Michelin Defender LTX M\S

I'm enjoying the Firestone destination x/t. They really seem to be the closest competitor in my opinion.

However, once I run these down, I'll be back to 255/85/16's, which limits my options significantly.

 

How are these for towing?
How do they compare to Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza Plus?
Thanks

 

On a tacoma you can spin them on dry pavement and super easy on wet road. Not like a lose of traction though when driving, just off of acceleration. On a Rav I'm sure they would be fine being FWD with all of the weight on them. Im selling a set of 4 four 245 75 16 with 3,500 miles on them if anyone is interested.

 

These are “good” towing tires with good sidewall strength. In my opinion.

but I would actually say they work well or A+ for towing all the needs I had.

 

Yeah tires will make a little difference but with a tacoma pulling 6,500 max, you don't have to worry about specific tire more about the load rating

 

Cool.

I have an 03 tacoma, dblcab 2wd 3.4L auto. with 265 70 R16 tires

Putting on ARB front bumper and a rear heaver steel bumper.

Also doing a complete OME suspension 2881 front coils and back leaf pack, 4 nitrocharger shocks.

I need some tires. Mostly highway. Camping in New England.

I'm going to buy an extra snowflake rim for the spare and swap it during the tire rotation.

Going to do the Tundra front brake upgrade to it as well. And finally replace the rack bushings.

I have Firestone Destination A/T on now. Very happy overall with them. 70,000 rated and I got about 76,000 and never rotated the tires. I don't need something that aggressive or heavy and the gas mileage took a hit over original tires that I would like to get back some with these new tires.

I don't need to drive a lot in heavy snow but would like to handle some snow which I believe from reading the comments on the Michelin's anyway that I can.

I don't know much about the Bridgestone but when I compare the specs of the Michelin's to them they are the same, except that the Bridgestone are rated for 10,000 more miles.

Would these tires be fine with the extra weight I'm adding to the truck?
Thanks.

 

Are you looking at marketing mileage or the UTOG ratings?

 

Michelin Defender LTX M/S
Warranty miles 70000
UTQG is 800 A A

Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza Plus
Warranty miles 80000
UTQG is 800 A A

 

FWIW, I've owned the Duellers and currently have a set of Defenders on our '02 TrailBlazer.

I had the Duellers on a '92 Cherokee Laredo. They only lasted a little over 30 k and were slippery on less than dry road. Although, Bridgestone may have changed the design and compounds since then.

I suspect these are competitive with each other.

I would encourage the purchase of the Michelins.

 

What were they rated for?

 

Sorry, meaning Mileage Warranty

It would be nice if the Bridgestones had better sidewall support.

 

Defenders are excellent in snow. We use them year round on our Highlander. The last set went ~90K. They were a little noisy toward the end. The Highlander AWD/Defender combo is the best vehicle I’ve ever driven in the snow.

In all honesty, it was excellent in snow on the stock tires too (I don’t remember what they were, but they only went ~50K).

 

I was looking at the Michelin LTX A/T 2 as a next possibility of next step up in traction, noise, and MPG going down. And something that can handle the snow etc. reasonably well. At least perhaps in CT.
Warranty is 60000
UTQG is 500 A B
Live in CT but go to VT once in a while camping and such any time of year with plenty of gear and pull a small/medium trailer.
My Destinations are heavy. Even though once I finish the planed work might not matter much. But I would like better MPG

I got about 75K out of my stock tires.

Probably about the only difference is mine is 2wd.

 

2011 Tacoma DC 4WD 200000 miles. After factor tires I have ran Defenders exclusively. Minimum 70000 from each set. Buy and drive with confidence!

 

So my wife went in to Sam's Club to buy the Defenders and they talked her into the Michelin X-Tour A/S, which is very similar if not the same. We put almost 2,000 miles on them in the first week while on vacation, and are really happy with them. They exceeded my expectations in heavy rain and felt really glued to the road even when going over running water. That is with them just on the front and the half worn Mastercraft's on the back. That siping makes all the difference. We are definitely going to get another two when the back ones wear out.

 

is the x-tour the club branded defender?

 

As far as I can tell, yes. It may be ever so slightly different, but Clark Howard has talked about how tire manufacturers change the naming on the side for Sams and Costco so other retailers don't have to price match.