Michelin tires
 

Hello,

Could you tell me how many miles you run with Michelin tires ?

My Michelin steers have about 100,000 miles on them, and still look brand new. I'm expecting to get about 300K out of them. My next set will be Michelin as well. More expensive, but definitely worth the extra cost IMHO.

I usually get 250,000 miles out of a set of XZA3 steers, 24.5LP. If they were 11R2.45's, I'd get a little more out of them.

Bridgestone is a much better tire than Michelin, the rubber compound is a little harder so it lasts longer.

I couldn't disagree more. When it comes to steers, Michelin is king. Not only is there no break in period on the XZA3's, but they wear more evenly. My Bridgestone R280's lasted me 130K before they were junk.

I couldn't agree with you more Rev. I run the Michelin XZA3's on my steers as well, I got 450,000 kms (280,000 miles) out of mine which according to the Michelin rep was phenomenal, especially on the roads I run. I wouldn't have anything else on my truck. Bridgestone tires are junk as far as I'm concerned. They came with my truck & I didn't get 100,000 miles on them before they started to cup.

As Rev said, they are more expensive, but well worth the extra money.

Don't get me wrong - I love my Bridgestone M726's on my drives. With 222,000 miles on them, they are wearing quite nicely. But as far as steers go, I wouldn't run anything but Michelin ever again.

X-ONE's I run them for a 150k and then rotate to trailer and buy new X-ONE's for the drives.

Far as drives go I run Goodyear re-caps...nothing better for the crap roads I run on. Most of us consider ourselves lucky if we get a year out of our tires. I got 1-1/2 out of my steers & 1 out of my drives. I consider myself one of the lucky ones as I got 350,000 kms (around 200,000 miles) out of my last set of caps.

I am very suprised, you got more 200000 miles, with my Michelin tires XZA 2/ENERGY 385/55 R.22.5 I done 150000 km ( 93000 miles ).

I have Bridgestone tires on one trailer due to having to buy them after blowing out tires on the road. So far they are wearing pretty well. I had good service out of Michelin's, but I think both brands are over priced. I can purchase the off brands for less. The Double Coins that I use on one truck have worn very well. They are designed just like the Michelin's but for more than $100 less, even at national tire discount pricing.

XZA2 and XZA3 are completely different tires. Night and day. I've heard bad things about the XZA2's, but nothing bad about the XZA3's (other than the price)

You are absolutely right Rev...XZA3's are directional, like a motorcycle tire... WAY different. So far as I know the XZA2's are not.

All 50 tires I have on the road are Michelins, and wouldn't have anything else ! Lot better ride and real good wear.

I would hate to pay your tire bill, Walking Eagle.

I think, Michelin tires are the best. I don't tell that because I'm french, but
they have a very good longevity, they are more expensive than others but you do more miles, and some buyers want to buy a used truck with michelin tires.

The 280 is about their best tire now. They changed the 260 and it's been warranty after warranty for our Bridgestone rep.

You're not always comparing apples to apples when you ask different o/os what tires wear the best. Someone already mentioned the roads their driving on- the roads you run and the weight you carry will all affect tire life. So will proper alignment. You get a bad alignment and it doesn't matter WHAT kind of tires you put on the truck- they're not going to last for spit.

We've had enough bad alignments that we'll only use Laserline. There was a guy in the Phoenix area we used from time to time until the last time when his shop monkeys did it wrong and that just didn't sit right with me- if you're going to have employees, they need to do it right if you want my business. The Laserline guys are in Idaho, SLC, and Ohio- they charge a fair price and we've never had a problem- I know one of the other guys on the board used the Idaho guy a year or so ago after I posted about them and he was happy with the alignment- can't remember who that was...

Rev, do you run centramatics or something like those on your steers and drives? I had centramatics up front (they came on the truck) but I ended up taking them off and getting them balanced the old fashioned way and it fixed the shaking but I'm concerned I'm going to be losing out on miles now. I'm thinking of putting them on my drives (M726EL) but I'm still undecided. My Steers have 40k on them and drives have 20k, so I'd like to get centramatics now before it's too late.

Yes - I'm running Centramatics on every position on the tractor.

Do you think the centramatics are worth it? If so, why?
I just priced them out and holy cow there more than I thought, but could be money well spent in the long run. I've replaced all the tires on the trailer but two and what I want to do is move my steers back and get a new set of steer tires. My steers are probably 90 percent but they did sit a while so that's why I want to move them back. Piece of mind really.I'd like to get a good set of steer tires and maybe centramatics on the steer axle to help the longevity of the tire.

I think they are worth it. The technology behind them makes sense. Since I run a lot of the North states, the tires have a tendency to pick up snow. That would throw the balancing on the tire off if I were to use conventional weights. I got 130,000 miles out of my last set of steers, and it would have been more had I not had a bad shock cause them to wear unevenly (at 60,000 miles, which was when I put the centramatics on). The steers I have on now still look brand new.

I run them all around on the tractor and think they help. I get the tires spin balanced when I have them mounted but feel they keep everything in balance. About every 6 months I rotate tires, drives X wise and steers R to L and find that helps to as everything is always a little "off".

I don't think that I have met anyone who has tried the Centranaonics who didn't like them.

Centramatics do a great job, IMO. When you get your tires balanced, unless they do it mounted it's not going to be quite right. If they take the tires off to balance them, they're balancing the tires but not the entire wheel assembly. If you do both- get them balanced AND use Centramatics, you're better off. The loose sand (or whatever it is) in the Centramatics act as balancing agents while the truck is rolling down the road (obviously this doesn't happen if you're going really slow- like rolling around the parking lot).

You don't need to remove the Centramatics when you get your tires balanced. The two options don't cancel each other out.