No more LT m/s

[tjdonahoe]

7500 miles on my new michelin LT 225/75/16 E...I had a brake lock up and ruined one. Big ole flat spot....I found one....at my big truck tire dealer...no one else had one..as they quit making the defender in 16” E....sad..May have to go to Bridgestone the next time...wonder what the factory is doing...GYE..in 16”.

[Dexterpix]

Michelin has pushed the 16 inch LT's (smaller sizes) to the Agilis® CrossClimate® line. Just put these on my TV in 20inch versions. Love them.

Joe D

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by tjdonahoe

7500 miles on my new michelin LT 225/75/16 E...I had a brake lock up and ruined one. Big ole flat spot....I found one....at my big truck tire dealer...no one else had one..as they quit making the defender in 16” E....sad..May have to go to Bridgestone the next time...wonder what the factory is doing...GYE..in 16”.

I got a set of Defenders last spring at Discount Tire Direct Online. My gut is they probably are gone from inventories at this point. They had been manufactured about 8 weeks earlier prior to my purchase. I'll cross the bridge regarding the successor tire hopefully in about 6 years from now. I replaced my previous set of Michelin MS/2 16" tires at the beginning of year 7 of use with the Defenders. Those MS/2 models were the first set of tires on my Classic Slide out where I retired them rather than replacing ST's with belt failures.

Jack

[Al and Missy]

Does anyone know what Airstream is putting on now instead of the Michelin LT 16s?

Al

[lsbrodsky]

I posted on this when I replaced my 16's last Spring. Michelin is pushing the Agilis, but I did not want to try it without some USA experience because of problems I had in the past with a new-release Michelin tire. I went with Yokohama and have been happy so far. Only time will tell.
Larry

[switz]

Airstream has returned to GoodYear ST tires. The lowest cost product, you know....

[Brainodo]

Our 2020 Flying Cloud 27FB has Goodyear Endurance ST225/75R15.

[jeffmc306]

Originally Posted by Dexterpix

Michelin has pushed the 16 inch LT's (smaller sizes) to the Agilis® CrossClimate® line. Just put these on my TV in 20inch versions. Love them.

Joe D

Joe, thanks for sharing that about the set on your TV.

I've been looking at those to replace the 20" Firestone Transforce AT's on my 2019 RAM 2500. They are just horrible on wet and snow. Good to know you're liking the CrossClimates.

[JCWDCW]

Did you find out why the wheel locked up? My experience was a corroded pivot where the square nub turns to push the shoes apart.
JCW

[gklott]

Originally Posted by tjdonahoe

7500 miles on my new michelin LT 225/75/16 E...

We use the Michelin XPS RIB LT225/75R16 E1 115R B. These are excellent commercial-grade tires, and we replaced our first set on age, not treadwear.

73/gus

[out of sight]

The previous Goodyear trailer tire, the Marathon, was a total disaster. I had two blow-outs, each time wiping out my wheel wells at great cost. The newer Goodyear Endurance should be better. I have not yet heard of any problems with them, but let's see after a few more years.

[guskmg]

On heavier (larger 2 & 3 axle) trailers the side loads during turning maneuvers really are a future tread separation problem. The only tires that can stand it are the Michelins. It will be interesting to see what the future successful tire will be.
guskmg

[rmkrum]

I’m running 14” Goodyear Endurance tires. Airstream placard calls for 50 psi for the load, I’m running 60 psi. Will see how it goes.

[tjdonahoe]

Originally Posted by JCWDCW

Did you find out why the wheel locked up? My experience was a corroded pivot where the square nub turns to push the shoes apart.
JCW

The shoes and backing were new..had about 4500 miles on them..?..took apart and all looked good.?...I will never know

[dmcgaugh]

Originally Posted by gklott

We use the Michelin XPS RIB LT225/75R16 E1 115R B. These are excellent commercial-grade tires, and we replaced our first set on age, not treadwear.

73/gus

I run the XPS Rib as well. Best tires you can buy in my opinion (they certainly aren’t cheap though). I have a close relative who has run a Michelin commercial tire dealer for decades and he said, even with the XPS Rib, Michelin will eventually stop making them as fewer and fewer trucks are being sold with 16” wheels, so the market for the tire is quickly evaporating. When I asked him what a good alternative would be, he suspected that a Goodyear LT tire would be the next best. I’ll run the XPS Rib as long as I can though...

[Gene]

I have used LTX tires for a long time on trucks, SUV's and our Airstream. When I bought tires for the Nash trailer I got Michelin Defenders and they see fine for that use. A month ago I needed tires for the truck and saw a bunch of tire lines i had never heard of. I ended up with a Michelin P tire on the truck since we don't drive the truck that much or very far and the LTX tires are very expensive. P tires were the original equipment tires on the truck. I am kind of unhappy about my choice (I really wanted the LTX but I got a very big discount and gift card, so the price as less than half an LTX), but it makes sense. The tread is good and I drove it up my icy and steep driveway yesterday without any problems.

We have been using Michelins for decades and they have excellent traction and used to last forever. The last two sets I bought for the truck wore earlier than warranted and I got discounts when I replaced them. Michelin stands behind its tires, but they must be softer rubber. I expect to buy tires for our SUV and am unsure what to get and have to learn all these new names. Michelin is still a good tire, but perhaps not what it used to be. Tires can drive people nuts, but they really matter.

[BandLAir]

Our 2020 FC 27FBT came with Goodyear Endurance ST225/75R15 tires and matching rims (of course). Although this is a radial tire it presumably has a stiffer sidewall than an LT tire, which makes it better suited the loads in a trailer application. What I have found interesting, but a bit confusing, is that Goodyear publishes a load-inflation table for this tire (for all of their various ST tires) but in one of their towing brochures they say to run them at the stated sidewall pressure.

We came to our trailer from the world of motorhomes where I was used to having the weighed (individual axle end weight) and then using that data to determine the correct tire pressures. The sidewall pressure for our Airstream tires is much, much higher than needed to support the load on them, but Airstream says to run them at that max pressure (which is 80 PSI) and our dealer lowered that to 75 PSI, saying that this is where they normally set them. I have been setting them to about 72 PSI on a cool day. Note that we have a ProPride hitch, so the trailer can't really sway, but it is still very much subject to sideways loads not experienced on tow vehicles.

It seems to me that if I am going to set them to the max pressure, I would want to do so on an unusually warm (hot) day. On cooler days the pressure will be a bit lower, but unlikely to ever be higher. Exceeding the sidewall max cold pressure is a bad thing, and I do not want to be adjusting the pressure every time I move the trailer. Check it, and fill if a bit low, sure; but not adjusting it every time I move.

[pmclemore]

Bought Agilis when the Defenders went away. Truck and trailer, Michelins, baby.

Pat

[Adiredneck]

I've run the Michelin 16" XPS Ribs since 2015, and with around 20,000 miles they are hardly broken in. They will time out rather than wear out. The were the only LT tire I found that had steel belts in the side walls, which I think give them better support for the sidewall stress put on them during turns. Not cheap, but what price for peace of mind? Hope Michelin keeps making them!

[moosetags]

I am sorry to hear this about the Michelin LTX M/S as I am now getting ready to replace Lucy's tires. These tires date back to 2014 when Lucy was new. They have now logged almost 63,000 miles and are starting to show some tread wear. The recent Alaska trip has taken its toll. Old Lucy (2005 25FB) also had a set of these that had 59,000 miles on them when I traded her. That's over 120,000 on these Michelin 16's without a single tire issue.

I am looking at the Discount Tire Website as we speak and the LTX M/S is out of stock and the Defender LTX has one tire left in stock. These are $204 and $235 respectively, and the Ribs are still in stock @ $235. Accordingly, I will probably go with the Ribs unless someone else out there has a better alternative.

Brian