chunking on my Michelins

[poundkey]

What do y'all think of this chunking that I'm seeing on the tire treads of all four of my tires?

These are Michelin LTX A/T 2 tires on my 2016 4Runner (the tires were bought six years ago this week), and they currently have about 85,000 miles on them. The way I drive, I'm guessing that they still have 10,000 miles left on the tread.

However, I'm getting ready to drive from southern California to Alaska (again), and I'm thinking that I'd better get a new set of tires before I leave. I'm not planning to travel as many rock roads as I have during previous trips, but I want to reduce the possibility of having a flat along the way (I had to plug a flat about 150 miles from the Arctic Ocean once, and that was pretty miserable!). Also, I might be staying up there late enough for the first snow accumulation.

But I'm wondering if this chunking is the nature of these Michelin LTX A/T 2 tires or the result of something I'm doing. I'm a very mellow driver, I rotate/balance the tires at least every 10,000 miles (usually sooner), and I've kept the vehicle garaged most of its life. I generally don't air down on gravel roads, but I also don't go above 40 mph on gravel roads, either. However, if the road has big/sharp rocks, I'll almost always air down, especially if there's several miles to go.

I'm not sure if this chunking was the result of one road in particular or if it gradually happened over the years; I haven't watched them closely enough.

As much as I've liked these tires (traction, wear, sound level), I'm wondering if I should try another brand/model or just be more careful on rock roads.

 

[Boort]

What do y'all think of this chunking that I'm seeing on the tire treads of all four of my tires?

These are Michelin LTX A/T 2 tires on my 2016 4Runner (the tires were bought six years ago this week), and they currently have about 85,000 miles on them. The way I drive, I'm guessing that they still have 10,000 miles left on the tread.

However, I'm getting ready to drive from southern California to Alaska (again), and I'm thinking that I'd better get a new set of tires before I leave. I'm not planning to travel as many rock roads as I have during previous trips, but I want to reduce the possibility of having a flat along the way (I had to plug a flat about 150 miles from the Arctic Ocean once, and that was pretty miserable!). Also, I might be staying up there late enough for the first snow accumulation.

But I'm wondering if this chunking is the nature of these Michelin LTX A/T 2 tires or the result of something I'm doing. I'm a very mellow driver, I rotate/balance the tires at least every 10,000 miles (usually sooner), and I've kept the vehicle garaged most of its life. I generally don't air down on gravel roads, but I also don't go above 40 mph on gravel roads, either. However, if the road has big/sharp rocks, I'll almost always air down, especially if there's several miles to go.

I'm not sure if this chunking was the result of one road in particular or if it gradually happened over the years; I haven't watched them closely enough.

As much as I've liked these tires (traction, wear, sound level), I'm wondering if I should try another brand/model or just be more careful on rock roads.

I've been running Michelin LTX A/T 2 and their predecessors on my Tacoma for ~20 years usually into the 80k-95k mile range on each set. I can't say that I've ever seen the chunking pictured on any of my sets. My miles are mostly empty, highway with fully loaded gravel and other offroading miles on weekends. In case that makes a difference compared to your miles.

Boort

 

[poundkey]

Okay - that's good to know! My searches seemed to suggest that this is fairly rare for these tires, so my best guess is that they got torn up on volcanic rock or something. I'm trying to remember which road(s) could have done this....

Thanks!

 

[MAST4R]

Okay - that's good to know! My searches seemed to suggest that this is fairly rare for these tires, so my best guess is that they got torn up on volcanic rock or something. I'm trying to remember which road(s) could have done this....

Thanks!

Your chunking looks totally normal to me.

I use ATZ P3 which are much stronger but have lots of chunking. I do a lot of desert at decent speeds.

So any desert trails involving rocks, especially volcanic as you say, are going to do that to any tires.

Btw, I somehow got a nail or screw in one of mine and have to go tomorrow to have it repaired...even the strongest of tires have their limits!

Obviously, the Michelins work well for you considering how much you drive. They must have a very hard compound. I have never had a set of offroad tires last beyond 32-34,000 though I would like to see these get close to 40k (now at 21).