Grabbers or Michelins....what you think | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Grabbers or Michelins....what you think

Viro

Active Member
Joined
August 11, 2008
Messages
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City, State
Leamington, Ontario
Year, Model & Trim Level
2004 Sport Trac XLT 4x4
So been cruising around Tire Rack reading on some reviews and got some prices on :

1.) General Grabber HTS
2.) Michelin Latitude Tour
3.) Michelin LTX M/S

Where I'm getting the tires there is a $30 difference in total between the two Michelins....and obviously the Generals are a bit cheaper.....but by going by Tire Rack the Generals rank #1 with the Latitudes 3rd and LTX 8th.

The tires are for my 04 Sport Trac XLT 4x4 and where I'm at I do see light snow at times in the winter with usually one (maybe two) 1' snowfall dumpers but that's usually it so I do need an all season that's decent when the snow adds up but great when it rains etc.

I originally was going to decide with the LTX M/S's but with such a minimal difference in price to the the Latitudes to finding the Generals are #1 on Tirerack, I'm a little stumped as to what I should go with.

I know the LTX's are the popular tire but I don't always like to follow the crowd. I also know the Generals most likely won't have the life of the Michelins but I 'may or may not' have the truck long enough to worry about replacing the tires again (I may own it for 5 years but I only put on 10000kms or so on my truck a year given the fact we have two vehicles in the house). That being said, I still don't mind paying the extra money if I'm going to see a big difference in driveability, reduced road noise etc. The Latitudes claim lower gas mileage as well.....

Anyways, any advice?
 



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I would go with the Grabbers. I have General Grabber UHPs on my truck with about 40,000 on them and love them. They aren't even half worn, ride quiet and smooth. Since the HTS are a different tread pattern they may not be as quiet but the tread pattern still looks like it wouldn't be very loud. Michelins are good tires but way over priced for what they are.
 






Same here, I have the Grabbers and I love them.
 


















Check out the Bridgestone Duelers too. I've had two sets of them, A/T's, on my Rangers/Bronco II's and the wear was great!
 






I never thought buying a good set of tires would be this confusing.....I want to go with the General HTS's but I also want to go with the Latitude tours....
 






Tires these days are a real investment so you'd better make it right the first time. I put 65K on the OEM Hankooks that were on my '08 E250 and still had tread left. When I replaced them I thought I'd buy "better" ones so I got the Goodyear RT/S to the tune of $675.00. These GY's are a POS, never had such a bad set of tires! I have 49K on them now and can't wait for them to wear out, which won't be much longer. Then I'm going back to Hankooks.
One thing I might add is to think about stepping up to the next higher ply rating. These Tracs are so heavy and get such poor tire mileage that they may benefit from a heavier duty tire.
 






Any other thoughts to help me in the decision (I'm still stuck)....I have the goodyear RT/S's on now and don't want to go to them....

The tires I listed above feel like good ones, I just don't know which ones to go with. I'd hate to pick say the grabbers when I shoulda picked the Latitudes because they'd suit the Sport Trac better...

Also, the Grabbers are good for 45-60000miles and the Michelins are good for like 800000miles I think, unless I read wrong.....for the extra price it doesn't seem too bad to go with a longer lasting tire if it is a better tire overall for driving.....
 






Man this decision is frustrating.....

Got the quote for the Grabber HTS today....$300 less than the Latitude Tours....

Do I go for the 'name' and more than likely sure thing in the Michelin or do I flaunt and give the Grabbers a whirl....
 


















i dissagree i had the ltx m/s's and they were the best street tires ive ever had
 






Go for the Grabbers. Michelins aren't worth $300 more.

i dissagree i had the ltx m/s's and they were the best street tires ive ever had

LOL....and this is why I can't make up my mind LOL.

Maybe I'll get two of each....

Seriously though, I just can't seem to fight myself either way and saving $300 for a nice tire is a good thing but I still want to make sure it's a good tire which it seems like. I know I can't go wrong with the Michelins but I know I'm paying more because of that too.
 






yea but like they say u get wut u pay for =p and check the test results tire rack has on grip and all see which is better
 






i dissagree i had the ltx m/s's and they were the best street tires ive ever had

Yeah but you haven't had Grabbers have you? :D They may not be better than LTXs but LTXs aren't worth $300 more. I briefly had LTXs for 4 months and I would rather have the Grabbers over them.
 






Yeah but you haven't had Grabbers have you? :D They may not be better than LTXs but LTXs aren't worth $300 more. I briefly had LTXs for 4 months and I would rather have the Grabbers over them.

Any particular reason why?

TireRack has usefull information but the reviews are hard to interpret.....for every good review you get there is also a bad one....Michelin is the tire that lots of people use probably because of name because even then people aren't happy with the tires in the reviews....
 






I didn't have any trouble with the LTXs, I only had them 4 months. I don't think they are worth the price premium though. After having the Grabbers for a few years and about 40,000 miles they have been excellent, especially for the money. And I like General as a company better than Michelin.
 






I think I'm gonna go with the Latitudes. 'If' I keep the truck longer than 5-6 years then the Michelins will still have some life whereas the Grabbers will probably due to be changed....I just don't feel like I could get the 90 000kms out of the Grabbers like I should with the Michelins even with regular rotations. If anyone has found that to be any different I'd love to know that because I'd hate to have to buy a second set of tires before I get rid of the truck in 5 to 6 years just to last me until I did get one.

In southern Ontario the one highway I drive once or twice a week for 110km a trip isn't bad but the city roads aren't the smoothest (which I'm sure is the case in a lot of places).

After reading the reviews on Tire Rack I don't think I'd be disappointed in the Grabbers, especially for the price, but I don't want to get hung up on getting a second set of tires depending on when I get rid of the truck which is more than likely 6 years from now or about 80 000kms max.

I like the look of the Grabber tire better though, that's what sucks too. LOL.
 



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I think you could get 55,000 miles out of the Grabbers. Now mine are a different tread pattern (street performance tread) but I have 40,000 on mine and they're not even half worn. And I haven't needed to even rotate them yet.

I'm curious as to why you think the Latitudes are going to last a lot longer than the Grabbers?
 






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