Review Michelin Defender LTX M/S 10,000 mi 8months

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jul 4, 2016
Messages
2,008
Location
Jacksonville, FL
I thought I would post a follow up review on my most recent light truck tire purchase. I bought these tires back in October of 2016, yesterday marked the 10,000 mile mark for them on my Toyota 4Runner. So far they've seen use in the woods, two tracks and gravel roads of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, highway driving from Michigan to Florida and daily driver duty in the Jacksonville Florida area. Haven't seen any snow as I don't drive my 4Runner in any snow or salt, but they've been places off road that I never expected they would take me, even my good friend with a commercial traction tire on his truck was impressed with how well they performed off road.

Tread wear is almost non existent as to be expected for a 70,000 mile tire. But they're wearing flat and even across the tread with little to no heel toe feathering and zero cupping. All 4 tires currently measure 12/32.

Highway wet and dry performance, these are the most outstanding tires ive ever had on a truck in wet weather. Dry performance is confidence inspiring with no tread squirm since day one.

As I mentioned above these tires punch way way way above their meager status as a highway tire off road. When it gets really really sloppy you know you don't have a mud or all terrain but for what a good majority of people do off road they're actually quite good. Additionally they're better in the sand than my previous Goodyear All terrain tires, they do better at full street pressure than the Goodyear tires did aired down.

I was originally considering buying another set of all terrain tires for this truck, but considering 99% of its use is driving paved roads and wet pavement I wanted something that would be quiet and smooth and good in the rain. I couldn't be happier with a set of tires. I never have been happier with a set of light truck tires.
 
They are the greatest tires in the world. If you do not believe that...BITOG members will tell you so even if people in certain sunny Western States have issues...they will still tell you!
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: CKN
They are the greatest tires in the world. If you do not believe that...BITOG members will tell you so even if people in certain sunny Western States have issues...they will still tell you!


Certain people have preferences and biases or even brand loyalty. I replaced my Goodyear tires at 4 years due to poor were performance at about 40% tread and 35,000 miles. Still too early to say how these will hold up long term. I'll report back in another 10,000 miles.
 
Had the dealer install the previous iteration on my wife's Lexus GX460 before taking delivery and did the same thing on her new Yukon XL a couple months ago. The Yukon version is a 22" tire and appears to have slightly less tread depth than the 18" Lexus tires so we will see how they last. A perfect tire for us and I'd gather 99% of SUV and light truck owners.
 
Originally Posted By: 4WD
Not sure if 99% should have LT's at all - I had regrets on at least two ...

If you're never, ever going to go off-road, then A/Ts aren't really necessary, but if you ever use your HD truck as a truck, LT tires are definitely necessary. I would agree that most 1/2 ton pickups with crew cabs and 4 foot long beds don't need LTs-but they're not real trucks anyway!
 
Made no comments on A/T's - I don't even see that tire as anything but M&S (just that ratio thing) - just saying LT's don't belong on everything - SUV's often don't need them and give up ride/comfort ...
 
They must have improved off road traction since the set I owned. I needed 4wd to drive on wet grass with those tires.

They were great on road though. Ride was smooth and wear was good.
 
We had a matched set of these on our 07 Pilot in Ghana.

One was punctured and replaced with a no name Chinese tyre...

Another blew a hole in the sidewall at the same time as the rear knuckle and shock were broken.

Was away from the capital so managed to find a used replacement but could only get a Michelin LTX 225/75/16 to replace tbe 235/70/16 which is not perfect but better than a space saving doughnut.

I would love to spend the money on a set of these Michelins again.

But suspect i shall just go for a cheaper option.

I am also looking into Armour Seal.

I would definately have Michelin LTX tyres again. Just not in Ghana
 
Put the same thing on the wife's Jeep Cherokee Latitude 4x4 just over 5k miles ago, rotated once so far. Not sure if they are the best but they're a heck of alot better then the OE Firestone's that came on it. Smooth, quite, and better in the rain I've noticed.
 
I just replaced my 7 year old LTX M/S2s on my 07 Tacoma DC that had 75Kmiles on them and were just down to the wear bars. I could have milked another 5-10K miles out of them but got I jumed on a DTD sale and got $160 off a set of 4 so why not.

I got the new LTX defender M/S and they are a nice upgrade. The old M/S2s were louder at their worn state. The new defenders are quieter and just as good on wet roads.

So far so good.
 
Glad you like them! I hope you get many more trouble-free miles out of them
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Glad you like them! I hope you get many more trouble-free miles out of them
smile.gif



Thanks! I hope so too! I expect that since I put on miles fairly slowly 12-15k/year that they will become scary in the rain and hard before I wear them out. That's what happened to the last two sets prior to these (Firestone and Goodyear). The heat in thessummer just bakes the rubber and they get hard. The Goodyear tires were also showing a fair bit of cosmetic weather checking after 4 years as well. So I suspect these will age out before they wear out.
 
I recommended these to a friend, the Costco/Sam's/BJ's version(X LT). His Explorer never rode better and he was surprised at their off-road ability in the mountains.
 
That Explorer came with LT's? Maybe our resident tire engineer can explain how LT's ride better than P-metric as that has never happened in all my decades of LT/SUV's ...
 
At what mileage did the A/T2 get louder ? I need a bit more off-road grip than the popular LTX has - really attractive tread on the A/T2 IMO ... Looks like it could do short patches of mud ...
 
Originally Posted By: 4WD
That Explorer came with LT's? Maybe our resident tire engineer can explain how LT's ride better than P-metric as that has never happened in all my decades of LT/SUV's ...

It never did come with LT-metric tires - just P235/75-15 Firestone Wilderness ATs and Ford replaced the tires and wheels with Goodyear Wrangler ATs during the Radial ATX debacle.

Michelin is using slightly confusing nomenclature with their mainline and wholesale club lines - the LTX M/S was sold as the X Radial LT at Costco and other clubs - the Defender LTX is sold as the X LT, even though it's available in P/Euro metric and LT sizes.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top