC HT/ tuff duty--



OPEN COUNTRY H/T WITH TUFF DUTY | Toyo Tires



I like the load rating on them and just like SBeretz, am hoping for better tire longevity. Of course, given his experience with the Toyo OC AT, who knows??





If they don't work out well, I'll stick with the Michelin AT2!!!

 

[SBeretz]

Seafish, if you are getting better wear out of the AT2's than any other Michelin, that is promising enough for me. They don't "seem" like they are going to wear out fast or anything, but who really knows until you get some miles on them. I do like the look of those Toyo HT's though. They are kind of similar to the Michelin's that came stock on the trucks. I imagine those would last a long time. Not sure about traction, but they look decent for regular day in and day out stuff.

I have alot of friends in Idaho with Dodge CTD's and they swear by Toyo's. They run OC AT's on all of their trucks, mainly because Les Schwab pushed them as rock resistant, and they hold up to the Back Country Roads. I know my buddies don't get alot of miles out of them, but they seem like they have a higher probability of not getting a rock gash while a long way from the trailheads. Scotty

 

[scottmcd]

I have had my A/T2's on for 5 weeks and put 3k on them. They are replacing the rears this morning as they have "FEATHERED" really bad. Almost feels like a cheese grater if you run your hand over them. Bought mine at Discount Tire, and they are doing it all for free. The fronts still have the Original 17/32 tread, but the rears are down to 14/32 already.



Taking off tomorrow for Las Vegas, what should I be running all the way around for pressure?

 

[seafish]

I've been running 65psi on my AT2 (265/70/17 -- E rated), front and rear driving unloaded (with campershell, weighs in at 8000#) and have experienced very even wear, even down to the last 1 or 2 k miles of their life at 20,600 miles. Rotated roughly every 7500 miles. Still tread left, but obviously getting new tires before long.

Toyo Open Country AT or HT or HT-lt3 for me this time just to check them out.

 

[SBeretz]

I have about 5K on my AT2's and they are looking really good. I am about to rotate them this weekend, but I hauled my 5th Wheel about 600 miles this past weekend and they handled the weight really well, and the traction on all roads and normal offroad is really good. They are not a mud tire, but they do bite in grass, which helps me alot. So far they are great. I will keep reporting with mileage gains and weird wear if I get any. Scotty

 

[SBeretz]

Just a quick update. I have about 12K miles on my AT2's and they don't appear to have lost much, if any. I will try and measure them, but they have settled in really well. They did seem a little soft at first, and kinda squirmy? Now with 12K miles on them, they are very stable and seem to grip the road very well. I knew they would be a little squirmy since I keep them at 75PSI all the way around, but I don't like to mess with my tires when I want to pull my trailers. Overall, they seem to be doing really well. I guess I will see how they look in another 10K. Scotty

 

[HBarlow]

Wow! You guys must be smoking the tires on every start up. I have used about five sets of Michelins on my Dodges. When I was transporting I was getting 110,000 miles on a set of six on a dually and always pulled them off a little early when winter was approaching. That was running hard and fast on the highways and loaded with trailers more than half of the time. Granted I was not doing a lot of start and stop city driving or driving on dirt or gravel roads but I always worked them pretty hard.

I can't imagine only getting 20k miles on a set of Michelins.

 

[opjohnny]

looks like you can get a 17" ltx ms now in a couple "e" sizes. More choices = good news.

 

[SBeretz]

Harvey, mine are holding up really well. I think Seafish is the only one reporting lower mileage out of them, but he says he has gotten more out of the LTX2's than any other. They look like a solid tire to me, hopefully they live up to the Michelin name. Money savings will be great if I don't have to keep replacing tires every 40K or so. Scotty

 

[seafish]

No smoking for me HB... :-laf:-laf



The LTX/AT2 in my opinion is an EXCELLENT tire.

I cannot even say that I am dissapointed in it's longevity, because indeed they lasted at least 3000 to 4000 miles more then any of my other Michelins on any of my trucks in the last 20 years. I would have eked out 25k miles on them, but just last week replaced them at 24k because my local garage had special ordered in a set of the Toyo Open Country AT 285/75/17 E . They looked so nice, and with rains coming and my AT2 being just about down to the bone, I had him mount and balance the Toyos on all 4 corners. Certainly they are the best LOOKING tire/size that I have ever run on my trucks... MORE IMPORTANTLY, they have dropped my RPMs to a much lower and quieter level at highway speeds. Previously, with the oem tire size and early/lower geared G56, and my 3. 73 diff, I was running the CTD at 2250 at 65 mph and almost 2400 at 75 mph on the interstate. Though the truck still ate up the miles, it just didn't feel right to me (and many other Ram CTD owners), which is why I think that Dodge slightly raised the gear ratios on the later (AE) g56 transmission. Now, with the larger diameter tire, I am running only 1900 at 65 mph, but can still idle up my 2% grade driveway in 1st gear. It fells just about perfect to me.



Of course, it will be nice (IF it happens) to get more then 25k miles out of these tires. As I mentioned earlier, I DON'T do burnouts, etc, but simply put many of my miles delivering lumber on both poorly maintained county roads as well as 1 or 2 miles daily on my own gravel/rock driveway. The Toyos DO come with a 40k mileage warranty on the 17" and smaller LT sizes, while Michelin does not offer a treadwear warranty on thier LT tires. My neighbor who operates a horse ranch is now running the AT2 on his 2008 2500. I'll let you guys know what kind of mileage he gets from his tires... This is the FIRST time he has run Michelins because he said he couldn't justify their extra cost given that he has NEVER in 20 years gottn more then 10k miles on a set of tires. Of course, he is making daily, multiple runs on the same lousy roads that I drive, BUT pulling 15k of horse and trailer up and down. His will be a good comparison for heavily loaded AT2's.



Scotty, just so you know, I also did NOT notice excessive wear on the AT2 until I hit 15k, then they seemed to wear faster until... in my earlier posts, you remember, I didn't think that I was barely going to get 20k from them. I am happy that I got the 24 that I did. If Michelin offered them in a 285/75/17 E, I would probably buy them again just because I liked them SOOOO MUCH. In the meantime, I also like these Toyos ALOT... they are also quiet and handle well. The 285/75/17 E actually DOES have an extra sidewall belt, as well as an extra tread belt, which is why they have the incredible load capacity of 3950# each.



I still think that it is hilarious that you went from the Toyo OC/AT 285/75/17 E to the MIchelin AT2 265/75/17 E in an attempt to get more mileage and I am doing the exact opposite. While certainly driving needs and styles and road conditions will easily effect comparable tire life, this will still be a pretty good and fun comparison on the longevity of both of these tires. I will start posting wear and mileage figures when I get my first 5k on, just like you are doing.



All that being said, both from my own experience, and the experioence of other TDR drivers, I have no doubt that EITHER the AT2 or the Toyo OC/AT are excellent and SAFE tires!

 

[SBeretz]

Yeah, I think it is funny we are both running the exact same tire, even size! Either way, we shall see, I know what you mean about the 285/75 looking good. I really liked the way my truck rolled with them, and it was probably the nicest looking tire I have had on the truck. My only issue was that I would have had to do an flipped axle on my toyhauler in order for the trailer to sit level. I liked everything else about the lower RPM's on the highway and all that. Next time I may go with a 285/70 since BF Goodrich has an AT in an E rating. I guess it really depends on what kind of mileage I get out of the Michelins. If they hold up well, I will stick with them. Scotty

 

[muchsnow]

These are great tires, I have them on a 1999 Dodge 2500 and a 2009 Mercedes GL320. These ride and wear great... . quiet... . good traction... and tough.

 

[SBeretz]

Man, I totally agree on that. Well said, I know I will put the same thing on my wifes Jeep when her stockers wear off of it. I couldn't be happier with the tires on my truck so far. The only negative will be if they wear out fast. But with all the pro's to the tires, if they last to 40K I will be happy. Can't wait to get them in snow, but so far, during hunting they have taken me through decent amounts of muds and slick fields without any drama. Scotty

 

[cmills]

pattern at about the 50% point as do many many tires. I mean if you look at the tread, there is a top design that handles water very well but when it wears out (the 50% area) there is a 2nd face that doesn't accomplish the side evacuation, and completely changes the tread face. I try to avoid these designs if possible.

Thats a good point, something I've never really noticed. I wonder what the reason is for doing that.

 

[MSavre]

I went with the 265 LTX M/S2. Headed straight for the snow, ice and mountain. Traction was great, so was the ride and noise.

 

[SBeretz]

So far, mine have been great. Muddy, sloppy fields have been handled pretty easily. Hoping to get them into the snow and ice shortly. They are excellent on wet roads with standing water. The pattern looks like they will do really well in snow. Scotty

 

[TRACKERJOHN]

I went with the New Michelin X LT2 265/75R 16 E, less aggressive than the AT2, also carries a 70,000 mile warranty which the AT2 does not. Bought at Costco in Oregon, No Sale Tax - $70. 00 in store rebate. (4=$849. 96 out the door)

 

[SBeretz]

That is a great price for out the door tires. That is a great warranty for truck tires. Probably hard to go wrong with that! Scotty

 

[MSavre]

I bought ours at America"s Tire. They are having a price war with Costco, it's great all you have to do is tell them the price you were quoted and the sales person gets on the phone and you just start watching the price drop. You don't have to give them the phone number they have it on speed dial.