B GAGE wrote:
I have Michelin XDS2's on the front & rear.
x2... another vote for the Michelin XDS2. And I have the legacy members of the truck camper forum from years ago to thank for their experience with the XDS2, which motivated me to try them, and I'm glad I did.
I can't report how many miles they will last for you, because our household has found that we can get 100,000 miles out of ANY brand tire, on any brand of vehicle, based on how we drive. After 120,000 miles, I finally broke down and got new tires on the daily driver. On the trucks, we only change tires due to age and time in service, not due to mileage or wear.
So my enjoyment of the Michelin XDS2 is due to the features of the tire itself. 400 tread blocks, each with several factory cut zig zaging sipes, around a 1,000 sipes (estimated) per tire, is part of the tread design that optimizes the XDS2 for wet traction... which was my chief concern in a truck tire... minimizing the risk of hydroplaning in the rains of the Pacific Northwest when the truck was empty.
The XDS2 also has curb guards... big fat concentric ribs of extra sacrificial meat on the sidewalls that tolerate scuffing against the concrete curb. My 19.5's are in a dually configuration, so I'm always trying to keep the rear hips out of the traffic lane when parallel parking.
I run four XDS2's across the back on the drive axle. I bought them at Costco in 2011, for around $330 each, in the 225 size. So about 6 years ago, and the tread still looks new today. I do not rotate drive axle tires. In a couple more years, it will be a shame to have to retire these tires in such excellent condition, simply due to age.
For the steer axle, I run Continental HSRs.
Costco will not mount or balance 19.5's, so I bought a set of Centramatic continuous automatic wheel balancers, and a couple of tire irons from Ken-Tool, and mounted the tires myself.
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