My wife's explorer has the Michelin Defenders. Good ride and traction, low noise. When I replace my BFG tires on my F150 this fall I'm putting the Defenders on it.
Anyone running Michelin's on their truck?
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After the original tires wore out on my last three pick ups, I bought Michelin's. They were far better than the Goodyear wranglers and Bridgestones. I can't wait to replace the Bridgestones on my 2019 Silverado.
I tried Michelins on a truck some 20 years ago and was disappointed. They are great for a car or sport sedan but there are better tires for a truck. I used to like Goodyear Wranglers until the last set. I found out they had been re-engineered a while back. My last set were dangerous in the rain. I am running Cooper's now and they are performing great.
Last year we bought a used 2015 F150 that had new Firestone tires. I stated that I will not complete the transaction with Firestone tires. I requested Michelin and they were OK with that until they priced them. I agreed to pay an additional $400 to get the tires of my choice. Attached is a photo of a Firestone tire on my wife's convertible with less than 8k miles that they would NOT warranty; this is why I will not own Firestone/Bridgestone tires on anything I own. Michelin's are worth every penny. Note in the photo of the giant bulge/separation at the bottom of the tire.
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Many years ago I sold tires. We sold a ton of BF Goodrich, Firestone, and Michelin. The BFG sand Firestones came back regularly with serious structural issues. I can't remember ever seeing a defective Michelin, and I worked there for a few years.
If you just visually examine them and compare a Michelin to most other brands, you can see the difference in quality.
That said, I buy cheap tires from Pep Boys when they are running a "buy three get one free" deal. I think I'm running Coopers on my Land Rover and have had no issues. In a crisis a few years back I bought cheaper Goodyears from Walmart for my van, and they have been fine as well. FWIW, Goodyear seems to be the only manufacturer in the same league as Michelin to me. Some Pirelli and Bridgestone tires look nice and get good reviews, but I get the feeling they both wear out very quickly compared to Michelin and Goodyear.
If you just visually examine them and compare a Michelin to most other brands, you can see the difference in quality.
That said, I buy cheap tires from Pep Boys when they are running a "buy three get one free" deal. I think I'm running Coopers on my Land Rover and have had no issues. In a crisis a few years back I bought cheaper Goodyears from Walmart for my van, and they have been fine as well. FWIW, Goodyear seems to be the only manufacturer in the same league as Michelin to me. Some Pirelli and Bridgestone tires look nice and get good reviews, but I get the feeling they both wear out very quickly compared to Michelin and Goodyear.
New.
I have that exact tire on my 2011 Chevy 2500HD and I am more than pleased with them.
They say they have something like 32% more nylon than their other LT tires and they weigh 5-6 lbs more so they must have.
I think they call them "light truck commercial tires".
I bought them because of the size and weight of the camper I carry on my truck.
Loaded my camper weighs 4000 lbs.
They are excellent winter tires, they are quiet, smooth and seem to be wearing better than my previous tires.
I've had 6 different sets of tires on my truck and these are the only ones that I'll but a 2nd set. I have about 17,000 miles on them right now.
I have had twelve pickups thru the years, all 4wd, and have finally settled on Cooper tires. I have had the Wranglers, Toyo's and Michelin tires, all fairly good, but like the Coopers best.
Benchrest1
Member
I run Michelin tires on my cars, but my trucks get BFG AT's.
I have had Michelin tires in the past and great tires, no problems. However, maybe the Texas summer heat causes them to dry out and small cracks in the sidewalls. Years ago I switched to Yokohama tires on both my Tacoma pickup and wife car. No problems either.
flagman1776
Member
I bought Hankook last time. Very rugged. 2001.5 Dodge 2500 4x4 8800gvw Cummins.
Got em on my wife's SUV. Probably 12-13 years and 60K+ on them. No complaints.
It appears that I'm the only one who answered your question.
Buy them. You'll like them.
I have been using the Michelin LTX M/S style since 2003 (10 sets on 4 different pickups and SUVs). I had tried other brands over the years, but Michelins are much quieter/smoother than any other brand I had used. Traction is excellent where I drive (no show here).
Michelin tires are the only one I have used that feel/handle great for the entire 50-60,000 mile life of the tire. I read that the Agilis style has double the nylon reinforcement of the LTX M/S.
Michelin tires are the only one I have used that feel/handle great for the entire 50-60,000 mile life of the tire. I read that the Agilis style has double the nylon reinforcement of the LTX M/S.
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Most, but not all the vehicles I've purchased over the years came with Michelin's but I dislike them immensely! I have never had good luck with them and have replaced all of them prematurely. Once, I replaced a set on a brand new car (less than 15 miles) on the way home from the Dealer. It was raining and they handled terribly! Typically when I buy a new vehicle I will ask if there are any other brands that come with the vehicle. When I purchased my most recent SUV I saw they came with Michelin's and had the Dealer swap them out for a set of Goodyear Assurance that were on the same model in their lot.
I think Perrelli tires are spectacular and way outperform Michelin's. If there are no Perrelli's available for a certain model, Goodyear or Continental are the next best IMHO. This has been my experience and yes I do realize most people think Michelins are good - what can I say? I've just had lousy luck with them.
I think Perrelli tires are spectacular and way outperform Michelin's. If there are no Perrelli's available for a certain model, Goodyear or Continental are the next best IMHO. This has been my experience and yes I do realize most people think Michelins are good - what can I say? I've just had lousy luck with them.
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JcMack
Member
About 45 years ago I responded to a Michelin ad for a free road atlas. About 6 mos later I received a hard bound 2.5" thick detailed road atlas of France. Where ever that is. Gotta read the fine print when dealing with Michelin.
Michelins are all I ever buy.
Jon651
Member
Nothing but Michelin Radial XLT for any of my trucks. My last two trucks have been Chevy 2500HD diesels and the current one is a 4x4 so that is similar to yours. All my trucks before that have been half-tons and have come with a variety of tires when I bought them (new and used) but every truck ended up with Michelin tires in the end. I also do plenty of towing and these tires are great for handling the weight and the heat. In fact, I can't even recall the last time I even had a flat with one of these.
I've had Goodyears, BFGs and even Dunlops before and they all pale in comparison to Michelins for truck use. Living in Florida, one of my biggest concerns is handling in the rain (especially since pick-up trucks have very little weight on the rear wheels) and Michelins are rated the best for wet handling and grip. Never heard of "Agilis" before so it must be newer branding - but for me the XLT (a.k.a. - LTX and X-Radial-LT, all the same) is the only one for my truck with zero regrets.
Jon651
Member
One of the dirty little secrets of the automotive industry is that even vehicles that come with "top name brand" tires, the tires are not the same as you would get as a replacement set of the same brand. Lots of investigative articles describing how the original equipment tires were either softer compounding, came from cheaper/lower quality sources (like a factory in Brazil or China instead of the US) or even had less tread depth than replacements of the same brand. Softer tires are a way the auto makers get you to think the ride is very smooth on your new vehicle (and also charge you top price for a "premium" tire), but they wear out a lot quicker. Every auto maker - and every tire company - does this because it's all about the money.
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