Follow up review of the Michelin LTX M/S tire

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Follow up review of the Michelin LTX M/S tire

Post by astrozam »

O.k, when I 1st purchased my michelin LTX m/s tires back about a yr ago and did a review of them, http://www.astrosafarivans.com/review/M ... chelin.htm
I mentioned I would do a follow up review of them in about a years time,well the time has come and here are my findings. The tires have had about 15,000 kms on them since last reviewed.

My tires are 215/75r/15 when new they had a tread depth of 13/32" the depth at which the tires are wornout is 3/32nds" remember those numbers because they will play an important role in the review of these tires.

Now back around about mid Nov we had our 1st good snow, I was travelling up a backroad hill on some hardpack,I got about 3/4 the way up the hill and lost traction, this despite having the powertrax locker and what I presumed as "almost new tires". I ended up very carefully and luckily sliding over and almost up against the opposite gardrail, I say luckily because this kept me from going over the edge and down into the river,when my rear drivers tire was able to grip in the gravel shoulder I finally was able to get up the hill. Needless to say I was a little ticked and drove straight to the local big box store and grabbed 5 60lb bags of gravel to toss in the back over the axle to give me a little more help with traction. Now since I had never had the tires rotated ( I know my fault ) I figured I would take them back to where I purchased them and have the guy take a look at the tread depth,here is what he found...remember all measurements in 32nds " Drivers front 11.5 Pass front 11.5, Drivers rear 10 and Pass rear 8.5 . Now the 1st thing he asked was had they ever been rotated, I told him no, then he said the reason you have such wear on this tire is because it is your drive wheel, I told him he was partially correct because I had a Powertrax locker in the rear, he then gave me a kinda strange look and said he would go speak with the Manager.

When he came back he said there was nothing they could do for me because I had not been in to get them rotated every 3 months, and Michelin would not issue a replacement unless it could be shown that reg tire rotations had been done, they would also have to have a look at the Powertrax to see that it was actually in there, I verified with the Manager what the tire mech said and he agreed that I was SOL, because I had not had the reg tire rotations done.

O.k so what does this say about the tire itself? well the tires are made out of a rubber that is a little bit softer than reg tires,the thought is that a more pliable tire will give you better grip ( traction ) in the colder weather, the problem with this is that the tire wears quicker in the warmer months.

Now, had I had them rotated as suggested then I would have had them on all 4 wheels during the coarse of the year, and the wear would have most likely been a little more even all the way around, fine BUT remember I have the locker in the back,lets assume a slippage of 50% before the drivers wheel grabs which the numbers justify, if I did not have the locker and no rotation then my pass rear tire would have worn down to 7/32nds, for 1 years worth of driving THATS INSANE ! in less than 2 yrears the pass back tire would have been a racing slick,lol. This underscores the importance of regular rotation ( especially for these softer tires )

In my opinion based on my experience a tire like this is best suited for...
1, Reg tire rotations
2, Used only in the colder winter months, they work great in deeper snow like 5-8" ( I realize thats not really deep but remember this is a RWD ) nothing really works great on hardpack ( except studs )
3, Reg tire rotations, yes I said this already but it really needs to be streesed with these tires because of the softer compound used to make them and the subsequent quicker wear.

Used above they would probably last 5 yrs easily and since the tires are great in the rain and quite, you would probably be happy with they're performance. Used the way I used them you will be quite un-happy with your purchase. I have included a couple pics to show you the wear from 2 months old to about 12 months old, the quality of the after pics is not the greatest but I think you will get the idea, Considering they're cost of approx $145 Can ea, they are not the best bang for your buck unless used as suggested above.

Passenger front tire 2 months old basically full tread depth 13/32"nds
Image

Passenger front tire 12 months old at 11.5/32"nds
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Passenger rear tire 2 months old basically full tread depth 13/32"nds
Image

Passenger rear tire front view 12 months old at 8.5/32"nds
Image

Passenger rear tire rear view 12 months old at 8.5/32"nds
Image

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Re: Follow up review of the Michelin LTX M/S tire

Post by LiftedAWDAstro »

That sucks Zam. For the money they cost, I would have expected much better wear even without rotating.
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Re: Follow up review of the Michelin LTX M/S tire

Post by potskie »

They seem like a good tire. With that amount of wear on a winter tire being run year round I'd say they fared well. Not as well as they could have but they definitely could have been worse. By the amount of sipes in those pics I bet those tires bite well on Ice.



I run LongTrail T/As I honestly havn't rotated them in the 3+ yrs I've had them and they are still worn fairly evenly except for the front right but that's an alignment issue.
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Re: Follow up review of the Michelin LTX M/S tire

Post by astrozam »

LiftedAWDAstro wrote:That sucks Zam. For the money they cost, I would have expected much better wear even without rotating.
It does indeed Dean, if I pd $60 a tire then I would expect this type of very quick wear.

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Re: Follow up review of the Michelin LTX M/S tire

Post by Cobra »

hmmm zam now you have me curious i have a set of BFG all-terrain TA's on mine that i put on last year and never rotated i wonder what my tread depth is at now..... haven't had an problem driving on hard pack and fresh snow
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Re: Follow up review of the Michelin LTX M/S tire

Post by wkw94astro »

1. I also have had a set of these for about 4 years. They are very good tires for traction- maybe the best I've ever had on the van? Treadwear isn't any better than others I've had, but not any worse. They are excellent tires, but expensive. Mine are about bald and still have good traction on dry and wet pavement. I need some new ones but will probably go with something less expensive.

2. I have searched and haven't seen anybody in the forum or tire suppliers say what is the largest diameter tire that will go on the stock setup (2003 & up with 6 lug 16" wheels). They only mention the factory size.

Anybody experimented with larger diameter tires on the newer vans with 16" wheels?

Thanks, :yawinkle:

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Re: Follow up review of the Michelin LTX M/S tire

Post by thevalleyboy »

Ever think of a 4 wheel alignment - maybe the back axle needs some adjustment? Unless you are just heavy footed
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Re: Follow up review of the Michelin LTX M/S tire

Post by peter »

That makes sense. Could be an alignment issue. Or, could simply be you were running over-underiflated? Is the wear even across the width of the tread?
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Re: Follow up review of the Michelin LTX M/S tire

Post by astrozam »

Yes the wear is even, on all tires ( as in no cupping,feathering etc) I'm no expert in wheel alignment but, is a 4 wheel alignment on THESE vans ( RWD ) a necessity? when I got the wheels they were balanced and then I had a front end alignment done at the same time because I had my Idlers replaced as well. I could see perhaps if it had an independant rear suspension like on Rebel's van but I truley don't think that is the contributing factor to the early wear, but I do appreciate the suggestion. :cheers:

And anyone who has driven with me knows I don't have a heavy foot, ( right Dean? lol )
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Re: Follow up review of the Michelin LTX M/S tire

Post by potskie »

The rear axle isn't really adjustable on these vans so no a 4 wheel alignment is kinda a waste of money. I mean yes it can be done but no it doesn't need to be. Same as the castor angle on these vans isn't really adjustable or so I've been told anyways. If anything I would attribute the wear to where you drive on the road in the winter...... If your driving to the left a little after a snow storm when those "tracks" are on the ground and get slippage your pass tire is going to spin on the just wet pavement while your driver side is causing the slip on the snow........ which will wear the pass tire a touch more.
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Re: Follow up review of the Michelin LTX M/S tire

Post by LiftedAWDAstro »

astrozam wrote:And anyone who has driven with me knows I don't have a heavy foot, ( right Dean? lol )
Ain't that the truth! LOL If he drove like me I would say that is the reason, but zam is very easy on the gas. I remember the time zam was driving Lockdoc's lowered 350 and he was babying it...Bill pushed his leg down to get him going! :muhaha:
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1998 Astro 4x4 D44, D60, NP231, full hydraulic system with 9k# Milemarker winch and snow plow - sold to Lockdoc
2003 Astro AWD all stock - traded for a 3/4 ton truck
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Re: Follow up review of the Michelin LTX M/S tire

Post by Smiliesafari »

I hate to rub salt in the wound, but we just replaced those tires on Cherie's Explorer. 80,000 miles and perfect wear pattern from begining to end. Two alignments and several pressure adjustments. And they got rotated on a regular basis also. \:D/
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Re: Follow up review of the Michelin LTX M/S tire

Post by BLAZER »

I've never really liked Michelins, too much $$$ like Goodyears. Sorry you are disappointed. I'm actually going to look at retreads next time around for my Tahoe.
Zam, only alignment on rearend is how it tracks. When I first had mine aligned after lifting, he said the drivers side was a little farther forward then pass side makingit in a sense track sideways just a tad. Would I ever noticed, now and it won't cause any major tire wear. Really it just shows a difference on the 4 wheel alignment machine. I went home, losened ubolt and drove axle backa bit to make myself happy.

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Re: Follow up review of the Michelin LTX M/S tire

Post by stewgibb »

Someone asked about larger tires on the newer 16" rims. I'm running 225 70's and am thinking about 235 65's if the rims are wide enough. My Yokohama HT/S tires have been good and bad. Running 35psi vs the 41 recommended may be part of the problem. Turning hard one way I hear something scrape but I can't find it when I am out of the van. The rub may be because the Loadlevellers raise the back when I'm not loaded.

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Re: Follow up review of the Michelin LTX M/S tire

Post by dunedog »

Stew,
You shouldn't have any problems with that size. The difference is less than a 1/2" in diameter and the width like a 1/4"
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