Time for tires

[Sixonemale]

I'm a huge Michelin LTX fan. I put two sets on my '02 Explorer and was extremely pleased with their performance. They are very quiet and had excellent traction on wet and dry pavement, in addition to the tread lasting longer than you will want to keep them. They are also constructed better than most tires, especially the side walls. My first set lasted over 80,000 miles and still had a fair amount of tread left and when I sold the Explorer the second set had over 50,000 miles and looked relatively new. When the time comes I will get Michelin's newest LTX tire that fits this wheel size, named the "Michelin Defender LTX M/S". Also whenever I have asked a tire salesman about the Michelin LTX's a few of them have said it's the best tire made.

I also have Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 Plus tires on my wife's Lexus sports car and would give them the same reviews, A+.

PS I've only used them a few times in snow and they are at least average, if not above.

 

[peterk9]

OK so suppose you have a slightly over 1 year old Ford Exploder - with 31K miles on the clock.

and you never bothered to rotate the tires because well they want money, and you don't like the tires anyway.

so the fronts wore down pretty good - I recently swapped them back and put the rears on the front. so I've got some time - but 2 of the 4 tires are worn good.

255/50/R20's

FWD station wagon wears rather front biased - figures.

Options

Eagle RS-A
Nitto NT421Q
Nitto NT 420S
Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Season
Michelin Premier LTX

The 2016 explorer is not a off roader especially without AWD and the terrarin setup - let alone ride height - so I have no need for any sort of aggressive terrain tires. Noise - Road holding are the primary concern for our use of the car.

Any of you guys ever use either of these tires? Any thoughts on either of them. Price wise and name I'm leaning toward the Pirelli, with the nitto and Michelin as number 2 and 3.

Found this thread using the 'Search' function and merged yours with it. All tires with the possible exception of the RS-A are talked about here and can be found using the 'Search' program (Search this thread).
Also the best tires should always be installed on the rear wheels (where they were).
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=52

Peter

 

[Sixonemale]

Found this thread using the 'Search' function and merged yours with it. All tires with the possible exception of the RS-A are talked about here and can be found using the 'Search' program (Search this thread).
Also the best tires should always be installed on the rear wheels (where they were).
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=52

Peter

No offense Peter, but sometimes merging every tire thread into one is not always the appealing for readers. On other forums such as Lexus the moderators don't merge threads which gives one the ability to create a fresh thread with the latest and greatest brands/models and most importantly many less pages to sift through, especially if the old thread contains brands/models that are outdated. When using the search function it's nice to have a choice of threads IMO.

 

[182RG]

The 2016 explorer is not a off roader especially without AWD and the terrarin setup - let alone ride height - so I have no need for any sort of aggressive terrain tires. Noise - Road holding are the primary concern for our use of the car.

Any of you guys ever use either of these tires?

Not a fan of the Pirellis. I had noise and wear problems on another vehicle. The factory Michelins (18") on the XLT were good for 70K miles.

I replaced with Bridgestone Dueler Alenza Plus H/L. Great tire, and wearing/performing very, very well.

 

[Napalm]

Found this thread using the 'Search' function and merged yours with it. All tires with the possible exception of the RS-A are talked about here and can be found using the 'Search' program (Search this thread).
Also the best tires should always be installed on the rear wheels (where they were).
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=52

Peter

Thank you for mentioning the search and the like. first think I disagree with that recommendation as it pertains to the dynamics of a FWD, forward CG car - the bulk of your braking, acceleration and steering forces are all constrained in the front half of the car. while there could be stability concerns it's far less of an issue than not being able to stop due to losing the bulk of your brake force.

on a RWD car or even a car with a more 50/50 weight distribution - absolutly agree.

Also per my post - I didn't mention the condition of the other 2 tires but they are more than over half above the wear bars - illustrating just how much extra scrub and push is done with the front of the explorer chassis.

finally I agree with sixonemale that I'd like to see a bit less merged threads as there could be offshoot discussions related to these sorts of things. like tire wear patterns.


To that end - On a different forum we started a thread specifically for tires on the car. with a thread for tires of alternate size since it was very very common for people to swap to another setup. but basically it was a poll that showed the last offerings on the market and people's responses with which tires they have and their experience for just that tire. It took upkeep of course, but we are also a small community.

 

[polaris_dave]

I'm going to replace the 245 60 R18 Michelin Latitude Tour on my XLT with Michelin LTX AT2 in 265 60 R18.

http://www.michelinman.com/tire-selector/name/ltx-a-t2-tires?Wt.mc_id=Paid Search;Bing;michelin ltx at2&WT.srch=1&mkwid=f1S1a1CZ&utm_source=Bing&utm_medium=CPC&utm_term=michelin ltx at2&utm_campaign=PSNational

Did you install the 265 60 R18 tires? I'm planning on doing the same with our XLT. I have a very good deal on a set of winter tires.

 

[ptjones]

I was thinking of go with Bridgestone Dueler H/L 422 Ecopia fuel efficient tires. Anyone use them, not to many options.

Paul

 

[peterk9]

I was thinking of go with Bridgestone Dueler H/L 422 Ecopia fuel efficient tires. Anyone use them, not to many options.

Paul

Welcome to the Forum Paul.
FYI, I replaced the OEM Hankooks on my previous 2011 Limited with the Yokohama Parada Spec-X the day I picked it up from the dealer.
If you use the 'Search' feature, above upper right, for 'Ecopia' in this thread, you'll pull up 10 other posts on them.

Peter

 

[ptjones]

Welcome to the Forum Paul.
FYI, I replaced the OEM Hankooks on my previous 2011 Limited with the Yokohama Parada Spec-X the day I picked it up from the dealer.
If you use the 'Search' feature, above upper right, for 'Ecopia' in this thread, you'll pull up 10 other posts on them.

Peter

Thanks for the help, I'm still getting use to this forum. I have several tanks on Fuelly in the 28-29.3 mpg over the last 4 yrs, my usual avg. HWY is 26mpg and my wife 24.5mpg LOL. I use 48psi on OEM tires and have 73k miles on them with no unusual wear. Was hoping to improve mpg's with Bridgestone Ecopia tire.

Paul

 

[ptjones]

I ordered the Bridgestone Dueler H/L 422 Ecopia fuel efficient tires from my FORD Dealer and should have next week.

Paul

 

[peterk9]

I ordered the Bridgestone Dueler H/L 422 Ecopia fuel efficient tires from my FORD Dealer and should have next week.

Paul

An early Christmas present for Paul. I'm sure Santa appreciates not having to load them on his sleigh.

Peter

 

[SHUMAX]

For what it's worth, I've had the original Hankooks (terrible in rain and snow); the Bridgestone Alenza Plus's (had weird harmonics that caused them to hum at speed); the Michelin Premier LTX - quiet tire, but provided too much feedback in the steering wheel - felt like a snow tire. I finally landed on the Bridgestone Dueler Ecopia PLUS. I used size 265/50/20 on the Sport rim. Note that these tires were used on a 2011 Limited and then the 2014 Sport I'm in now.

The Ecopia PLUS's were just released. So far, after 1,500 miles, they are smooth, quiet and good in the rain. I use Blizzak's in the snow, so I'm not concerned with that; though, I did get suck in a storm recently and they performed acceptably given they are an all season tire.

My biggest disappointment was the Michelin Premier LTX. Stock, new, they came with 9/32nd's of tread. The others' came with 12/32nd's. When I removed them at my 30 day trial, I had put 4,000 miles on them. At that point, 1/32nd of tread was already gone. Think about that - if you replace at 4/32nd's, which you should, it's a 20,000 tire that was rated for at least 60k. What drove me to pull them off was the buzzing you felt in the steering wheel. It wasn't vibration; rather, it was the tread transmitting back up to the steering wheel. Felt just like a snow tire. I can tolerate that in the winter; however, during the summer? No thanks.

The Ecopia PLUS's look nice in the wider size and are much smoother than the Michelin tire.

Good luck!
Shumax

 

[ptjones]

Thanks, did the Bridgestone Dueler Ecopia PLUS improve MPG's?

 

[sport trac44]

Hey Guys,
My wife's 2012 Explorer Sport (20" rims with 50 sidewall) is in need of the first set of new tires.. We live in the Northeast so we get the snow / icy conditions etc... Is Michelin still considered the best? Any other makes / models you are using that you're very pleased with? I'll pay more for a set that will last; we plan on keeping this vehicle for many years..
Thanks in advance..
Mark

 

[peterk9]

Where you live you would be better off with 2 sets of wheels. One for dedicated Winter tires and a set for all other times.

Peter

 

[veloduffer]

The two all season tires that seem to have the better snow traction are the Michelin Defender LTX M/S and Bridgestone Dueler H/L 422 Ecopia in the 255/55R20 size for Limited.

Although I live in the Northeast, I found that I don't really need dedicated snows since I usually drive after the roads have been plowed. The Hankook Optimas have done ok under those conditions, but when I am ready to replace I am looking at the above two choices.

 

[peterk9]

sport trac44 and veloduffer, have you considered the All Weather tires that are now available? If I didn't already have a dedicated set of Winters, I would definitely consider them. https://www.kaltire.com/all-weather-vs-all-season-vs-winter-tires/

Peter

 

[Bill #5 Explorer]

The two all season tires that seem to have the better snow traction are the Michelin Defender LTX M/S and Bridgestone Dueler H/L 422 Ecopia in the 255/55R20 size for Limited.

Although I live in the Northeast, I found that I don't really need dedicated snows since I usually drive after the roads have been plowed. The Hankook Optimas have done ok under those conditions, but when I am ready to replace I am looking at the above two choices.

I just had a set of the Defender LTX M/S put on yesterday at The Tire Rack in South Bend, IN. $842 out-the-door. I'm ready for winter. With only 34,000 miles on the 2016 OEM tires, I knew they would not get me through a Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois winter.

 

[peterk9]

Nice to see you pop in every now and then Bill.

Peter

 

[ptjones]

I just had a set of the Defender LTX M/S put on yesterday at The Tire Rack in South Bend, IN. $842 out-the-door. I'm ready for winter. With only 34,000 miles on the 2016 OEM tires, I knew they would not get me through a Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois winter.

Your tires didn't last very long.

Paul