Whose Running Michelin Defender LTX M/S tires on a 1/2 ton??

I run the Michelin MS 2's, basically the same tire in this post on the wife's Landcruiser. Just put a second set on. Not a sexy tire, but they run nice and smooth and they are an excellent snow/ice tire. I got 65,000 miles on my first set and they could have gone to 70K easily, but I needed to put on a new set before moving overseas.

Adam

Had a set of Defenders on my wife's Malibu. Terrible tires, uneven wear, refused to stay balanced. They were down to the wear bars well short of the 90K mileage rating, but it was more than three years, so no adjustment. No more Michelins for me. I always have bad luck with them.

I just put the Defenders on my truck a couple of weeks ago. I have not towed with them yet, but will in mid Aug. for a two week trip to Rapid City. I hope they are better than the Transforce they replaced at only 38K.

I towed 7k with my setup and P tires. I've now towed 7k with the E version of the Defender. They cost only $50 more for the set. Hey did everything I hoped for the towing experience. Great decision. When aired down to 45, my wife can't tell a difference in ride quality from the P.

My Brother has them on his 06 GMC Denali. So far he has put around 40-50000 miles on them loves them. He keeps them aired at 80 psi (I told him he could go lighter but he's a slow learner) anyway, the truck rides great. he has run this truck from FL to PA and even in the snow. He says he would go with the same tires next time.

I run the exactly the same tires on my 2500 Chevy Diesel and love them on that also. I run them at 65 psi unless I'm Loaded then they go to 80 psi.

Sounds like this would be a decent selection given the weight ratings of my truck.

Thanks for the input guys and gals.

elivi8 wrote:
I am. I have the E rated version. They definitely help with the weight and are better through the corners. I would skip the LT version and go with E.

The LT is an E rated tire.

four22 wrote:

ChooChooMan74 wrote:
I am. Just put them on. Went from P275/60R20 to LT275/65R18.

Any specific reason for going to the 18s from the 20s??

The reason I ask is that I have 20" wheels factory and wanted to keep them.

3 reasons. First, number of tires. 2 LT tires in stock size vs 30 in this slightly smaller size. Slightly smaller to hopefully compensate for any lost in fuel mileage for going with a heavier LT tire. So far, appears to be on par. 3rd, I want a full size spare that I can do a 5 tire rotation with. The stock wheels do not work with the tire carrier. The aftermarket wheels do.

There are classes of tires and then there are load ratings to tires

The below confuses the two different things or attributes of tires...

Lowest class to highest class of tires:

• ST class, or speciality trailer tires
• P class, or passenger tires
• LT class, or light truck tires
• Commercial class, or semi's
• Off Road class and are those humongo tires with diameters measured in feet

Load rating of a tire has either a numeric and/or letter designation...like
the 'E' referenced below...which is most likely referring a LT class tire

Any of the various tire OEMs has a info page to help decipher all this
and here is a good one:

Tirerack.com Tire Specs Explained

Tirerack.com Load Range / Ply Rating Identification

Tirerack.com Tire Specs Explained: Maximum Load


There are more pages, but this should address the topic at hand...add
that "P" class on light trucks (pickups) must be de-rated a min of 9%
of sidewall listed max load rating. Mainly because they are designed
for 'ride quality'...AKA soft cushy ride and not stiff sidewalls for
hauling/towing heavy...why many switch to the next higher class 'LT' for
their half tons, which comes from the factory with 'P' class tires

elivi8 wrote:
I am. I have the E rated version. They definitely help with the weight and are better through the corners. I would skip the LT version and go with E.

I am. I have the E rated version. They definitely help with the weight and are better through the corners. I would skip the LT version and go with E.