Tire Question

[CBlack]

I'm sure this has been discussed elsewhere, but I don't feel like searching.



I'm about to buy new tires within a few thousand miles and will be purchasing Michelins.



I went by the dealer the other day for something else and they're carrying OEM tires now. They offer two types of Michelins, both of which were OEM equipment on new trucks. They do not offer the LTX MS/2, which I'm leaning toward.



Pricing is similar, dealer is a bit more.



So my question is: Are the OEM tires as good, in personal experience, as the LTX MS/2?

 

[Jim W]

I do not know since my truck was shipped with BF Goodrich tires. I did install the Michelins LTX M/S2 tires these have a 70,000 miles wear warranty on them, which has the best wear life of all LT tires made by Michelin. I like them and they seem to give a nice ride along with decent fuel mileage.

We did not get too much snow this year (19. 1") so I do not know how they will handle in a lot of snow.

I do rotate them every 6,000 miles with free balancing for the life of the tires.

Jim W.

 

[Road Dog]

OEM = original equipment manufacturer. It only means the manufacturer (Chrysler) used it on the vehicle. My truck came with Michelin LTX M/S as the OEM tire.

Your dealer probably only carries tires that were original equipment.

(Naturally there are aftermarket replacement parts makers that use the name "OEM" just to confuse people. )

 

[HBarlow]

Chad,

"OEM" doesn't tell us much. What are the two Michelin tire designations you are considering.

 

[B.G. Smith]

Recently put new set of LTX M/S-2 on my tuck. Got them at Discount tire, local Ford dealer was within $25. 00 on the set. bg

 

[CBlack]

OEM = original equipment manufacturer. It only means the manufacturer (Chrysler) used it on the vehicle. My truck came with Michelin LTX M/S as the OEM tire.

Your dealer probably only carries tires that were original equipment.

(Naturally there are aftermarket replacement parts makers that use the name "OEM" just to confuse people. )

OEM is just the first thing that came to mind... but you are correct, the tires they carry were shipped from the factory on my particular truck.

Chad,

"OEM" doesn't tell us much. What are the two Michelin tire designations you are considering.

Sorry Harvey,

I don't recall exactly which ones. I remember seeing the designation and it wasn't a tire that is listed on Michelin's website under their LT section.

I seem to remember "OWL" being a part of the name of one of the sets offered.

 

[RustyJC]

I seem to remember "OWL" being a part of the name of one of the sets offered.

OWL = outline white letter



Rusty

 

[HBarlow]

Chad,

The Michelins I am using on my C&C, the same ones I used several sets of on my '06, purchased from SAM's Club, are the raised outline white letter tire as Rusty defined. I don't like the white letters and don't want them displayed on the outside so everytime I return to SAM's for the free rotation and balance the tire guys dismount two and reverse them on the rims.

I don't recall the Michelin designation for that tire but they have provided great service and I think they are the only Michelin LT235/80R17 LRE street tread carried by SAM's.

 

[jelag]

If you have a Costco close by they can special order any Michelin tire you wish, usually takes less than a week... . I've ordered 19. 5 commercial tires and some 24. 5" as well.

My current truck, 3500 dually is running Bridgestone 19. 5" commercial rib tires... they weren't any more money than the stock 17" and it looks like we'll get close to 100K miles.

Hope this helps...

 

[Road Dog]

Michelin has an LTX A/S which is a cheap OEM only tire. I came on my 1/2T a long time ago. It was P (passenger), not LT (light truck) rated and not worth the money.

 

[Mark31]

Sams Club has 6 Michelins in LT265X70E. I changed out my OEM A/S Michelins for Michelin M/S 2s at 103k with a little tread left. Sidewalls were cracking. Keep watching for $75 dollar rebates on sets of four. Mark

 

[HBarlow]

Michelin has an LTX A/S which is a cheap OEM only tire. I came on my 1/2T a long time ago. It was P (passenger), not LT (light truck) rated and not worth the money.

Of course the tires were P on a half ton but the ones on duallies sold by SAM's are certainly not and are not cheap OEM as you erroneously stated.

 

[TomBrady]

I recently replaced a worn out set of LTX A\S Michelins with LTX A\S 2 and have been well pleased with them. Have about 7000 mi. on them. Did a tremendous job in two 4" snow storms. The old set had 73,000 mi. on them.

 

[mwilson]

Michelin has an LTX A/S which is a cheap OEM only tire. I came on my 1/2T a long time ago. It was P (passenger), not LT (light truck) rated and not worth the money.

Michelin LT A/S Load Range E do not qualify as a cheap OEM tire, many of us have experienced 70,000 to 100,000 miles of wear from that very tire with basic maintainence and regular tire rotations.



The "P" may not be so good, I have no experience with the Michelin P Metric A/S and don't doubt that it didn't make it on a 1/2 ton pick-up.



I just don't want TDR people to think that the LT A/S series Load Range E in a 17" is not a good choice.

My OEM LT A/S tires still had fair tread when I pulled them off at 75,000 miles.

Guess what, I put new identical Michelin LT A/S tires on it at that point again and at 118,000 now they are about 1/2 gone.



It doesn't get any better than that. I tow quite a bit and launch a little harder than I should at times.....



If I can't tromp on it once in a while what is the sense in having it????Oo.



Mike.

 

[Hawk]

Michelin gets my vote for sure. Put them on both my previous trucks. Stability was increased significantly over the GoodYear tire that only got 50K miles on my 03. Two other choices for load range E tires AT tread would be the BF Goodrich AT and the Falken Wild Peak. All 3 of those come E rated and offer warranties. My first choice for a tow rig would be the Michelin's tho.

 

[WalterJ]

Cblack: My 3rd set of Michelin's have 8K miles, truck just turned 196K miles. I only replaced tires because of our increasing highway mileage towing RV. I've sold the "old" sets with 5/32" remaining & will serve town driving for years to come & one has them on a utility trailer. They are a terrific value, "expensive", but a great value.

 

[Road Dog]

Michelin LT A/S Load Range E do not qualify as a cheap OEM tire, many of us have experienced 70,000 to 100,000 miles of wear from that very tire with basic maintainence and regular tire rotations.

The "P" may not be so good, I have no experience with the Michelin P Metric A/S and don't doubt that it didn't make it on a 1/2 ton pick-up.

Fair enough. The P version has noticeably less tread than other Michelin tires so I assumed it was a "special" OEM tire. ALL the duallies up here came with Michelin LTX M/S tires. Maybe it's a Canadian thing. All Canadian Chryslers come with block heaters too.

 

[CBlack]

Thanks for the feedback.

Dilemma...

My bride's co-worker can get me a good deal on Bridgestones as her family owns a wholesale/distribution business.

However they do not carry Michelins, which is what I was leaning toward.

What is the consensus among everyone on the two?

 

[mrtrombley]

I have Michelin LTX MS2's across the rear of my 4x4 dually. The tires are rated for long life. I only have about 25K on them, but they seem to be wearing pretty well. BUT, they are not good for much snow! I just use the 4x4 at times, when necessary.

I bought the tires for the long life seeing as I don't plan on spending too many more winter months here in the north!! Without snow, I should get a couple more years out of them.

 

[HBarlow]

Chad,

No question about it, Michelins are the best tires for ordinary use period. Yes, there are specialty mud and snow tires that offer better traction.

Bridgestone makes excellent car tires.