New Tires Recommendations Highway

Good timing on this thread. Wanted to switch out the stock Dunlop's on my 2018 ORP for Michelin Defender LTX. Did some shopping this morning and noticed Tire Choice Total Car Care was open (New Years Day) so called for price and they had a great new years day special on Michelin Defender LTX MS 265/70-R17 all four installed with lifetime Balance and rotation for $779.94 - so I pulled the trigger. Very happy to be rolling on these Michelin's once again.

Great price on those.
 
I'm about ready to put Defenders on my 2016 - with the raised white letters on the inside. The Duelers have 24k on them and look okay, but I'm tired of them. They're okay so far on the road and great on the beach.

I took my wife's 2016 Avalon to Discount Tire Thursday to buy 4 Michelin Premiers. Her Touring uses 225/45-18 and they had a new set that was just a couple of months old. I'd never been to Discount Tire and they were great. (The original Bridgestones were toast at 25k miles - 3/32" and chunks of tread missing. She's 63 and doesn't drive it that hard.)

They agreed to price match Tire Rack and then... they called Costco while I was standing there and checked their deal. The price was the same as Tire Rack, but they were having a sale of some sort that included installation and balancing, etc. for 1 Cent per tire. Okay, I paid the $.04 and state tax. And got a $70 Michelin rebate taken off the total I paid. And was out the door in less than an hour. I went down the street to a Firestone dealer and got an alignment done in less than 60 minutes, so it wasn't too bad a morning.

The Toyota dealer had tried to sell her 4 Michelin Primacy MXM-something-or-other for $1060 plus the 4-wheel alignment. Oh really?

What I learned... Neither Costco or Discount Tire do alignments. WHAT KIND OF TIRE SHOP DOESN'T DO FREAKING ALIGNMENTS? :yell:

When I was a kid...

:redface:
 
Recently installed Cooper AT3 4s. Best tire I've ever owned. It's better than anything I've ever driven in the rain. No comparison. It's passengar rated but outperformed the Wildpeaks in a lot of off-road comparisons.
 
PS to this ? can anyone tell me if the Michelin's Defender LTX in 255/75/17 which is supposed to be a lighter version - fit and look proper for 02 Runner ?
Greetings -Wanting to buy the Michelin LTX for 2002 Runner Sport that currently has OEM 16" and am going to 17" Toyota wheel and need to know proper tire size so no rubbing occurs. Please advise
 
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I recently got the Continental TerrainContact A/T tires.

Most of my driving in my TRD Pro is on streets and highways. These tires are 100 better for my driving than the Nitto’s that came oem.

Check the reviews and road test result on Tirerack. Price wasn’t the driver, but the bonus was they were $150 per tire .
 
I'm surprised at the many Michelin recommendations. But i guess they would be one of the best highway only tires. They make such a great preforming tire, but such crappy quality. lol
Side walls are always so thin, every set i have had have gotten side bubbles and blow outs i just cant do them anymore.

I'm personally leaning towards the Goodyear Duratrac's since i need/want off road and better snow performance.
 
Every set of Michelins you've owned has been bad? And you kept buying Michelins? Why? Were they cheap recaps or used tires with plugs for $20 each.
 
I'm surprised at the many Michelin recommendations. But i guess they would be one of the best highway only tires. They make such a great preforming tire, but such crappy quality. lol
Side walls are always so thin, every set i have had have gotten side bubbles and blow outs i just cant do them anymore.

I'm personally leaning towards the Goodyear Duratrac's since i need/want off road and better snow performance.

I have never had Nokian tires but if I lived in NYC or Chicago I would definitely try the P-metric version of the Nokian Rotiiva AT.

It should be the best AT for rain and snow as well as perfectly capable for the forest roads in those areas. It is even lighter than the stock tire.
 
Every set of Michelins you've owned has been bad? And you kept buying Michelins? Why? Were they cheap recaps or used tires with plugs for $20 each.
What can I say I'm a glutton for punishment. LOL

I had them on my old expedition with all these problems and recently gave them a try again on my Mazda 3. The high speed performance of the super sports is really unmatched, as well as their wet road handling. But after my fourth set of blown Michelins at $250 a tire this year I bought the 4Runner.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
I have never had Nokian tires but if I lived in NYC or Chicago I would definitely try the P-metric version of the Nokian Rotiiva AT.



It should be the best AT for rain and snow as well as perfectly capable for the forest roads in those areas. It is even lighter than the stock tire.
I had their snow tire versions and they were actually pretty darn good. Though I prefer Vredestein, I wish they had a good truck tire.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
I had their snow tire versions and they were actually pretty darn good. Though I prefer Vredestein, I wish they had a good truck tire.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

They have LTD and LTE versions with great weight as well.
 
"The high speed performance of the super sports is really unmatched"

After reading about the combination of new technology/materials incorporated into the super sport tires, I googled Michelin Super Sport sidewall bubble. Yes, there appears to be a problem. Then I looked at the Michelin FAQ on bubbles. Okay, sure, don't hit curbs and potholes. That was helpful. :)

I did find a Michelin recall from 2013 when they were trying to find 2500 defective tires with bad sidewalls.

"GREENVILLE, S.C., JULY 22, 2013 - Michelin is voluntarily recalling certain sizes of its MICHELIN® LTX® M/S 2, MICHELIN® X® Radial LT2 and MICHELIN® Latitude® Tour tires. These tires are typically found on light trucks and SUVs.

The tires were produced between September 2012 and early June 2013.
Sizes are as follows:
MICHELIN LTX M/S 2: P275/55R20 111T RBL, P265/65R18 112T and P265/60R18 109T ORWL
MICHELIN X Radial LT2: P265/65R18 112T and P275/55R20 111T
MICHELIN Latitude Tour: P255/60R19 108S and P255/70R18 112T
Michelin is recalling approximately 100,000 tires in order to retrieve an estimated 2,500 tires (about 2.5% of the recalled population).
Affected tires could have partial or full sidewall perforations that could cause them to experience loss of air pressure."


All I know is that tires are vastly better than they were in the '50s, '60s, '70s, and probably most of the '80s. Watch, I'll have 2 flats next week and a blowout.
 
I recently got the Continental TerrainContact A/T tires.



Most of my driving in my TRD Pro is on streets and highways. These tires are 100 better for my driving than the Nitto’s that came oem.



Check the reviews and road test result on Tirerack. Price wasn’t the driver, but the bonus was they were $150 per tire .
This. I don't run them on the 4Runner, but we run them on the wife's QX56 and they rock. She does not offroad any more than the occasional dirt road or parking in a field for a farm party. We do see a lot of wet snow though and they shoot rooster tails real nice since they clean well.

Other than that, they are supple and grip fantastic on both wet and dry roads. The ride is perfect, and she is an aggressive driver so that's saying a lot.

So far it's been a year and they are still holding up well which also says a lot. With that heavy vehicle and the way she drives, she eats tires and brakes like candy.
 
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I recently got the Continental TerrainContact A/T tires.

Most of my driving in my TRD Pro is on streets and highways. These tires are 100 better for my driving than the Nitto’s that came oem.

Check the reviews and road test result on Tirerack. Price wasn’t the driver, but the bonus was they were $150 per tire .
How were these to balance? Any vibration or shimmy in the steering before or after install?

I noticed in the steering vibration/shimmy thread that various people had issues after installing different Michelin LTX tires. Just curious regarding these Continental tires as I've been interested in them for some time.
 
How were these to balance? Any vibration or shimmy in the steering before or after install?

I noticed in the steering vibration/shimmy thread that various people had issues after installing different Michelin LTX tires. Just curious regarding these Continental tires as I've been interested in them for some time.

Don't know about the 4R size, but I had a set on my Outback for 4,000 miles and the Conti AT were a great street tire in terms of performance as well as noise. They were not quite as comfy as expected but there may have been other reasons for that.

They also handled great in dirt. They were my light duty set and I got a puncture in the neighborhood in less than 100 miles. I think the issue is that they have large water channels where a sharp object can access the casing bypassing the tread blocks. The areas where I would fear for them are the desert in AZ and rougher mountain trails with lots of sticks.
 
How were these to balance? Any vibration or shimmy in the steering before or after install?

I noticed in the steering vibration/shimmy thread that various people had issues after installing different Michelin LTX tires. Just curious regarding these Continental tires as I've been interested in them for some time.


Just got to your post- I had Discount Tire use their Hunter Road Force Balance . Houston city roads range from OK to awful - so I get some vibration feedback of some of the roadways , but this is not a balancing issue. As far as I can tell, the ride is smooth . In fact, just put in a bit of highway driving back ( 100 miles a day) and the ride was great.

My other option at the time were the Michelin Defender LTXs- they are also an excellent option if you run primarily city and highway.

But the Conti's received outstanding review and in particular wet traction and braking - which is a priority over snow and ice in this hellhole.

Plus , since the Continentals are A/T rated, they will be OK for occasional off road driving at Big Bend Natl Park.
 
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Just got to your post- I had Discount Tire use their Hunter Road Force Balance . Houston city roads range from OK to awful - so I get some vibration feedback of some of the roadways , but this is not a balancing issue. As far as I can tell, the ride is smooth . In fact, just put in a bit of highway driving back ( 100 miles a day) and the ride was great.

My other option at the time were the Michelin Defender LTXs- they are also an excellent option if you run primarily city and highway.

But the Conti's received outstanding review and in particular wet traction and braking - which is a priority over snow and ice in this hellhole.

Plus , since the Continentals are A/T rated, they will be OK for occasional off road driving at Big Bend Natl Park.

Houston, the cheap hellhole city.
Defender LTX ran fatter on my SR5 wheels when I had them compared to the nitto grapplers. They actually look good with the bubbly wall and had great mpg and wet road grip. I considered the Conti's as well but Costco had a great deal in the Mich's
 

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