My Kumho Crugen tire experience thus far

[cognus]

Last week was tire week.
I had 2 Michelin LTX shoes on the rear that were way worn. were always quiet, but after they got to a certain point, way before the final 2/32, they were very squirmy so not to be put on the front. Anyway after a LOT of researching tires, opinion/reviews/ratings/attributes/forum-comments/etc I decided to try a pair of Kumho Crugen 265/65/r17.

Discount ordered them, last weekend put them on, and I asked them to move my 'other pair' of Bridgestone Dueler Alenza Plus to the rear so I could get a feel for the newbies on the front. The tires, as many reviewers said, are mouse-quiet, and cushiony, and track really well. we had some heavy rain last week and I did some hydroplaning, or partial, and they held the line just fine. the rear moved a bit.

BUT - they were not balanced. At first it was really obvious, went back to Discount for another try spending 2 hours WITH an appointment. This time htey were markedly better, or I should fairly say the overall balance of the vehicle was better, but again, right between about 67 and 80mph there was a noticable instability in the steering wheel - not really shaking but twitching and pulsing. the faster I drove that aggravation turned into more of a vibration. Went back for the 3rd try and this time suggested they move the Bridgestone "devil I know" back to the front, where they have been tracking really smooth for 30000 miles, until recently [more on that later], so they did.
This time the character changed again, but again, I have a small vibe/twitch in the steering wheel, AND picked up a noticable shake/vibe in the frame/seat/floor. Also the vehicle did not handle well up around 80mph - the steering was reactive like I was about to get a weave. It spooked my wife a bit. I think this is due to the marked tread differences but I dunno.

So I'm going to have those removed and rejected but I really really love the quiet, and dont know if I just got one unlucky tire that is not symmetrical or what. Discount does not try to root cause, but are great about dumping problem tires.

So probably worth a different post: I'm wondering if there is something else going on in the front end of my '07 2WD SR5, @177K miles? I've never replaced any frontend parts except to upgrade to Bilstein 5100's.
Alignment wise it does not drift but stays with the road grade.

Should I try round 2 of the Crugen's or give it up as a bad cause?

About 5 or 10K at most, I will need to buy 2 more and say goodbye to the Duelers, so I need to figure this out once and final. QUIET is my number 1, and SMOOTH is number 1.01. other than that I don't care what they are

 

[TLChip]

Hey,

Been lurking on this forum since I bought my 4R in June. I have about 2k miles on my Kumho Crugen HT51 (all 4 were replaced about a month into ownership, also had an alignment done) and have never felt any wobbles, weaves, or weird vibrations. Small independent shop said they balanced fine. Maybe you just got a bad tire.

Just for more info

05 v8 sport 196k

Recent Maintenance suspension related
Replaced both CVS - both had torn boots when purchased never heard any noise from them though
Replaced Front Swaybar Bushings - replaced before tires, fixed a 'loose' feeling in the steering wheel over small bumps and after highway steering felt 'stiffer'

Recent Maintenance I doubt would effect you
Full TBelt service - It included all pulleys and bearings both tbelt/serp belt, waterpump
All fluids replaced - Trans/Diffs/coolant/transfer case
Spark plugs - filter and mafs cleaned

 

[Bumbo]

The Michelin LTX is such a good tire that I would just considering getting more of the same… I think it also hits your two check boxes of quiet and smooth. I had a very comfortable and confident ride with those tires.

 

[cognus]

The Michelin LTX is such a good tire that I would just considering getting more of the same… I think it also hits your two check boxes of quiet and smooth. I had a very comfortable and confident ride with those tires.

my experience with them was different. by the time they got to about 6/32's I would not want them on the front of the car. too squirmy on wet. it does me no good to have high mileage POSSIBLE when they are lousy at the tail end of the run. I much preferred the tracking of the Bridgestone Alenzas I still have on there. the kumho's track better, but I gotta sort out the issue with balance.
unless there is something else going on with my t4r. it has 177k, and I am not caught up with maintenance, nonetheless, it was almost like glass when I took it in for the tires mount, even with the old LTX m/s's sitting at 2/32's on the rear, Duelers on the front.

I also found the Michelins to have a singy "shearing" sort of noise to them that was noticable on smooth roads, not on rough, which is the norm in these parts. wish I could remember which Michelins I had on my Sierra truck a few years ago - they were awesome quiet

 

[Bumbo]

What is the date code / how old are your LTX tires?

Mine lasted so long that we ended up changing them on age not mileage. I still have them, but at 10 years old, I won.'t drive on them anymore. Realistically I should have took them out of service at 5 to 7 years old.

When tires get old, you could experience the types of things you are mentioning… just a though.

 

[Terminator03]

What is the date code / how old are your LTX tires?

Mine lasted so long that we ended up changing them on age not mileage. I still have them, but at 10 years old, I won.'t drive on them anymore. Realistically I should have took them out of service at 5 to 7 years old.

When tires get old, you could experience the types of things you are mentioning… just a though.

This is very true. I have several vehicles, but don’t put a lot of miles on any of them so tires literally dry rot/crack before I ever come close to wearing them out. You can definitely tell the difference in feel driving on tires that are over 5 years old in my experience. I definitely agree on the LTX tires. I ran those on my Explorer, and they were by far the smoothest, quietest SUV tires I’ve ever used. I would’ve bought them again for my T4R, but I wanted more aggressive looking tire, which is why I opted for the Falkens in my sig. they had the best balance of aesthetics, and ride quality I could find. Certainly not as quiet as the LTX though...

 

[cognus]

don't know. gone now. they were way worn

What is the date code / how old are your LTX tires?

Mine lasted so long that we ended up changing them on age not mileage. I still have them, but at 10 years old, I won.'t drive on them anymore. Realistically I should have took them out of service at 5 to 7 years old.

When tires get old, you could experience the types of things you are mentioning… just a though.

 

[cognus]

Another appt this morning. I'm sure the Discount guys are going to put the sales pitch on their most expensive Michelins. Looking through the 2 local locations, for the exact size needed, they list 16 tires/brands/models as 'available' but when I read the detail, all but 3 of them are "order today, get next day' or 2-days. They are the number 1 proponent of michelin. They keep the Michelins, and they keep a low end offering I never head of, and one of the Coopers. otherwise, they don't know what's good or not.

I spent ANOTHER 2 hours going through all reviews I could find that had some data - that is multiple reviews, many from Toyota truck owners, lots of miles. I ignore the ones that have 1000 miles and are just happy to have anything.
The Kumho Crugen is, next to one winter capable tire, the highest-rated tire of this size on TireRack.com. The Alenza's are up there but not in the top 8 or so. Some OEM's put Crugens on at factory, SUV's, i.e. Hyundai. Many remarks about how easy the company is to deal with: quick to replace assumed-defective tires. I don't know why Discount Tire guys are so corrosive about the brand, other than they need to sell what they got, not what they don't got.

There are many Michelin [truck people] buyers that say the newer LTX's are not up to the level of the old ones. Many replacements at midlife. Excessive wear, pieces/chunks missing from the treads, cracks appearing prematurely, poor wet performance. Overall ratings are still great, but many SUV/Truck owners critical.

repeating myself: my experience with the alenza plus, and the older Michelin LTX M/S, the Alenza is superior. Not the quietest, but it is still holding up like a champ and no problemo in rain or whatever. My BIGGEST MISTAKE was not putting a big warning on Discount: DON"T MESS WITH THE ALENZA BALANCE!! They were good. Now I don't know anymore. stripped all the old weight off and started from scratch.