Michelin XPS Traction Tires, Anybody Ever Run These?

[lincolnmatthews]

I put a set on my 99 Dodge Dually 4x4 several yrs ago. Never been real happy with the way it drives. Being a Dodge of this era they leave a lot to be desired anyway I think, IMHO. Earlier this yr I went from a Lance 1050S to an 1181 Lance so have maxed out my truck (and then some). I've had a reblt steering gear box installed (from Redhead), Stable loads installed (made a big difference) & a Hellwig rear sway bar installed, the truck handles just fine. But it steers like ****!
If its a perfect road its ok, but if any ruts or the I-5 **** that we deal with in the PNW its terrible! I have to constantly correct it, back & forth on the steering wheel, very tiring to say the least.I know that if I don't have the front tires inflated exactly to 70 lbs (as per door sticker) its terrible.
The trucks got about 130k on it & is in good shape, I'm thinking its my tires picking up every groove on the road & causing it to drive worse than a normal Dodge of this era. I say this because this is my 2nd Dodge 1-ton of this era & they just don't drive as good as a Ford or Chev in my opinion. Don't get me wrong I love my Dodge's looks, the Cummins diesel, etc & have no desire to change trucks!
I am going to have my front end checked out, but I believe its fine, just wondering if anyone has ever run these tires & had any problems with the handling, thanks for any replies!!

[lincolnmatthews]

I know this is an old thread, but I have an update on this issue. I just recently had a front end alignment (with the camper on the truck), I had a toe out issue. They corrected it to about "0" toe in, made one heck of a difference!! Just completed a 5000 mile trip to AK on some of the crappiest roads ever & the old Dodge drove very well with these tires. Thank you for all the replies!

One might wonder why so long to address this, well the truck & camper are a "garage queen" rarely driven any distance, but when this trip came up I knew I had to have this checked. It was kind of pricey as had to use the "big truck bay" with the camper on, anyway well worth the price!

[rickjo]

bristles wrote:
I've never run any Michlelin's on a pick up. I do have a say so on what tires are purchased to run on our class 8 trucks, IMHO and opinion's from tire dealers, Michelin uses a softer sidewall rubber compound. This makes mounting the tires easier but also lets the tire "walk". It somewhat feels like driving on an underinflated tire. I'm not putting down Michelin. They are one of the top of the line tire companies. I would check the tire spec's for load range, sidewall ply's against other brands to see if they match up. I found a 16 inch tire that's a 12 ply on a 1 ton. Rides stiff but doesn't flex much. Holds up to everything I can give it.

Michelin XPS have steel belts in the sidewalls. Installers complain like mad because the are VERY tough to mount. They DO NOT walk. The ride is stiff. Not your standard Michelin sedan tire.

Rick

[bristles]

I've never run any Michlelin's on a pick up. I do have a say so on what tires are purchased to run on our class 8 trucks, IMHO and opinion's from tire dealers, Michelin uses a softer sidewall rubber compound. This makes mounting the tires easier but also lets the tire "walk". It somewhat feels like driving on an underinflated tire. I'm not putting down Michelin. They are one of the top of the line tire companies. I would check the tire spec's for load range, sidewall ply's against other brands to see if they match up. I found a 16 inch tire that's a 12 ply on a 1 ton. Rides stiff but doesn't flex much. Holds up to everything I can give it.

[jefe_4x4]

Yes, a steering box brace helped my truck's road manners 15 years ago because, as the poster above has noted, the frame twists under side loading and causes a slight wondering and torque steer. Since then I've replaced the ball joints, 4 links, Mopar Unit bearings in a big upgrade; new replacement Gen IV tie rod, drag link and shock @ 150K miles. If you are sold a new shock alone, it has very little value and only points up a problem somewhere else; like when you get the death wobble. A lot of the wander in older Dodge trucks can be traced to ball joint wear, which is endemic on the Gen II, Dana 60 Dodges, and can lead to negative camber, poor alignment and difficult steering. Steering woes are a direct result. Most Dodge/Ram owners just drive them into the ground as it's only a niggling problem on the surface. The power steering box does not get very high marks either on the old ones.
Merry Christmas
jefe

[covered_wagon]

Tightening up the set screw on top of the steering box gets rid of some side to side play on the Dodge steering wheel. I did mine yesterday and it made mine much nicer.

The DSS that supports the steering bearings helps keep it from wearing out with the side to side movement that is so hard on the box bearings. Plus ties across frame to frame with cross member right where the box is and stops that Dodge frame flex so common. Helped mine a lot even when just 30,000 on the clock.

[Dalehacker]

On my 1997 4x4 dually i ran BFG commercial traction tires that lasted the longest. Everything was replaced with the front suspension before 100k miles. My best change was the control arms. I had watched a youtube video showing the front suspension under torque by placing in fourwheel drive , holding the brake and loading while another person held the camera. Even though i was unable to move the arm bushings witha bar to test using this method they flexed to the max therefore adding to bump steer and tire wear. The old bushing were visibly normal even though they were soft. Its cheaper to change the entire control arm as opposed to just bushings. And the tubular arms are much higher quality. Mine also had the PSC gearbox with brace and third gen trackbar upgrade.

[lincolnmatthews]

Thanks you guys! I do have the steering brace from BD. Talked to Schwab this week,as I expected it should have the front end aligned with the camper on (as this camper is always on the truck). It sounds like it will have to go on the big truck rack because of the height & width for the some of $200.00 min. oh well I don't care at this point.
I think there's to much play in neutral on the steering wheel (rblt Redhead gear box about a yr ago, so I'll tighten that up a little, & will have my indy check out the front end before it goes into Schwab to check out (just for another opinion). I do think after the replies here that its not my tires but needs a front end alignment. I will let you know after I get this done, (in about 2 months or so) Thanks again!

[bcbigfoot]

I have a 2wd 2nd gen 3500 Dodge with cummins and Michelin ltx tires, when I first bought the truck 8 years ago I found the truck steered good without the camper but with the camper it would wander a bit when the road had sways or ruts, made me a little nervous on narrow roads, it really kept me on the bit making corrections. I went through the entire steering system top to bottom and tried different tires but everything remained the same. After sometime on some Dodge forums I found that the frame where steering box mounts to is on the weak side and tend to flex a little bit. The fix or band aid that I found that helped my truck a lot was the steering box stabilizer brace, here is a link to it, there are other less cost versions on ebay. https://www.xtremediesel.com/BD-Power-1032004-Steering-Box-Stabilizer.aspx

[piersons]

i had same problem with my 2nd gen dodge and it turned out to be bad steering stabilizer shock. it was to stiff and made med have to constantly steer back and forth. truck was 2001 2500 4x4 with 160000 mi. tried everything till this and that fixed it. good luck.

[rickjo]

I'm on my second set. Run 80 lbs all 6 tires when camper is on. I got about 50k miles on the first set. My problems mostly revolve around balance issues. Seem to have noticeable vibrations around 70 MPH without camper on board. Less noticeable when camper is on but I tend to stay below 70 when loaded. Time to get tire balance checked and possibly rotated again.

Rick

[towpro]

first I would weigh the truck. Than using This chart see what your tire pressure should be.

If that does not solve the problem, I would than get the alignment checked loaded. I bet the toe might be out a little.

[NRALIFR]

I ran XPS tires on my ‘95 F350 CC dually, and loved them. I doubt the tires are the problem. Before having the steering gear box replaced at about 200K miles, it was getting a little squirrelly though. It took almost constant input on the steering wheel to keep it going straight. There is an adjustment on the gear box to tighten it up a bit, but be careful playing with it. If you adjust the play out of a worn out unit, you will find that the steering wheel will no longer want to go back to the centered position on its own coming out of a turn.

With your new TC I would weigh the truck empty and with the camper loaded to see if it is unloading the front axle. You may find that it’s taking a lot of weight off the front.

:):)

[Grit_dog]

Doubt the tires are the cause, but could be some of the effect.
Either way, almost 20 years old, 130k miles, HEAVY front end = you could be due for more front end work. Anything loose, rode ends, drag link, Pittman, steering box (did you put a brace on it?) steering damper, could be the cause or part of the cause.
Or if it's done it forever, could be not enough caster in the front axle causing it to wander. A lot of Rams are indexed to around 3 degrees of caster. Upping that helps with road wander.
Other part, is, well, they just don't handle awesome when you drop 2 tons in the bed.

I'd suggest finding a good front end shop so you're not just throwing parts at it and have them check it out.

[Kayteg1]

You generally can't find much better for steering tires than Michelins.
Have been using the brand for over 20 years and that is what my new Ford come with. Will have to check the model tomorrow.
From your description I have feeling your problem is weight distribution.
I had my dually with 6500lb camper at 80 mph and handling perfect without real modification (couple of hockey pucks just in case). The only thing that keeps me from using downgrades at higher speed is fear that the camper might fly out.
In your case I would start with drive via scales.