Finally had to bite the bullet: Michelin Defender LTX M/S

[SubieRubyRoo]

Would have made it a bit longer on the original Hankook AT2 275/55/20 (OEM tire) but this current winter storm (VERY wet, slushy snow) made for some pucker moments, so on the way home from Toledo I stopped at the Discount Tire on Maysfield in Fort Wayne.

The Hankooks lasted 59k and are about 3/32”, but they’re absolutely horrible in the snow even when almost new. I got stuck twice over the past two snow seasons, and was generally supremely disappointed in them every time it snowed. Dry pavement and rain manners were fine.

For my truck, the Michelin was one of the few they had in stock, and about the only name I’d buy from the ones that were. Stacked up a military & Discount Tire card along with 6 mos 0% interest, add in $100(!!) to mount and balance: $955 out the door. Not great, not terrible I suppose. They appear from testing and reviews to perform much better in snow than the Hankooks.

Anyone else have them on their F150?

 

[JeffKeryk]

I had that rubber on my old Toyota 4wd. I think you will love them. Nice and quiet on the freeway.

 

[Wheel366]

Had them on my wife's CR-V and they worked well. Had ~72k miles on them before we replaced for this winter. If it weren't so close to winter, we would have gone longer. There was tread left for another maybe 5k+ more miles but it was getting hard. Had them for ~6 years.

 

[redhat]

Had Defender LTX M/S on the '05 Suburban when we bought it. Replaced them with 1/3 tread left for Grabber ATX. For the first winter with them on at about 1/2 tread, they did well. No complaints. Wasn't pushing them that hard but they seemed like a decent enough tire. They were quiet also.

 

[nwjones18]

I thought I was close to finally biting the bullet and spending the $$$ for Michelins for my Ram recently.. Then I once again caved and bought the tire that had the most rebates available which happened to be Yokohama G056's which seem fine so far. I'm sure you'll like the Michelins.

 

[parshisa]

Would have made it a bit longer on the original Hankook AT2 275/55/20 (OEM tire) but this current winter storm (VERY wet, slushy snow) made for some pucker moments, so on the way home from Toledo I stopped at the Discount Tire on Maysfield in Fort Wayne.

The Hankooks lasted 59k and are about 3/32”, but they’re absolutely horrible in the snow even when almost new. I got stuck twice over the past two snow seasons, and was generally supremely disappointed in them every time it snowed. Dry pavement and rain manners were fine.

For my truck, the Michelin was one of the few they had in stock, and about the only name I’d buy from the ones that were. Stacked up a military & Discount Tire card along with 6 mos 0% interest, add in $100(!!) to mount and balance: $955 out the door. Not great, not terrible I suppose. They appear from testing and reviews to perform much better in snow than the Hankooks.

Anyone else have them on their F150?

Great choice. I've been enjoying them on my Pilot for over 3K now, super quite and smooth

 

[KS-Ryan]

Had a set on my 4Runner years ago and loved them. I would buy them again for a stock 4wd truck or SUV.

 

[CharBaby]

You did the right thing Subie!

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

The Michelins are already better than the Hankooks in snow. I’ve grown fond of Continental but as most know DT doesn’t carry very many models.

I had Michelins on my ‘01 Forester and they were pretty solid. Hope the LTXs wear well 😁

 

[FZ1]

Would have made it a bit longer on the original Hankook AT2 275/55/20 (OEM tire) but this current winter storm (VERY wet, slushy snow) made for some pucker moments, so on the way home from Toledo I stopped at the Discount Tire on Maysfield in Fort Wayne.

The Hankooks lasted 59k and are about 3/32”, but they’re absolutely horrible in the snow even when almost new. I got stuck twice over the past two snow seasons, and was generally supremely disappointed in them every time it snowed. Dry pavement and rain manners were fine.

For my truck, the Michelin was one of the few they had in stock, and about the only name I’d buy from the ones that were. Stacked up a military & Discount Tire card along with 6 mos 0% interest, add in $100(!!) to mount and balance: $955 out the door. Not great, not terrible I suppose. They appear from testing and reviews to perform much better in snow than the Hankooks.

Anyone else have them on their F150?

Good buy!

 

[Cujet]

I've got them on all 3 F150's. Best tire for my uses. I work these trucks hard, so I don't get the rated 80K miles from them. Don't care. They are fantastic.

 

[The Critic]

Supposedly their wet traction pales compared to the Continentals, at least based on CR's testing.

 

[stevejones]

I run a set of Michelins in the summer. In November, I swap them out for 3PMSF Grabbers. If I lived outside sno country, I could see running the Michelins year-round.

 

[glock19]

My wife has the Defender LTX M/S on her Highlander. She's had them 4.5 years (not sure how many miles) and they're still going strong with 5/32".

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Supposedly their wet traction pales compared to the Continentals, at least based on CR's testing.

Which model though? Conti has about a dozen truck tires…

 

[The Critic]

Which model though? Conti has about a dozen truck tires…

Terraincontact H/T.

 

[CarbonToast]

Good choice, the gold standard highway truck tire. Put them on my F150 60k miles ago. I noticed a huge difference towing moving from the stock P tires to LT Michelins.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Terraincontact H/T.

Tire Rack tests show the LTXs do pretty well for my climate. I’ve got 3 sets of Contis and a set of BFGs in the past 5 years on other cars to compare them to. We’ll see! 👍🏻

 

[glock19]

Just checked my records. My wife’s Defenders have 78k miles with 5/32” left. They made it past the 70k mile warranty so I’m happy.

 

[Direct_Rejection]

I am very happy with my new Defender2's.