Michelin tires cracking?

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I bought this set of tires for my '04 gmc safari back in '09, and they have about 30k miles on them. I was wondering what you guys thought about how they look? I've had them rotated at bjs every 5-6k miles to keep the warranty. It just seems like to me that they are wearing out real fast compared to my other tires. The tires are michelin x radial lt2 club tires (similar to ms2 but for clubs only like bjs and costco).

Should I have bjs analyze them and maybe have them warrantied?

Last 2 pics are from my silverado which are date coded 2003 for comparison. They went into service at the same time but sat in my garage since 2003.

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Pics of other tires from my silverado for comparison

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I have those types of cracks on my Michelin tires and brought them to Costco, where I bought them, and was told that they are surface cracks which won't affect the integrity or safety of the tire. I have put on about 10,000 more miles on the vehicle with the cracks like yours and have no ill effects so I believe the Costco guy. I don't think he had any reason the fool me and seemed sincere during his inspection.
 
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These Michelins were 8 years old at the time. The cracking started at 3 years of age, and I assumed it was from running lower pressures on Mexican washboard, and 99 cent store tire shine. Yet I put another 30k miles on them

Plenty of tread left when I replaced them, and the tires never let me down despite some serious abuse, but the cracks were just scary
 
well the xradial is a budget tire made for clubs and antioxidants are expensive.


have those seen any tire shine?
 
Ok well thanks for all the advice guys. I'm not as worried but I think I'll still see what they say. I'm up for a rotation again now anyway so I'll post back with the results.

I've never used any products on the tires, and never washed the van lol. I just don't care about it. We just use it to haul around our 2 german shepherds but I don't want to crash because of the tires either.
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
well the xradial is a budget tire made for clubs and antioxidants are expensive.


have those seen any tire shine?


+1. I've routinely seen this on OE tires (the contis on our 08vw are a good example), but fortunately not on good aftermarket tires.
 
I had the same type of cracking with a set of O.E.M. Michelin MXM4 on my volvo, they were made in France. They were very worn (and noisy
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) at 24K, I spoke with others on a volvo forum and that's fairly typical with the original Michelin tires I am told. I replaced them with a set of Kumho Ecstca 4X, been very satisfied so far.
 
I also had a 94 landrover discovery I drove back in early 2000's that had michelins on. I had around 75-80k on vehicle before I traded it. I'm sure the tires were replaced before I bought it not sure when,bought the truck used. Those tires started cracking also. I had a pontiac back in the mid 90's with michelins (MXV4 or similar)that were great no cracking or anything awesome tires, had them for years. go figure.
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Sun and Ozone damage. Tire shine products heavy in silicone suffocate rubber and restrict the tires ability to rotate its sun screen (the brown stuff) to the surface to protect against cracks, UV rays and Ozone damage. Some tire cleaners work too good, depleting the protection even further. Meguires Hot Tire Shine with anti-ozinant, sun screen, and a conditioner has worked the best on the 2 cars I have in storage with similar tire issues. I use it on everything including wiper blades and engine detailing. No silicone so its more of a penetrating conditioner than it is a "shine" which is what you want. dries up after a while leaving no slippery mess. Buy some and get spraying so it doesn't get worse.
 
I've noticed that Michelin car tires seem to crack sooner than Michelin truck tires, for whatever reason. I don't know why, or even if my experience matches that of others. But I've owned three sets of the X Radials and none of them cracked like that.

By the way the tires in question are not the X Radial LT2, they are the X Radial DT, a variant of the Michelin Harmony family.
 
I used armor all tire shine on my tires on my truck when it was only a year or so old. A few days later I noticed they were cracked all to [censored]. That's when I was told not to use tire shine. Stuff is a waste of time anyways, it washes right off as soon as I drive through the rain. I have michelin tires on my truck. 265/70/R17 tires. I still have them on the truck today and they haven't failed yet.
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
I used armor all tire shine on my tires on my truck when it was only a year or so old. A few days later I noticed they were cracked all to [censored]. That's when I was told not to use tire shine. Stuff is a waste of time anyways, it washes right off as soon as I drive through the rain. I have michelin tires on my truck. 265/70/R17 tires. I still have them on the truck today and they haven't failed yet.
Whoever told you that was misinformed. There are good and bad rubber products that happen to be called "tire shine" just like there are good and bad products called "motor oil". Many new products developed since the 1970's Armor All days. One I mentioned. Not for the "shine", for the nourishment and protection of the external rubber.
 
I just replaced a set of 8 year old Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 with another set of new Michelins. After 8 years, saw no cracking. Hope the new Michelins will be the same.
 
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