Michelin LTX M/S for 2WD Tahoe??

[NewGuy]

My older brother got 96K miles out of a set of LTX M/S tires. They were on his Silverado and the driving was mostly highway. It is amazing how many good comments you hear about these tires.

It will be interesting to see how the comments on the GY Fortera tires. It is a great looking tire with a high treadwear number and supposedly quite ride. Those might be my next set....if I still have the Tahoe after the 70K I expect to get out of these Michelins.

The only (small) negative to those GY Triple Treads is that they are directional tires, so rotations will take 3x as long. Of course they are pretty expensive too. I can't wait to see the comments after 2-3 years of having these on the market too.

 

[NewGuy]

I seem to be having a vibration in my Tahoe once I get up to 70+ MPH. I had the new tires installed for several days before I did any interstate driving, so I did notice the shaking.

I took the tires back to be balanced again was told that one of the aluminum rims was bent. A new rim was $600 at the dealership, so I bought a used rim for $150. The new rim did not match exactly, but the only person who will ever notice the difference is me.

The problem is that I am still getting this slight vibration at high speeds. Is this typical for new tires this size? I assume that a larger tire like these 265/70/16s are harder to balance. Should I just drive it for a while and see if it goes away?

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[ktm525]

The LTX 265/70-16's on my Dakota needed very little weight to balance. First thing I would do is swap positions of the tires. Simply rotate the front tires to the back and the backs to the front. Take another drive. If the vibration is still there and feels the same I would suspect that something else is causing your vibration. If the vibration goes away then one of your tire/rim combos is suspect.

 

[Blake Sobiloff]

New Guy, it sounds like the shop didn't do a great job balancing the tires. (Why would they even mount a new tire on a bent rim?! Makes you wonder...)

Michelins generally have the highest quality tires (best balanced and in-round), but it's always possible to get a dud. See if you can isolate which tire is causing the problem and get that one mounted with a Hunter Road Force machine. Those are the best balancers around and will resolve any resolvable balance problem.

 

[NewGuy]

I took those tires back to the shop and they balanced them very carefully. The original rim wasn't bent. It just seems like they must have gotten in a hurry. I drive from Charlotte to Atlanta to Asheville to Charlotte yesterday (650+ miles) partially in the rain. Those new Michelins were great. The traction felt great in the rain, the ride was smooth and quiet and they gripped the road during some 2 lane mountain driving.

Now that they are well balanced I am very happy with the Michelins. I would buy them again.

Thanks for all of the advice and comments.

 

[JMK3rd]

quote:

---

Originally posted by NewGuy:
I took those tires back to the shop and they balanced them very carefully. The original rim wasn't bent. It just seems like they must have gotten in a hurry. I drive from Charlotte to Atlanta to Asheville to Charlotte yesterday (650+ miles) partially in the rain. Those new Michelins were great. The traction felt great in the rain, the ride was smooth and quiet and they gripped the road during some 2 lane mountain driving.

Now that they are well balanced I am very happy with the Michelins. I would buy them again.

Thanks for all of the advice and comments.

---

Which tires did you get? LTX M/S or Cross Terrain?

 

[Steelers]

Had a set of the LTX M/S on a Ranger and they performed very well. Quiet and good grip, much better than the OEM Firestones.

 

[NewGuy]

I hate to admit this, but after I began having the initial problems with the balancing I checked the Michelin website. These tires that I have are the Michelin Select LT brand typically sold through Wal-Mart. This local shop sells the same time with a 50,000 mile warranty. It is not the Cross Terrain or the LTX M/S, but I can't say enough good things about them.

I have had a set of LTX M/S on a 4Runner and these Select LTs seem to have a bit softer ride. I have 14,000 miles on them now and they show no signs of wear. The guy who owns that shop says that if I don't get at least 80,000 miles out of them it is my own fault. He has several customers (Sales People) who get near 100,000 miles on them.

I would buy these tires again in a second. I have absolutely no regrets about not getting the LTX M/S or the Cross Terrain. Plus, I let the OWL design on them. I receommend them if you have a large SUV.

 

[MarkC]

I've had both Cross Terrains and LTX/MS on my Cherokee. Both are way better than the Wranglers that came on it.
The Cross Terrains seemed to grip a bit better, and corner better, but were shot at 40K. Since they had a 60K warranty, I was able to score the LTX's at quite a deal..less than $300 installed for four. They're okay.