Could be a mixture of things but I have had problems with my Michelins cracking due to grooved pavement. The grooves tend to pull the car around at times and my straight tread pattern fits into these grooves to an extent and then jerks the car and tires around excessively causing them to both crack and wearout prematurely. My other car has Dunlops with more of a truck tire or diamond pattern that does not fall into the grooves and handles much better on these surfaces. Also no cracking.
Michelin tires cracking?
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Originally Posted By: S_Walmer
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
) 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.
just for the record you had pilot hx mxm4.. not the newer and much better primacy mxm4.
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
just for the record you had pilot hx mxm4.. not the newer and much better primacy mxm4.
OVERKILL
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I can only speak for my family and friends, but we've owned a LOT of Michelin tires over the years and never had this problem
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
I can only speak for my family and friends, but we've owned a LOT of Michelin tires over the years and never had this problem
Likewise, as we only use the LTX series on our fleet trucks and I used to buy Pilots for my track rat Vettes. Never a peep. Did get one tire once with a factory issue that made it thump a bit, it was promptly replaced at no cost to us.
I buy several every year...
I can only speak for my family and friends, but we've owned a LOT of Michelin tires over the years and never had this problem
Likewise, as we only use the LTX series on our fleet trucks and I used to buy Pilots for my track rat Vettes. Never a peep. Did get one tire once with a factory issue that made it thump a bit, it was promptly replaced at no cost to us.
I buy several every year...
I should state that I do like Michelin tires as my above post may not indicate that. They are indeed a premium and one of the best overall brands. I have had very poor luck with Goodyear and have often had belts break and tires wear out prematurely for no good reason. Then Goodyear wants to give me like $25 towrds my next $150-200 tires. No thanks I move on to Michelin or Cooper. They have been my best options.
I've seen a few sets of Michelin tires develop significant weather checking on vehicles that are parked outside. My dad had a set of Michelin Energy MXM4 tires on a car he bought about a year ago, they were 4 - 5 years old and significantly weather checked, and they were also quite hard and lacked grip.
I've got a friend with a set of LTX A/S tires on his Jeep (tires are about 3 years old), and they started showing noticeable (but not deep or worrying yet) weather checking on the sidewalls at about 2 years old. They're still soft and perform excellently though.
I've had good luck with Toyos and Firestones on my Jeep (sits outside) and my mom's Jeep (garage kept), between the 2 of us, we've yet to have a set show any cracking before it's worn out (never had a set last past 3 years though). I've seen 1 set of Toyos crack pretty badly, but it's on a rarely-driven car that sits outside, and they're pushing 10 years old, IIRC.
I've seen some Pirellis on other cars of unknown age, but somewhere in the 4 - 8 year range (one car sat outside, the other is garaged) that still looked brand new. The set on the outdoor car (P3000 Cinturato) was getting hard and losing grip, the set on the garaged car (P4000s) is about 1/2 worn and still surprisingly grippy (especially for being 205s under a 4000 lb car!).
The Goodyears on my dad's garage-kept Mustang (rarely driven) seem to hold up great. He had on crack a sidewall and start leaking while sitting when the tire was 7 - 8 years old. The current set on the rear of the car is 10 - 12 years old and not very grippy anymore (Goodyear Eagle VR60 gatorbacks), but the sidewalls look brand new, tires still drive smoothly, don't get hot when running at highway speed for hours on end, etc. The fronts are 3 - 5 year old Toyo Proxes TPTs, they still look brand new.
I've got a friend with a set of LTX A/S tires on his Jeep (tires are about 3 years old), and they started showing noticeable (but not deep or worrying yet) weather checking on the sidewalls at about 2 years old. They're still soft and perform excellently though.
I've had good luck with Toyos and Firestones on my Jeep (sits outside) and my mom's Jeep (garage kept), between the 2 of us, we've yet to have a set show any cracking before it's worn out (never had a set last past 3 years though). I've seen 1 set of Toyos crack pretty badly, but it's on a rarely-driven car that sits outside, and they're pushing 10 years old, IIRC.
I've seen some Pirellis on other cars of unknown age, but somewhere in the 4 - 8 year range (one car sat outside, the other is garaged) that still looked brand new. The set on the outdoor car (P3000 Cinturato) was getting hard and losing grip, the set on the garaged car (P4000s) is about 1/2 worn and still surprisingly grippy (especially for being 205s under a 4000 lb car!).
The Goodyears on my dad's garage-kept Mustang (rarely driven) seem to hold up great. He had on crack a sidewall and start leaking while sitting when the tire was 7 - 8 years old. The current set on the rear of the car is 10 - 12 years old and not very grippy anymore (Goodyear Eagle VR60 gatorbacks), but the sidewalls look brand new, tires still drive smoothly, don't get hot when running at highway speed for hours on end, etc. The fronts are 3 - 5 year old Toyo Proxes TPTs, they still look brand new.
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Originally Posted By: HWEaton
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: HWEaton
Typical Michelins.
Not in my experience......
It is often very much the case in the experience of myself and a lot of others.
Two guys I work with had to throw away very-expensive tires (LTX-AT on a Ram and Primacy MXV4 on an Audi A6) because while they had plenty of tread (50%+), they were literally rotting off the rims! In both cases, Michelin refused to lift a finger, instead insisting it was their fault.
Neither will ever buy Michelin tires again under any circumstances...the Audi rides on Yokohamas, the Ram on Coopers.
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: HWEaton
Typical Michelins.
Not in my experience......
It is often very much the case in the experience of myself and a lot of others.
Two guys I work with had to throw away very-expensive tires (LTX-AT on a Ram and Primacy MXV4 on an Audi A6) because while they had plenty of tread (50%+), they were literally rotting off the rims! In both cases, Michelin refused to lift a finger, instead insisting it was their fault.
Neither will ever buy Michelin tires again under any circumstances...the Audi rides on Yokohamas, the Ram on Coopers.
'rotting off the rims' I would like to see a picture of that!
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: HWEaton
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: HWEaton
Typical Michelins.
Not in my experience......
It is often very much the case in the experience of myself and a lot of others.
Two guys I work with had to throw away very-expensive tires (LTX-AT on a Ram and Primacy MXV4 on an Audi A6) because while they had plenty of tread (50%+), they were literally rotting off the rims! In both cases, Michelin refused to lift a finger, instead insisting it was their fault.
Neither will ever buy Michelin tires again under any circumstances...the Audi rides on Yokohamas, the Ram on Coopers.
How old were they? I have a set of LTX's (the M/S's not the A/T's) with no weather cracking and they've never seen a garage. They have 60,000 miles on them and are about 3 years old.
However, I also have a set of Primacy MXV4's that were on my Town Car that have to be at least 10 years old, and while they've hardened, they still look perfectly serviceable (not that I'd actually use them at this age).
Originally Posted By: HWEaton
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: HWEaton
Typical Michelins.
Not in my experience......
It is often very much the case in the experience of myself and a lot of others.
Two guys I work with had to throw away very-expensive tires (LTX-AT on a Ram and Primacy MXV4 on an Audi A6) because while they had plenty of tread (50%+), they were literally rotting off the rims! In both cases, Michelin refused to lift a finger, instead insisting it was their fault.
Neither will ever buy Michelin tires again under any circumstances...the Audi rides on Yokohamas, the Ram on Coopers.
How old were they? I have a set of LTX's (the M/S's not the A/T's) with no weather cracking and they've never seen a garage. They have 60,000 miles on them and are about 3 years old.
However, I also have a set of Primacy MXV4's that were on my Town Car that have to be at least 10 years old, and while they've hardened, they still look perfectly serviceable (not that I'd actually use them at this age).
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
About three years old in both cases.
So, I guess we both have our anecdotes here eh? LOL!
About three years old in both cases.
So, I guess we both have our anecdotes here eh? LOL!
Originally Posted By: HWEaton
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: HWEaton
Typical Michelins.
Not in my experience......
It is often very much the case in the experience of myself and a lot of others.
it is often NOT the case in the experience of myself and a lot of others.
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: HWEaton
Typical Michelins.
Not in my experience......
It is often very much the case in the experience of myself and a lot of others.
it is often NOT the case in the experience of myself and a lot of others.
The anecdotes are running wild!
The simple fact is that Michelins are always on the high side of both quality and pricing, usually performance and longevity also.
Of course there are unhappy owners out there who make a lot of noise. I know I would if I didn't get prompt and satisfying service from them.
But we buy many tires every year, not just a set or two every few years. And in all the recent purchases I have had one bad Michelin. I cannot remember another! It was promptly replaced, and then they paid to get back the bad tire and mount the good one, etc. So my customer service example was good.
But bad service or life is NOT typical at all...
The simple fact is that Michelins are always on the high side of both quality and pricing, usually performance and longevity also.
Of course there are unhappy owners out there who make a lot of noise. I know I would if I didn't get prompt and satisfying service from them.
But we buy many tires every year, not just a set or two every few years. And in all the recent purchases I have had one bad Michelin. I cannot remember another! It was promptly replaced, and then they paid to get back the bad tire and mount the good one, etc. So my customer service example was good.
But bad service or life is NOT typical at all...
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
The contrary...Michelin's time-bomb XRV tires were a known problem for YEARS and they refused to lift a finger. They were decent tires...well, except for their distressing tendency to EXPLODE! (They sometimes did it while parked.)
Who cares? One bad tire model how many years ago?
The contrary...Michelin's time-bomb XRV tires were a known problem for YEARS and they refused to lift a finger. They were decent tires...well, except for their distressing tendency to EXPLODE! (They sometimes did it while parked.)
Who cares? One bad tire model how many years ago?
OVERKILL
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