Tires Michelin vs Firestone or others

I need new tires, my Michelin Defender LTX MS's have 104k miles on them and are starting to get pretty worn. I can't believe I got that many miles. My truck now has 140k miles on it. I was looking at getting the same tires again but I also found a good deal on the Firestone Destination LE2 tires, total $523 out the door. The best deal on the Michelins I could find was $792 out the door, but this also comes with a road hazard warranty, lifetime balancing, and 1 year of free alignment. Does anyone have a recommendation between these 2 or any other recommendations for other brands? I don't drive off road or anything. It always seems like Michelins get the best reviews but I don't know. Thank you.

 

When you said 104K miles on Michelins you answered your own question. Michelin is the only tire I know of made from a single piece (one piece mold) whereas others are made from sections/pieces of tires molded together. As a result the Michelins experience fewer balance issues. If you can afford the Michelins and don't off-road then you have your tire. Look no more and get them again. If you can't then consider something like a Cooper over the Firestones.

Also, welcome to TW!

 

Don't buy any tries at Big O in Madison, IN. That said, Michelins hands down

 

Here's my $0.02 on this.

As poster #2 said, you already have your answer. The Michelins have proven their worth in $ with your original tires. Michelins are one of the top best tires on the market. Yes maybe a bit more but your buying quality and reliability along with piece of mind.

For me one thing's for sure, I spend the best $ I can afford when it comes to buying tires on my Tacoma, my wife's 4Runner and daughter's Tacoma.

I remember an incident that happen years back that definitely made my decision to "never buy" any Firestone or Bridgestone tires, never!

My brother had a good set of Firestone tires on his sports car. They look nice and all but one day while he was exiting the freeway, his right front tire all of a sudden started to come apart and unravel at a speed of 45 mph! Luckily he was able to stop and not hit anyone but did have damage to his front end and right side wheel, etc. There's so much more to this story that he went through afterwards with Firestone and where he had purchased them from, etc.

But overall that incident convienced me to stay away from 'any brand of Firestone or Bridgestone tires' or any other tires associated with the company.

Last thing, remember you get what you pay for, buy/pay cheap, you get cheap! There's definitely a difference between "cheap and a good deal'.

Good Luck on your decision.

 

Well said. I just read an article where the author was flabbergasted that people would buy expensive cars only to go cheap on tires. Tires are the single most important purchase you can make for your investment. Don't skimp.

 

Michenlins are probably the longest lasting tire currently on the market. They may not be aggressive or sexy looking, but they last and provide great on-road traction. As to Firestone/Bridgestone being terrible and unreliable, that's a pretty general statement. ALL manufacturers can have premature failures, even Michelin. The longest lasting tire I ever ran was a Firestone Destination A/T at around 75k miles.

 

So you'd save $270 at purchase time.

If you're going to flip the truck within a year to 18 months, go for it.

If it's a keeper, you'd buy at least 3 sets of Firestones over the life of the Michelin's.

Basic math, but only you know the rest of the equation. So it's your call.