Michelin to replace OEM Firestone tires

[Deleted member 995608]

^^^The Michelin's are definitely not a traction tire; on pavement or dirt.

 

[Mingoglia]

Lots of Michelin Kool*Aid drinkers around... My personal experiences with Michelin LT truck tires are poor, dating back to some crappppppppy LT245/75R16 Michelin LTX M/S OEM on my 1998 RAM 2500 Regular Cab CTD 4x4. All had some type of vibration since I took delivery of the truck. One tire was square as a brick.....road force balancing fixed 3 of the 4, and a Michelin dealer refused to do anything about the 4th tire, even with a road force printout. I ditched them after about 6k miles as the wet weather traction sucked and 4WD was needed to make the truck go on a level yard with a light dew on it.

My 2000 RAM 2500 Quad Cab CTD 4x4 had LT265/75R16 Michelin LTX A/S's on it......even worse wet weather traction and a vibration in one or more tires. I ditched them with under 1k miles and went with some LT285/75R16 Bridgestone Dueler A/T's. The Bridgestones rode like glass and only required one re-balancing over the useful life of the tires.

My 2007.5 RAM 3500 MegaCab Laramie SRW 4x4 had LT265/70R17 LTX A/S's on it.....ditched them at 400 miles :-laf (not even giving them a chance) and went with some LT285/70R17 Firestone Destination A/T's. I sold the Michelins, bought the Firestones at cost as I was a retail salesman at a large tire store in Lexington, KY, and put $150 extra money in my pocket after it was done ).The Destination A/T's were every bit as good, if not better, than the Dueler A/T's.

The Firestones are a good value for the dollar. For those reporting only 20k miles out of a set, all I can say is you must be "driving it like ya stole it." :-laf Lots of guys on another forum have been getting great service life from both the Firestone HT's and AT's. One guy received well over 80k on his HT's......and he pulls RV's for a living.

Heck......my OEM alleged "crapppppppy" LT235/80R17 General Ameri*Trac TR's went 79.5k miles. The General HTS's on now are at 51k miles and are doing well. No Michelin Kool*Aid for me........

Kool Aid drinkers are typically people that have no experience with something, yet cast their opinions. I believe all, including myself that have made comments have had extensive experience on said product, over a number of years. Yes, it sounds like our experiences have differed from yours, but they're still based on our own first hand experiences.

 

[gsbrockman]

Kool Aid drinkers are typically people that have no experience with something, yet cast their opinions. I believe all, including myself that have made comments have had extensive experience on said product, over a number of years. Yes, it sounds like our experiences have differed from yours, but they're still based on our own first hand experiences.

It can also be used ironically or humorously to refer to accepting an idea or changing a preference due to popularity, peer pressure, or persuasion. :-laf

 

[TCDiesel]

I will go with Toyo's, when I owned store's I had access to info on all tire sales thru-out the entire network of store, About $8 million a month in sales, Toyo's always were the least warranty tire, less then 1 %, I remember it jump above 1% 1 time and Toyo recall all the affected tires and cover all the failures 100%. Toyo's are Made China, Canada, Japan, USA. try and get the USA or Canada Tire, last time I bought I went thru the entire stock at the Warehouse in ST Cloud, the Tired I wanted (Of Course) all Made in China, They did last until I sold the truck with 48K Miles. I would guess they would make 70K Miles , Toyo HT's.

 

[mrbb]

I also think a lot of OPINIONS are based on WHERE and HOW YOU drive
for some area's and drivers a tire will work better in there area, than it will for others in a different area

I have personally lived and owned like type trucks , and drive them in the same area for the past 30+ yrs now
and over the yrs tried all sorts of tires , brands and tread patterns
I have tried many same BRANDS, due to being either getting a deal on a second set or, giving a brand/model tire a second chance
and to date ONLY tire I have ever got over 45,000 miles on, has been a Michelin,
I am NOT saying there the best tire, but they have always been the longest lasting for me, and again I said ME, with how and where I drive
I used to drive 50k plus a yr, and most times it was a new set of tire every yr, some yrs two sets of tires a yr
so I have gone thru a LOT of tires over the yrs

again I am stating off MY experiences

I had a buddy that worked at a Firestone store,m and got me almost 50% off tires there
I got my first set of FS AT's at a price I thought was super
first set got extremely POOR mileage out of, , FS rep, told me that was RARE, and so took a second set to see if first set was just a bad ???
second set wore just as fast
then tried a third set due to an even lower price offer! (lol)
again, they didn't last very long
BUT did get two flats about 1/2 way thru , which thru me out of cycle on buying a whole new set, so, I added two more Firestone destination AT's
to get thru a winter and then traded truck in
so that was 3.5 sets of exact same tire brand model and size on same truck in same area driven by same driver
and all SUCKED for ME
Michelin's on this same truck got me double the miles of the FS!
again NOT saying others cannot do better with a FS tire
I hear folks say they do all the time
I just couldn't
and I call that a pretty good test and NOT hear say or drinking coolaid
I switched to the Firestones right off Michelin's , for a wanting a slightly more aggressive tread, and well the price I got to to knowing a person at the FS shop
I paid maybe less for TWO sets of FS as what one set of Michelin's would have cost, so, in a round about way, I did get a deal /same like mileage , just two sets of tires to get it! LOL
NOW had I NOT got the savings on the tires, I would have never bought a second or third set of Firestone Destination AT's
they just plain did wear worth a crap for me
they were an OK all round traction tire, I will give them that, and did balance well, and DID wear even too
just wore out FAST for ME!
I have easy gone thru about 40 sets of tires over the past 30 yrs, and again all on like same trucks(3/4 tons)
so ?? I might have a little insight in tires
have to admit, over the past 30 yrs tires have improved a bunch too, but NOT a ton in my eye's

 

[Killgore]

I ran the Toyo Open Country H/T's for 50,000 and found them to be a smooth, well-balanced tire, however, the life of the tires wasn't what I expected for what I paid, even though I rotated and balanced every 6,000 miles. My real gripe was that I could get stuck in a mud-puddle if they ever spun one revolution. This red clay around here is rough.

Running a cost analysis I found that the Toyo's cost me $27.44 per thousand miles verses $20.35 per thousand miles for the Michelin's if I use the 70,000-mile limited warranty as the life of the tires. Of course, who knows what to expect until the hand has been played concerning actual service life. How well the Michelin's do on a slick surface like red clay or my wet pasture remains to be seen. I do know that if I have to goose-it a little when making a left-hand turn in approaching traffic, the ***-end doesn't break loose like the Toyo's were prone to do.

Having a bad experience can certainly put a bitter taste in your mouth and I'm one who has done his share of spitting. The common denominator in most tire related problems appears to be a lack of service or attention to customer complaints by the tire dealer. Working with a good, accommodating dealer can be almost as important as the selection of the tires. IMO

- Ed

 

[TCDiesel]

The toyo's mileage is OK, What I like the most was I didn't even put air in them they stayed Right at 60PSI, I visit the landfill transfer station weekly and some times daily, I pulled nails screws you name it out of those Toyo's not 1 Flat. On the Dump trailer(s) Txi-axles I lost count on the Flats, although the trailers are much closer to the demo pile, I try to avoid all the debris, I've had 2 repairs on My TransForce Tires with 24K miles they won't make it to 50K.

 

[Cummins12V98]

"Lots of Michelin Kool*Aid drinkers around"

I guess I am one! 98 2500 quad cab 4X4 one set on steel wheels 100K second set on third gen wheels 120K. 45K on these MS2's on my 11 Dually. At least 1/2 of those were towing miles with a 4500+ pin weight.

 

[JRMora]

When I lived in Colorado (Larkspur) I used the Firestone Transforce AT's. They balanced with little weight and ran very smooth. No issues with snow and ice traction even in two wheel drive. I got 65K out of them with about 1/4 of that towing my fifth wheel (around 22,000 combined weight). When I moved to Georgia we have no snow so I moved to a highway tire (Bridgestone Duravis R500). Again, smooth ride (no balance issues) and due to it's highway tread, very quiet. I have 40k on them and they are about half way worn. I'd recommend the Duravis as a heavy duty long mileage tire that is reasonably priced (I paid about $900 for six).

 

[gsbrockman]

When I moved to Georgia we have no snow so I moved to a highway tire (Bridgestone Duravis R500). Again, smooth ride (no balance issues) and due to it's highway tread, very quiet. I have 40k on them and they are about half way worn. I'd recommend the Duravis as a heavy duty long mileage tire that is reasonably priced (I paid about $900 for six).

I'd considered the Duravis the last time, but went with some more Generals due to my previous success with my OEM Generals. I remember the Duravis was OEM on some GM 2500 trucks, and they lasted a long time on those trucks!!!

 

[Kirwin]

Hey Greg, I hear you got better mileage out of the tires on the Radio Flyer. It was a better looking truck! (Rumor is Greg had put Helium in the tires!)

 

[SnoKing]

When I lived in Colorado (Larkspur) I used the Firestone Transforce AT's. They balanced with little weight and ran very smooth. No issues with snow and ice traction even in two wheel drive. I got 65K out of them with about 1/4 of that towing my fifth wheel (around 22,000 combined weight). When I moved to Georgia we have no snow so I moved to a highway tire (Bridgestone Duravis R500). Again, smooth ride (no balance issues) and due to it's highway tread, very quiet. I have 40k on them and they are about half way worn. I'd recommend the Duravis as a heavy duty long mileage tire that is reasonably priced (I paid about $900 for six).

I put R500's on my 2001.5. they are a commercial grade tire that will provide many miles. They ride pretty stiff compared to LTX M&S' and can be a little slippery in rain. So Summer tire for sure!

SNOKING

 

[gsbrockman]

Hey Greg, I hear you got better mileage out of the tires on the Radio Flyer. It was a better looking truck! (Rumor is Greg had put Helium in the tires!)

#ad

 

[Gonzo 1066]

I have been getting 70,000 towing miles out of the Michelin M/S2s That is all I will run.

 

[phxpsd]

I went with the BFG KO 2's on both of my RAM's....Awesome tires. Quieter than the Firestone's and a better ride.

 

[Kirwin]

#ad

Who ME??? I'd never do that.

 

[Kirwin]

Who ME??? I'd never do that.

Nice Pic by the way.