Michelin Sidewalls Cracking - Updated

rtmcavoy wrote:
I bought mine at Costco and have the same cracking issue. I was worried about it so I went back to cost and the manager told me it was from applying a tire dressing. I am pretty upset about it because I have a lot of tread left. The tires are rated for 70,000 miles.

Like others said scrub the sidewalls clean. My Michelins had cracking on both sidewalls, inside and outside. I never use tire dressing, so I believe the cracking was stress related.

Tires are expensive. I wouldn't give up so easily. Keep trying different Costcos if possible.

rtmcavoy wrote:
I bought mine at Costco and have the same cracking issue. I was worried about it so I went back to cost and the manager told me it was from applying a tire dressing. I am pretty upset about it because I have a lot of tread left. The tires are rated for 70,000 miles.

Scrub your tires clean of anything. Go to another Costco. Bottom line is if you are not satisfied with a product at Costco they will give your money back! Excluding some electronics.

I bought mine at Costco and have the same cracking issue. I was worried about it so I went back to cost and the manager told me it was from applying a tire dressing. I am pretty upset about it because I have a lot of tread left. The tires are rated for 70,000 miles.

wow -I just posted with the same issue a few down the page already. crazy.

Great news. Guess your good for another 15 months :W

gcloss wrote:
I was just checking the pressure in my Michelin LTX LT265/70R17E tires and noticed all four are starting to crack. The cracking covers a band about one inch wide starting about one inch from the rims around the entire tire.

The date code is 0712 making the mfg date February 2012. I purchased the truck new in April 2103.

Going back to the dealer tomorrow. Anyone have a similar experience?

Here is an update to getting some resolution to my cracking sidewalls:

Dealer made an appointment, I took my truck to the dealer. The dealer looked over all of the tires and agreed they were cracking, but they couldn't do anything. So that was a waste of time.

I then took my truck to STS Tire & Auto in Gardiner NY. The Asst. Manager looked at my tires, measured them and then called Michelin Warranty Claims. Michelin offered to prorate the tires at 70%. The Asst. Manager proceeded to tell the Michelin person they were out of their minds that the tires were perfect with minimal wear. She was able to get Michelin to agree to 85% for each of the four tires and 100% for the spare. My total out of pocket for 5 brand new Michelin LTX M/S2 will be around $250.

In the end, I think this is a pretty fair resolution getting 5 brand new tire worth about $1100 for $250.

duplicate

I contacted the dealer I purchased my truck from today. They are willing to look at my tires. I have also been scouring the internet and found a lot of the same problems with Michelin LT tires. Even the NHTSA website has many complaints about new Michelin tires with cracking sidewalls.

I wash my own truck with just car soap and water. Never bought any tire dressing and I dislike ArmourAll for the inside.

Next step is to see what the dealer can do for me.

thomasmnile wrote:
Be prepared for Michelin dealer to do nothing, tell you it's 'surface crazing' and not a concern, suggest it was caused because you used a tire dressing containing petroleum distillates, or you failed to clean and maintain them, whatever that entails. I heard all of these 'reasons' from the local dealer when I questioned the cracking, especially near the rim/bead 'interface'. And, they did nothing.

Why the current set of Michelins on my Ram 3500 will be my last, not to mention they are nearly $300 each in the required size now.

Wondering if Michelin is giving their dealers a hard time about any of the brands they produce? On three occasions in the last 4 years I have had Michelin/Goodrich dealers tell me to contact Michelin with warranty issues. Michelin has refused to honor any warranty even though the dealers said they were manufacturing defects. Exception being the BFG recall last year. The local dealer didn't want to do anything. When I contacted Michelin and complained they referred me to the local FIRESTONE dealer who didn't handle their tires.:S

maxwell11 wrote:
thomasmnile,

did you use tire cleaners on your new set of Michelins?

No, plain old soap/water, and NEVER any tire dressing of any flavor, Armor All, Eagle 1, Meguiar's, whatever.