Hey SuperTrucker(s?)... I need truck tires
 

What do you think about Michelin's for the Furd?

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....odel=LTX+M%2FS

They seem to be pretty popular w/ the fleet folks, so I figure even though I'm paying the Michelin premium, I'm getting a quiet, long lasting tire.

I want something that will last for a long ass time, w/o being noisy, that can handle light snow. I'm not planning on off-roading at all beyond the occasional gravel road. The tire must have a high load rating for towing (120/116R). The stock F-250 tire is a 235/85/16.

Any opinions?

I put those on Ed's Tacoma when I was borrowing it for an extended period. Ran much quieter and had much more grip than the Firestones it was on, but I never had them in snow, just heavy rain. Worked great in the wet, though (on a 2wd lifted truck with less HP and considerably less weight). And I didn't tow. But I was running a similar size (I think it was a 235/80 or 85) and seemed like a good tire that didn't wear much.

So, other than that, a comprehensive review that doesn't help you very much :lol:

I worked for Michelin for 12 years. Those LTX M/S tires are probably made in Nova Scotia at one of the best plants in the world for quality. I ran them on my AWD Astro Vans I used to rock when the kids were toddlers. Very nice tires but very expensive. If you can afford them I doubt you could do much better. I personally wouldn't pay the premium for Michelins (but I used to get them for free or at employee prices). Michelin invested a ton of money and knowledge into the BF Goodrich and Uniroyal plants after they bought them. One of my projects was to modify equipment and process in the BFG/Uni plants to make Michelin brand tires on their more efficient equipment. Those brands are where the value is.

Well, I'm looking at around $700 for a set of the LXTs. But I don't mind if I know I'm going to get 3 or 4 years out of them... what sort of mileage should I expect to see, at least 50,000 miles?

That's odd... just looked at the tires that are on the truck now, and they're not the OEM size that TireRack says it should have.

The tires on there now are "Wild Country" 265/75/16's, 123/120Q, load rating E. The spare tire is a FireStone tire in the same size... so I gotta think, 265 is the OEM size that came on the truck. :?:

Okay, this is dumb...

There are a *ton* of truck tires on TireRack. Virtually none of them have decent load ratings (dumb ass SUV owners that don't actually use their trucks for truck stuff! :unamused: ). So, out of the metric shit load of tires that should fit, I've narrowed it down to only 3 that are the proper 265/75/16 size (I can't run the narrower 235/85/16 tires due to the 8" wide wheels I've got), with the necessary load rating for towing, that don't have total crap reviews:

Expensive ass Michelin LTX

Crash and burn me Firestone Transforce HT

Not so well reviewed Yoko Geolander H/T-S G053

I think I'm either looking at about $750 for the Michelins (not that I've ever been disappointed w/ a set of Michelins after the sticker shock wore off), or shopping somewhere other than TireRack.

Anyone know if there's a Uniroyal or BFG re-branded version of the LTX?

I would recommend looking at Cooper. They used to make some really nice light-truck tires, I'd put them on medium duty trucks and they'd last forever. I'll search around in a little bit.

I have the Nitto Terra Grapplers on my FJ, the twin tire to the Toyo Open Country,. They make a +load rated version that is pretty beefy, put I think they may be more than the Michelins.

BFGoodrich Rugged Trail T/A . Made in Tuscaloosa, AL (or maybe Ardmore, OK) on machines I designed/modified/maintained :D .

Those Firestones are prolly better than you think. It is similar to the Michelin/BFG in design and construction. That whole Firestone fiasco was at least as much Ford's fault, and *all* the other tire makers were just glad it wasn't them, because we all did the things that were implicated in those tires failing.

Ewww, they didn't do so hot on the TireRack.com ratings.

There are not many "rebranded" Michelin tires. They are expensive for a reason, not just the name. They usually have better tread compounds and designs, more and/or better plys, better beads, more complex sidewalls. Basically it is a more complicated tire to build and it is built to higher standards on top of that.

Yeah, I never bought into that whole Firestone thing. Explorers were coming with underinflated tires from the dealerships... and we all know how well the general public maintains their cars. :roll:

Firestone just got owned by a bunch of idiots with underinflated tires on over-loaded SUVs that were already prone to crashing.

Yeah, I kinda always filed Michelins under "you get what you pay for". I know those Pilot Sport Cups are fucking awesome tires. Worth every penny even at $1000+ a set.

I have a set of Kirkland LT tires on my F150 that came with it when I bought it used and they just won't die or wear noticeably.

I realize I don't put a lot of miles on them a year, but they have to be cheap and appear to wear extremely well.

COSTCO FTMFW! :)

Bump... I couldn't pull the trigger on those Michelin's. They were just too damn expensive, so I saved myself like $120 and got some Pirelli Scorpion ATR's, which is TireRack's top rated Load E tire (the Michelin's were #3).

I think the Pirelli's are going to perform just as well as the Michelin's, but they'll be a little louder and not last quite as long.

Pictures!

I'll pick 'em up tomorrow, here's TireRack's picture:

http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires..._owl_ci2_l.jpg

They're not gonna look special on my truck... they're the factory size.