Bridgestone to Michelin Tires - Initial Feedback

K2xxSteve · August 21, 2019

11,000 miles on my 2018 Suburban with factory Bridgestone P285/45R22 tires and just upgraded to the Michelin Premier LTX.

The biggest complaint we had about the Bridgestone tires weren't vibrations or anything like that, but rather their terrible durability. I swear, Bridgestones are the worst tires on the planet. Never again. Walked out to my truck one day and saw a screw in one of them. Hello, puncture resistance anybody? These tires are like tofu! At the same time, I saw a bubble developing in the sidewall of the right rear. It's just about inevitable that you're going to end up at least lightly hopping some curbs in these things when making sharp right hand turns. That probably happened "lightly" at least once or twice (never a full hop), but if that's all it takes to develop a bubble in one of these, that's just plain pathetic. Anyways, I got the one with the screw pulled and had a proper patch job done on it, and at the same time took it to the dealership hoping to get a warranty replacement on the one with the bubble. Nope! GM buys the tires from Bridgestone with no warranty whatsoever conveyed to the customer, so we're entirely on our own, and that's why they sell you tire warranty packages. This happened literally a day before a road trip we had planned, so no time to order Michelins then, and just had to suck it up and pay for a new tire.

Anyways, on to the Michelins.

Ordered them from Costco and had them put on the other day. Very nice tires.

I'd seen it claimed on here that the Michelins will resolve about 75% of the vibration and ride issues from the Bridgestones while on 22" wheels, and I'd say that's pretty accurate.

My 2018 just had what I would call light "fluttering" or "buffeting" on the highway, usually at around 63 mph and also 66-67 mph, but it wasn't that bad, and it was easy enough to just avoid those speeds. My wife said it was actually relaxing and said it sounded like being on a plane and put her to sleep! Lol. With the Michelins that's ALL GONE. No weird vibrations or buffeting or fluttering at ANY speed from 60-80 mph. I've also noticed that the lower speed "body booming" or whatever you want to call it when going over bumps is probably about 75% better also. Overall handling may or may not be a bit more floaty feeling, but it's the same class of tire, and the truck overall feels about the same.

Going to Craigslist the Bridgestones and should be able to recover around half the cost of the Michelins, so totally worth it. Three tires have 11k miles on them, one of which has a Chevy dealership DOT approved patch job from the small screw, and the other is basically BRAND NEW (2k miles). If anybody in the D.C. area sees this and is interested, CONTACT ME.

NEW MICHELINS

OLD BRIDGESTONES

CamGTP · August 25, 2019

Not to be that douche but you put a full size SUV on the road and it hits a screw just right, it's going to go through the tire whether you like it or not. Doesn't matter if it's it's a $250 michelin tire or a $125 Nexen Tire from ebay.

Also just a FYI, you will never get your full mileage out of those premier LTX tires. I dare you to do a measurement of the tread depth on those new tires and compare them to your nearly brand new (2k mile) bridgestone tire. Could almost bet the bridgestone has more tread still.

It's a known thing with those tires, they come with maybe 9-10/32nds new were as other tires come with 12-14/32nds. They say they are rated for 60,000 and people are replacing them at 20-30,000 miles. The warranty claims I've seen with these are beyond belief. Costco will be good to you and give you a new set when the time comes, run those down and jump ship again.

K2xxSteve · August 27, 2019

Well whatever. I've never had worse luck with tire durability and puncture resistance than I have with Bridgestone tires across multiple vehicles. I think all the tire manufacturers lie about tread depth new. Both the 2k mile Bridgestone and the Michelin are at about 8-9/32nds. Big difference in overall ride quality with the Michelins, so they're worth it.

Grumpy Bear · August 27, 2019

I have currently 100,000 miles on my OEM Bridgestone Dueller 684 II's and have just under 7/32" left to go. Started with 10/32". Half way there. :lol: Wear is dead even. Brake like nobodies business. Good wet or dry. Quite as a mouse and easy to balance. Not a great winter tire but...it isn't a winter tire. Silly things. I rotate every 5K at the OCI and balance is checked every other rotation. 35 psi, summer or winter, city or cross country. These will likely date out before the wear out.

As far as the screw...yea....well; wife hit a foot long piece of concrete rebar in the city and put an inch sized hole in sidewall of a $200 Michelin. Hit a golf ball sized piece a rock that bounced up and hit the plastic belly pan knocking a 10" square out of it that flew frisbee style into a $250 Continental tread and sliced it bead to bead.

Go figure. I don't have a flat in 50 years and the wife gets one a year. :crackup:

MaverickZ71 · August 27, 2019

12 hours ago, Grumpy Bear said:

I have currently 100,000 miles on my OEM Bridgestone Dueller 684 II's and have just under 7/32" left to go. Started with 10/32". Half way there. Wear is dead even. Brake like nobodies business. Good wet or dry. Quite as a mouse and easy to balance. Not a great winter tire but...it isn't a winter tire. Silly things. I rotate every 5K at the OCI and balance is checked every other rotation. 35 psi, summer or winter, city or cross country. These will likely date out before the wear out.

As far as the screw...yea....well; wife hit a foot long piece of concrete rebar in the city and put an inch sized hole in sidewall of a $200 Michelin. Hit a golf ball sized piece a rock that bounced up and hit the plastic belly pan knocking a 10" square out of it that flew frisbee style into a $250 Continental tread and sliced it bead to bead.

Go figure. I don't have a flat in 50 years and the wife gets one a year.

Kinda like the old Rodney Dangerfield bit where he asked why his wife brought the car home with dents all over it. She saw a sign that said Driving Range and decided to take a shortcut. At the golf course.

Edited August 27, 2019 by MaverickZ71

AirForceAngler · August 27, 2019

I'm trying to figure out where you saw the Bridgestones were puncture resistant? Even if that were the case, puncture resistant does not equal puncture proof. You ran over a screw and curbed it a few times and you're blaming the tires? I ran the "stones on my Tundra with no problems for 30K miles and they still had a lot of tread on them when I traded for my Suburban. My Sub has the Michelins LTXs and we'll see how those go. So far, 4000 miles and they ride nice. My only other experience with Michelins was on a Silverado I had years ago. I put a ton of miles on them with lots of those miles pulling a camper trailer or boat. They wore like iron and probably had 40% tread on them when I finally changed them out because they rode rough and noisy. It seemed like the tires got hard after a couple of years.

Mandalorian · August 29, 2019

On 8/27/2019 at 3:37 PM, AirForceAngler said:

I'm trying to figure out where you saw the Bridgestones were puncture resistant? Even if that were the case, puncture resistant does not equal puncture proof. You ran over a screw and curbed it a few times and you're blaming the tires? I ran the "stones on my Tundra with no problems for 30K miles and they still had a lot of tread on them when I traded for my Suburban. My Sub has the Michelins LTXs and we'll see how those go. So far, 4000 miles and they ride nice. My only other experience with Michelins was on a Silverado I had years ago. I put a ton of miles on them with lots of those miles pulling a camper trailer or boat. They wore like iron and probably had 40% tread on them when I finally changed them out because they rode rough and noisy. It seemed like the tires got hard after a couple of years.

LTXs are fantastic tires. Went through several sets on my old '02 Tahoe and they were excellent in all conditions.

K2xxSteve · August 31, 2019

On 8/27/2019 at 3:37 PM, AirForceAngler said:

I'm trying to figure out where you saw the Bridgestones were puncture resistant? Even if that were the case, puncture resistant does not equal puncture proof. You ran over a screw and curbed it a few times and you're blaming the tires?

Never said I was expecting the Bridgestones to be puncture "proof", nor am I claiming the Michelins are. I also never said I "curbed" the tires a few times. Lightly hopping a curb on a sharp right is practically inevitable in these things, which happened lightly "once or twice", and is far different from "curbing" the tires as in slamming them into a curb. That never happened. The bubble in the right rear at 9000 miles was ridiculous, and all other factors being equal, I'm guessing the Michelins will have better puncture resistance than the Bridgestones.

Anyways, we're just back from a nearly 1,000 beach road trip. The Michelins are fantastic. Much smoother riding than the Bridgestones, no noise or vibration whatsoever on the highway, and zero impact on fuel economy. I got the same 23.5 mpg straight highway as the Bridgestones, so pretty pleased so far.

CtSeaRay · September 11, 2019

I'm 22k on my stock Bridgestones and can't wait to go to Michelins. I just have had great luck with mileage on the M's getting typically 30-40 k before they even look worn. And I like the ride better.

Texas Daddy · September 11, 2019

If you have satisfaction guarantee, take those back now and get DEFENDER LTXs right away. Those premiers are buttery smooth, but do not last on a full size suv. They are rain tires - which they do work well in - but they are too soft. Ive had both, and the defenders last at least 2X as long, ride almost as good, and were cheaper to boot...

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K2xxSteve · September 16, 2019

On 9/11/2019 at 7:14 PM, Texas Daddy said:

If you have satisfaction guarantee, take those back now and get DEFENDER LTXs right away. Those premiers are buttery smooth, but do not last on a full size suv. They are rain tires - which they do work well in - but they are too soft. Ive had both, and the defenders last at least 2X as long, ride almost as good, and were cheaper to boot...

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Yeah that seems to be the one complaint about the Premier LTX is that they don't last as long as they should. Any big difference in wet/dry/snow handling between the Premier and the Defender? What about ride/noise and MPG?

diyer2 · September 16, 2019

I have never had Michelin's.

But I do replace tires whenever I feel they need to be.

Tires are a wear item that your life may depend on.

Texas Daddy · September 16, 2019

The premiers are best in rain, but I found LTX were just fine on their own. LTX have a more square shoulder than premier (or alenzas), so they react quicker (can be jarring on highway at first). The ride is slightly firmer on the LTX, but not by a significant margin; they are still pretty soft. Wife would call the premiers "buttery smooth," and it did apply, but they just wear out WAY too fast. My new burb came with a set of 'high effeciency' michelins which seem to ride inbetween the 2 without the nice thick tread of the LTX. The LTX is what your dad would get...

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K2xxSteve · September 17, 2019

On 9/16/2019 at 2:27 PM, Texas Daddy said:

The premiers are best in rain, but I found LTX were just fine on their own. LTX have a more square shoulder than premier (or alenzas), so they react quicker (can be jarring on highway at first). The ride is slightly firmer on the LTX, but not by a significant margin; they are still pretty soft. Wife would call the premiers "buttery smooth," and it did apply, but they just wear out WAY too fast. My new burb came with a set of 'high effeciency' michelins which seem to ride inbetween the 2 without the nice thick tread of the LTX. The LTX is what your dad would get...

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Which wheels and suspensions on your Suburban(s)? Sounds like you've had more than one? Dad wasn't riding on stiff Mag ride suspension and 22's either! Lol!

Edited September 17, 2019 by S P

slipnut · October 2, 2019

I have these on my 2015 Suburban LTZ, 285/45-22. The Michelin Premier LTX, that is. After 30K, they are worn to the wear bars. Bought at Costco, so no worries about getting a good response. FYI, Michelin has now ADDED tread depth to the currently manufactured Premier LTX, going from originally 8.5/32nds, now to 10/32nds. I guess that's their way of squeaking more life out of this tire. I'm tempted to switch to the Defenders, but the Premier LTX, although short on life is one fantastic handling tire. The new name for the tire is Premier LTX - DT (meaning "different tread."

Edited October 2, 2019 by slipnut