New Michelins Today

[dslofti]

Hey guys bought me a set of ms2 Michelins today love these tires. My last set was 2 years old and had cracks and dry rot all over them. Only thing I would do is dress them with meguiars hot shine. Michelin replaced them at a pro rate but said to use no tire dressings just mild soap and water. Well I'll be doing this from now on. You guys ever had a problem like this?

 

[bepperb]

I think the tire dressing ruining tires is internet paranoia. I used to use it a lot, and of course had sidewall cracking. But like most I only use tire dressing on the outside, but sure enough the tires looked just as bad on the inside, at least the two sets I used to rotate when I used dressing.

 

[gregk24]

If tires crack because of dressing, they are [censored] in my book. I hear lots of complains about Michelins cracking anyway, dressing or not.

 

[BHopkins]

I've never used tire dressing, and I've never had sidewall cracking or dry rot. The only time my tires ever get tire dressing is when I take the car in to Discount Tire to have the tires rotated. So my experience would support your tire dealer's recommendation. But I have no experience the other way to confirm it.

 

[Nick1994]

Yup, Michelins sure do crack. I won't be buying anymore Michelin tires and wont recommend them to anyone. This picture is from my grandma's Chevy Trailblazer LTZ. Tires are less than 3 years old and have maybe 11k miles on them. He previous set were 6 years old and were completely splitting at the sidewall, like starting to open big gashes. They're Michelin Cross Terrains

 

[bvance554]

If I had a tire that dry rotted/cracked in two years I would replace them with something else. And ^^^ that picture is from a 3 year old tire? Why continue to buy them? I doubt any kind of tire dressing causes that. I have 10 year old trailer tires that look better than that.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: dslofti

Hey guys bought me a set of ms2 Michelins today love these tires. My last set was 2 years old and had cracks and dry rot all over them. Only thing I would do is dress them with meguiars hot shine. Michelin replaced them at a pro rate but said to use no tire dressings just mild soap and water. Well I'll be doing this from now on. You guys ever had a problem like this?

We buy several sets of LTX MS2's every year for fleet use and have for over a decade. I have never experienced any cracking like that shown here. This may be because we drive a lot of miles per vehicle (over 40k annually) and we only wash them, never use tire greases. Always outside in the hot Fl sun though...

 

[GreeCguy]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994

Yup, Michelins sure do crack. I won't be buying anymore Michelin tires and wont recommend them to anyone. This picture is from my grandma's Chevy Trailblazer LTZ. Tires are less than 3 years old and have maybe 11k miles on them. He previous set were 6 years old and were completely splitting at the sidewall, like starting to open big gashes. They're Michelin Cross Terrains

Ditto. I put a set of Michelins on my son's truck. Within two years they looked exactly like the ones in the picture. We never used any kind of "professional" cleaner on the tires, (simply scrubbed them with a brush and soapy water when we washed the truck). I finally got so worried by the cracks I replaced them with a set of used "Continentals" that still look brand new.

 

[ARB1977]

I had a set of Yokohams that did the same thing. 40K miles on those with perfect wear and 10/32 tread left. Discount tire gave me 400.00 for them.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: bvance554

If I had a tire that dry rotted/cracked in two years I would replace them with something else. And ^^^ that picture is from a 3 year old tire? Why continue to buy them? I doubt any kind of tire dressing causes that. I have 10 year old trailer tires that look better than that.

We didn't buy them again, Discount Tire replaced them under warranty even at 6 years old. I had them look at this set and they said they're fine that those cracks are just cosmetic.

 

[HangFire]

My Pilot's MS/2's are almost 2 years old with no dry look or cracking at all, look almost new, and my Primacy MVX4's are over 2 years old and still look new, so it would be a stretch to paint them all with the same broad brush of "Michelins sure do crack". Some of them did. Most did not. From observing the Pilot forum, this kind of cracking really was an issue for a while with some MS/2 tires. Others bought at the same time didn't have the problem. From what I can see, Michelin made good on all of them for forum contributors. I like my Michelin Primacy MVX4's even at 61K miles, but will probably go for the Continental PureContact to replace them once I get to 70K. I don't expect the Conti's to last as long but supposedly the wet traction will hold up longer and better. And I LOVE the MS/2's. Great ride, great traction in any weather, great wearing. I wish all tires were this good.

 

[Hokiefyd]

It was always my observation, having owned MANY sets of Michelin tires, that their light truck tires seemed to be pretty resistant to cracking, while their passenger car tires seemed to be more prone to it. I had nearly 10 year old LTX M/S tires on a Nissan truck once that looked perfect...just some minor checking in the tread void areas. We had a 4 year old set of Cross Terrains on our MDX that also looked excellent when they were replaced due to tread wear. And then conversely, I've had a set of Pilot XGT H4s and Primacy MXV4 S8s to begin to crack pretty early on in life (sidewall weather checking). So I thought I had the pattern nailed down. The Latitude Tours on our CR-V have checking all over the sidewalls, but it's so fine, you really have to be on your hands and knees to see it. Similar deal on the inner sidewalls of the tires. It's not visible just standing there and looking down at the tires, but I know that it won't get any better over time.