Possible Defective Michelin Premier A/S

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Vehicle is a Sienna van,17 inch Alloy rims, which have no business being on a vehicle used in salt country, but that's how it came so its what I have.

So I had a new set of Michelin Premiere A/S tires put on. 880 Dollars worth which I felt was worth the premium (More on that later) based on my past experience with a set of Michelin Harmonies on the same vehicle.

So after they were installed the first time I got up to 65 MPH I noticed a vibration, which I had the last year with the old set of tires, and could not get rid of. I assumed it was the old 9 year old tires causing the issue. The vibration was a little worse than before.

So I do not know the position of the rims after the new tires were put on, but assumed it was a bad rim causing the issue. I jacked the vehicle up, ran it, seen the run out on the tire, moved it to the rear, vibration followed to the rear.


I ordered an OEM rim from Detroit Wheel, they are repainted, and made sure to be true. So I go back to the tire place and tell them my predicament, asking they check the balance on the tires, and tell them that I have a new rim they can put on.

The balance was found to be off a little, they said the rim would not cause the issue ( I disagree). So they re balance everything and I take it on the highway, still has the vibration.

So I go back, they recheck the balance, show me how good it looks, tell me that little visible runout on the tire is not going to cause the vibration ( I disagree). I offer again that they could change the rim. I am told the rim would NOT cause the vibration ( Disagree). This was the manager of the store doing the work and he had 25 years experience, who am I to argue?

So He moves the suspect tire to the rear, vibration follows. Hmm... We already figured that out.

He asks me what I want him to do.....Well if its not the rim, the vibration went to the rear with the tire being moved, it has to be the tire. Common sense right? Order a new daggum tire.

Go back yesterday, Manager was not there, I have them put the new tire on the new rim, and put the new tire back on the front. Drives like a lexus now. Problem Solved.

I still say it was the old rim...... Don't know, for sure, and I suppose I shouldn't care.



Now I am disappointed in the tires IF there was a defective one. I AM disappointed on the tires being almost half worn out when new. 8.5/32nds on new high dollar tires.....Never Again. If I get 60k miles out of them I suppose it doesn't matter, I will see how they last.

I will say, these are the smoothest, quietest tires I have ever had, I also noticed how amazing they were in the rain. Maybe they were worth $880.00 after all....
 
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Originally Posted by mrsilv04
Well, you changed two things at the same time. You'll never know which one it was.


Obviously....

Nor do I care.

I was tired of messing around with It. Problem solved. I really didn't feel like wasting another hour or more if the problem was in fact the rim.
 
Glad it is fixed.

I once had a bad vibration on an old beat up car; the tire store guy said it wasn't his tire it was my rim. So I had him remove the tire and spin the rim on the balancer... perfectly balanced, no weights required. New tire installed and balanced, took less than an hour.
 
You had already figured out the problem when you put new tires on old rims and the problem was the same as it was before the new tires.

Probably should ask the mods to change your poor choice of thread title when it obviously had nothing to do with the Michelin. Just sayin.
 
Originally Posted by 5AcresAndAFool


Obviously....

Nor do I care.




Then thanks(?) for sharing... I guess...
 
We have the same tires on 2 vehicles - they handle great and are wearing well. Next set we are looking at the Michelin Crosslimate+ if they release more sizes.
 
Rims that are bent will balance on the machine, but of course wobble on the road.

You wanted something for nothing. It's not the tire dealer's problem that your original wheel is not true. If you had paid them to re-mount the tire you had onto the new wheel there would be no drama and no need to buy another tire.
 
Originally Posted by mk378
Rims that are bent will balance on the machine, but of course wobble on the road.

You wanted something for nothing. It's not the tire dealer's problem that your original wheel is not true. If you had paid them to re-mount the tire you had onto the new wheel there would be no drama and no need to buy another tire.



I completely agree about the rim being bent.

The tech completely refused to belI've the rim could have been the issue. He insisted it was the tire.

The tire was warrantied by him.

I was more than willing to pay to remount the tire on a new rim. He refused to believe the rim was the culprit because it balanced.

That was kinda the point of this post, to reinforc my theory that it was the rim.
 
Originally Posted by Cujet
Sometimes it helps to put on the spare, if just for troubleshooting.

No spare unfortunately. Its an Awd Sienna, it originally came with Dunlop runflats, which are horrible tires. There is no room for a spare due to the rear driveshaft. There is a kit to mount one inside but I have not seen the need for that since it eats up cargo room.

So I role the dice with no spare, but it's not like with runflats you can drive that far on a flat anyway.
 
FWIW I gave the tech who changed the tire a 20 and told him to buy lunch. I started my auto tech career as a tire tech. It's tough work.

I offered to pay the cost of putting the new rim on the new tire, but the assistant manager refused because he said it was no extra work really. This is going with the theory that the problem was a bad tire which I know most of us, including myself disagree with.
 
I'm starting to wonder about my set of Premier A/S's

I'm a few days away from the wear bars on two of them, with less then 20k

Even wear, correct pressure and alignment maintained, I don't know what happened

HOWEVER!, the wet grip is outstanding for a nearly bald tire, better then some newer Goodyears I've had in my time
 
Originally Posted by michaelluscher
I'm starting to wonder about my set of Premier A/S's

I'm a few days away from the wear bars on two of them, with less then 20k

Even wear, correct pressure and alignment maintained, I don't know what happened

HOWEVER!, the wet grip is outstanding for a nearly bald tire, better then some newer Goodyears I've had in my time


I have read this time and time again, Michelin makes a big deal saying they are designed to have the same wet weather performance half worn as they do new.

I suppose this is because they know they wear so quick.....

Time will tell, for right now they are amazing, I drove thru a heavy rain storm yesterday and the performance was the best I have ever experienced, better than my beloved Goodyear aquatreads I had 20 years ago.

Honestly I wouldn't have bought the premieres if I knew they only had 8.5/32nds of tread on them when new. I probably would have went with the defenders.

For now they are amazing though. Quietest tire ever.
 
Originally Posted by michaelluscher
I'm starting to wonder about my set of Premier A/S's

I'm a few days away from the wear bars on two of them, with less then 20k

Even wear, correct pressure and alignment maintained, I don't know what happened

HOWEVER!, the wet grip is outstanding for a nearly bald tire, better then some newer Goodyears I've had in my time


My AS's lasted 55k on my LS400 and 40K on my GS300. I got a check back for 1/3 the price (40k out of 60k warranty) of new ones for my GS300. I didn't fool with the LS400 being within 5k of warranty. Truth be told I could driven them another 5k. I didn't want to. I've always gotten reimbursed from Michelin for any of my tires that didn't make it through the guaranteed warranty. I didn't go back with the Premier's. I went with the new Defenders on both the LS and GS.
 
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Originally Posted by Gebo
Originally Posted by michaelluscher
I'm starting to wonder about my set of Premier A/S's

I'm a few days away from the wear bars on two of them, with less then 20k

Even wear, correct pressure and alignment maintained, I don't know what happened

HOWEVER!, the wet grip is outstanding for a nearly bald tire, better then some newer Goodyears I've had in my time


My AS's lasted 55k on my LS400 and 40K on my GS300. I got a check back for 1/3 the price (40k out of 60k warranty) of new ones for my GS300. I didn't fool with the LS400 being within 5k of warranty. Truth be told I could driven them another 5k. I didn't want to. I've always gotten reimbursed from Michelin for any of my tires that didn't make it through the guaranteed warranty. I didn't go back with the Premier's. I went with the new Defenders on both the LS and GS.


Have you found the Defenders to be as quiet and smooth as the premier's? What would you say the what weather performances compared to the premier's?

I have another car that's going to probably need tires in about a year and I might go with the Defenders on it.
 
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