Michelin LTX M/S 2

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wmmc

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Just purchased a set of Michelin ltx ms2 tires for my Z71 Tahoe and was looking at the tread pattern and something caught my eye. With the white lettering on the outside the driver side tires have the outside lugs angled forwards. On the passenger side the tires have the lugs angled to the back. This is due to the tire being turned 180 from the driver side tires. I have 2 questions on this. The first being, why would Michelin build a tire that when mounted will have the tread lugs facing opposite ways? This does not make sense if say you are trying to gain traction in mud (for 4x4's) or channeling rain as both front tires have an opposite tread angel as do both back tires.
My second question is when it comes time to rotate the tires the tires with the tread lugs facing forwards will now be facing backwards and the tires with the tread lugs facing to the back will now face towards the front. How will this affect the tire? Seems like Michelin should have built this tire as a directional tire with a separate driver and passenger side model.
 
Weird. I just checked the MS/2's on my 4Runner. They are just three months old. White letters out and outside lugs are angled back....same all the way around.
 
1. It is not a directional tire...
But, I suppose, you could run white letters out on the drivers side and white letters in on the passenger side???
See, That was easy.

2. See Answer no. 1
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: wmmc
I have 2 questions on this. The first being, why would Michelin build a tire that when mounted will have the tread lugs facing opposite ways? This does not make sense if say you are trying to gain traction in mud (for 4x4's) or channeling rain as both front tires have an opposite tread angel as do both back tires.


The M/S2 is not a directional tire, so it can be rotated in any direction. Tread patterns are often done "at an angle" like that, and the M/S2 is no different from most any other tire in that regard. Without directionality, you cannot optimize "forward" biting edges on both halves of the tire. If you do, that means that you've necessarily created a directional tire. There are pros and cons to directional tires.

Originally Posted By: wmmc
My second question is when it comes time to rotate the tires the tires with the tread lugs facing forwards will now be facing backwards and the tires with the tread lugs facing to the back will now face towards the front. How will this affect the tire? Seems like Michelin should have built this tire as a directional tire with a separate driver and passenger side model.


Tire life generally isn't affected, and when you swap the tires across the vehicle and cause them to spin in the opposite direction, you even out any rotation-based wear (like heel-and-toe wear). Tire life is not really sacrificed as long as you're using proper inflation pressure.

Michelin wouldn't need to do a separate driver and passenger side model of tire if it was directional. But if it was directional, you could not cross-rotate it as most vehicle owner's manuals recommend you do.
 
Originally Posted By: lukejo
Weird. I just checked the MS/2's on my 4Runner. They are just three months old. White letters out and outside lugs are angled back....same all the way around.


Are you sure? They should be opposite on one side of the vehicle, given the same side of the tire (the white letter side). If the outside lugs are angled "back" on the left side, and you turn that tire to the right side, they would necessarily be angled "forward".
 
Michelin would have to do left and right side molds if the tires were directional AND had white letters on the intended outboard side. This is why directional tires are almost always black sidewall, and have the same black sidewall design on both sides.

Just as Hokiefyd explains, with proper rotation (swap from one side to the other), you can even out any heal-toe wear that develops from the tire rotating in a single direction. This will reduce tire noise and can you more even wear overall.
 
Thanks for all the answers guys. Just still seems strange that a top rated tire with such a high price per tire would have the lugs angled different directions depending on where the tire was mounted on the vehicle. I still question the rain channeling ability of this tire. Seems to me that there would be an optimum lug pattern to channel rain and the driver side tires seem to be correct. If so, turning that lug pattern 180 degrees to mount on the passenger side just does not seem right somehow. Since this is also a tire for 4x4 SUV's the same applies to off-roading. Only one tire direction can be optimal in mud or dirt.
But hey! I just buy the tires, I don't engineer and build them.
 
Originally Posted By: wmmc
Thanks for all the answers guys. Just still seems strange that a top rated tire with such a high price per tire would have the lugs angled different directions depending on where the tire was mounted on the vehicle.


Nearly every single tire out there is this way.

And to be clear, the lugs aren't angled differently depending on where the tire is mounted. They're just angled differently based on your point of reference. Remember, on the driver side, the outside of the tire is the left side of the tire. On the passenger side, the outside of the tire is the right side of the tire. But the lugs are still point in the same direction on the right side of the tire, regardless on which side of the vehicle they're installed. On the driver side, the right side of the tire just happens to be the inboard side, so you can't see it.
 
Dude,

You need to take a closer look.

Turn the steering wheel completely one direction. Now look at the tread on the driver's side. Notice that it won't matter which side of the tire is mounted out, the tread pattern is the same.

Now go to the other side. Notice exactly the same thing. That means the tire is non-directional and symetrical. It doesn't matter HOW the tire is oriented, it wll always be the same.

What you have been describing is only the outer portion of the tire. If you look at the whole tread, you'll notice it kind of has a diagonal thing going on - from upper right to lower left - and it's that that is fooling you into thinking it has directionality.
 
Originally Posted By: wmmc
Since this is also a tire for 4x4 SUV's the same applies to off-roading. Only one tire direction can be optimal in mud or dirt.


Really? I thought that was why the A/T2 existed?
 
Anyone buying LTX MS2's for serious off roading may be disappointed.

Mud? Ok, decent performance. But don't expect big lug dig out of such a nice street tire. Not likely or even expected by most.
 
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