Bridgestone to Michelin Tires - Initial Feedback

Chevor · October 2, 2019

My complaint is with GM seeing the need to go to taller and taller wheels with wider and wider tires. The the cost to replace costs more and more. It's seems like forever 16” wheels were the norm. Now like the last ten years tire sizes changes every model year.

Edited October 2, 2019 by Chevor

K2xxSteve · October 2, 2019

24 minutes ago, Chevor said:

My complaint is with GM seeing the need to go to taller and taller wheels with wider and wider tires. The the cost to replace costs more and more. It's seems like forever 16” wheels were the norm. Now like the last ten years tire sizes changes every model year.

It's just the trend these days. I didn't actually want the 22's. Funny thing, the Michelin Premier LTX actually costs more for the 20's right now than it does for the 22's. LOL

MaverickZ71 · October 4, 2019

On 10/2/2019 at 6:13 PM, Chevor said:

My complaint is with GM seeing the need to go to taller and taller wheels with wider and wider tires. The the cost to replace costs more and more. It's seems like forever 16” wheels were the norm. Now like the last ten years tire sizes changes every model year.

And it seems like GM likes to choose their own tire sizes that are different from Ford and even Ram/Dodge. When I'm on TireRack or DiscountTireDirect there are like 120+ tires available for the Ford sizes but 44 tires available for the oddball GM sizes. 10 years later some of those more rare GM sizes only have 1 tire available, and that's if you're lucky.

Edited October 4, 2019 by MaverickZ71

Texas Daddy · October 4, 2019

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!

Had 3 avalanches and suburban - all essentially same except back row. 20" ltz (autoride not mag) with premiers then defender ltx. Wife also had premiers on a 14 acadia...

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

JimCost2014 · October 20, 2019

On 8/21/2019 at 12:53 PM, S P said:

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

Bridgestone to Michelin on our 16 Tahoe LTZ with factory 22's, best move we could have done IMO.

Great decision!

cheyenne383 · October 21, 2019

On 10/4/2019 at 11:35 AM, MaverickZ71 said:

And it seems like GM likes to choose their own tire sizes that are different from Ford and even Ram/Dodge. When I'm on TireRack or DiscountTireDirect there are like 120+ tires available for the Ford sizes but 44 tires available for the oddball GM sizes. 10 years later some of those more rare GM sizes only have 1 tire available, and that's if you're lucky.

I agree 100% It drives me crazy GM went with s 265/65R18 when Ford and RAM run a 275/65R18... makes no sense, they probably saved .2 mpg on the EPA test or something ridiculous. Luckily I'm not committed to original sizes, I run a 275/60R20 in the summer with no rubbing and a 275/65R18 in winter with no issues. There are a TON of options for much less in the more common sizes. The Silverado and Suburban both cleared both upsizes with no rubbing or other issues on OEM wheels.

As for Michelins vs Bridgestones, I see the benefits of both and agree the Michelins are a superior tire in regards to stopping distance and traction... with a $60k+ vehicle why skimp on the only thing that touches the ground, get what works best for the environment you drive in and don't skimp. Glad the OP saw a benefit/upgrade in their purchase of Michelins.

I'm debating on the Defender LTX A/T, LTX A/T2, and Defender LTX M/S next summer since my wife is tired of the noise of the BFG KO2s... After 40k or so they are LOUD! On my truck I don't mind but they are very noticeable, much more so than the old original BFG A/Ts on our 2004 Z71 Burb with 80k on the only set of tires I put on that truck... we still have great traction but the hum drives her crazy and it's not something I can convince her to ignore lol.