Replacing the Dry Cracked Michelins

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Nick1994

Nick1994

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Well here's another thread about the dry cracked Michelin Cross Terrains on my grandmother's 02' Chevy Trailblazer LTZ. In October of 2011 the previous set of these tires were dry cracking and splitting at the sidewall and Discount Tire (where they were purchased at) replaced them under their road hazard warranty I guess because they charged like 20 something bucks per tire for new certificates. The tires were made on the 28th week of 2011 and in August I took them in for a rotation/balance and Discount Tire said "we'll keep an eye on them". The car is only driven 3-4k a year at the most, but a lot of that is highway with occasional trips out of town and I don't want the tire to blowout on my grandmother and have her stranded on the freeway/wreck the car. I'm thinking of going to another Discount Tire that doesn't recognize me (I go there too often with too many vehicles lol) and ask if they recommend replacement of the tires, if they ask if I purchased them from a Discount Tire I'll tell them no and if they do recommend replacement then I'll tell them that they were purchased there. Now the dilemma. I'm unsure of what tires to get, and they don't make the Michelin Cross Terrains anymore. Somebody will probably not like me saying this, but I will NEVER purchase another Michelin tire. It will not happen. Between 2 bad sets for the Trailblazer in a row and Michelins on the Beetle being absolute garbage it isn't going to happen. I do have to admit that these Michelins on the Trailblazer are silk smooth, I mean absolutely 100% as quiet and smooth as it gets. Tires available at my Discount Tire I'm thinking of (recommend others as well) and I'm looking in the upper price range since the Cross Terrains were pricier than any other tire they currently sell. I do not remember the price on them but what I do remember was the full price with warranties and taxes would have been $1076 out the door, and not even the $180 Michelins on there website go that high. (Tires are in no perticular order) Pirelli Scorpion ATR Yokohama YK-HTX Bridgestone Dueler Continental Cross Contact LX20 Yokohama Geolander Nitto NT 421Q BF Goodrich Rugged Trail BF Goodrich a Rugged Terrain I'm looking for a tire that isn't going to prematurely crack (if that's possible) and also my family has a few gold mines about 35 miles off the highway on a semi-rough dirt road that the car may drive on a couple times. Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
<span style="font-family: 'Verdana'">Replace dry cracked Michelins? That's exactly what I did by installing new Generals.</span>
 
I went from Cross Terrains to a Michelin replacement that was a terrible tire. Then I tried Firestone Destination 2's and they've been great. Much better price, too.
 
My fathers Silverado has the Yokohama Geolanders, and my Accord has the Yokohama Avid Touring-S. They seem to wear well and I would say are better than average as far as being quiet and smooth. I would go with the Yoko's.
 
My pickup truck sits outside and gets full sun on the BFG all terrain radials with NO cracking after nearly 10 years. If go BFG.
 
Those tires look good still. My tires were cracked within a year or so. I used armor all tire shine on them and they cracked very quickly after that. I kept that set for like 5 years. The new set I haven't done anything to them and they look good still. These are $230.00 dollar tires not mounted too.
 
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Originally Posted By: JHZR2
My pickup truck sits outside and gets full sun on the BFG all terrain radials with NO cracking after nearly 10 years.
I got severe weathering and cracking in my trailer tires after 7 years in the south. And not just cosmetic. One tire exploded. BTW, tires are covered, but this is not good enough.
 
Yeah ive got some LTX M/S 2 that are showing signs of cracking. Looking at the General Grabber HTS as a replacement. I like the MS2s other than the cracking. Not to steal the thread, but does anybody know if Discount Tire/Michelin can make any adjustment on these with 7/32 left if the certificates expired 9 months ago? The tires have about 20,000 miles and under 4 years service.
 
Originally Posted By: oilstudent24
Yeah ive got some LTX M/S 2 that are showing signs of cracking. Looking at the General Grabber HTS as a replacement. I like the MS2s other than the cracking. Not to steal the thread, but does anybody know if Discount Tire/Michelin can make any adjustment on these with 7/32 left if the certificates expired 9 months ago? The tires have about 20,000 miles and under 4 years service.
The previous set of Michelin Cross Terrains were replaced under warranty at 6 years old and 47k miles at Discount
 
Michelins are famous for what are called "micro fissures". My wife's Jeep has the LTX M/S with over 160k on the tires and have developed cracks over the years. Even the spare, which is under a cover, has cracks in it so I don't think it is sunlight that causes it.(spare got a hole and plug near the sidewall when on less than a week, and has been under there since.) Had Michelins on my Jeep when sold, and a couple.vehicles prior to that. All had cracks, none had any tire issues.
 
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Can you get the Pirelli Scorpion Verde? I have those on my Envoy and they've been great in both dry and wet conditions.
 
I installed Continental Cross Contact LX20's on my wife's 2011 Santa Fe v6 a few months ago and they are fantastic. Very quiet, smooth and our MPG went up slightly. The grip is also better compare to the tires that were previously installed.
 
I thought Duelers had low life, yet high cost? With such low miles per year the tires are apt to age out, plus you don't deal with snow. Or rain for the matter. I'd err towards the cheaper tires. Not cheapest, but that which I wouldn't mind getting rid of despite having half their tread still.
 
I'm generally pro-Michelin but they did admit they had cracking problems with some tires including some MS/2's. The dealer SHOULD take care of the problem, as Nick1994 indicated they are. If your dealer won't, call Michelin. As long as I was taken care of (new tires) I would give Michelin another chance. It is my responsibility to monitor tire condition and theirs to fix the problem. But if the OP has lost confidence in the brand, I understand that, there are plenty more choices out there. I personally won't buy Firestone even though I know the source of their problems was shut down (the Decatur IL plant).
 
Originally Posted By: HangFire
I personally won't buy Firestone even though I know the source of their problems was shut down (the Decatur IL plant).
The problem extended beyond Decatur... but Decatur made for a nice scapegoat.
 
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Originally Posted By: HangFire
I personally won't buy Firestone even though I know the source of their problems was shut down (the Decatur IL plant).
The problem extended beyond Decatur... but Decatur made for a nice scapegoat.
Tell me more! I know Decatur definitely had problems, besides labor issues they had a faulty rubber process unique to that plant, that was heavily implacated in blowouts ranging from the Firestone 500 to the Explorer debacle. But I don't know much about their other plants.
 
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