I have the Michelin M/S2 (Now Defender) and my experience is the same as Jeff53. Quiet on the highway, good handling and traction and good treadlife (just now wearing out at 70k miles). Only downside is poor traction in soft dirt but then again they are not designed for off road. I ordered new tires yesterday. I was leaning towards the new Defenders but in the size I wanted the only thing that was not a couple week wait were the Nittos. I've heard a lot of good reviews on those and so with a little trepidation decided to give them a try. Everything is supposed to be in on Thursday and will post my impressions here.

 

I recently put a set of Nitto Dura Grapplers on my Ex, and they have been a very smooth and competent tire for the Ex.

So far, I would highly recommend them.

 

Bought the EX almost 2 years ago, had new Falken’s on it when I bought it, towed the new trailer once with the Falken’s and went and bought Michelin M/S2 with no regrets. Towing 33’ trailer at 9,000 +/-….

No off road. We did have a 3 foot blizzard this past winter…. I was still pulling others (4 wheel drives) out of ditches and drifts. Never spun a tire…. So no traction issues in snow. Quite on the Hi-way. Guessing I have 10,000 on them now. If the EX last as long as the tires I will go Michelin again.

To me a perfect Hi-way / towing tire… There may be and probably are other tires out there just as good, but the Michelin was recommended from others in here who knew a lot more about towing than I did, I also knew what I was getting with the Michelin….

Let us know which way you go!


Steve

 

Just tried out the Nitto Grappler G2. Meh. Definitely noisier and not as smooth as the Michelin M/S2 (now Defender). Some of this is due to the increased road surface (went from stock 31.6x10.4 to 34.3 x 11.6) but not all of it. It isn't bad enough that I want to rip them off but they aren't what I expected. I will update after a road trip.


Edit - To avoid misleading anyone - for an aggressive tread they are very quiet. But not as quiet as tires designed solely for on-road use.

 

Explain.

Any fabrication or special parts involved? Or does it just bolt on?

Seems like it'd need 10 lug wheels, which would mean a hub swap.

 

While I don't tow, I must jump on the Michelin bandwagon. 3 X's all LTX's. I couldn't have asked for any better. Are you looking to correct problems with current setup or just strictly tires?

 

dont put them old geezer tires on, get yourself some cool superswamper boggers or tsl

 

If you were to upgrade to the F-450/550 brakes I think that would also involve using the heavier axles that came on those rigs, I don't think the brakes are adaptable to our axles. Once the heavier axles are swapped over then the factory 10 lug hubs would need custom rims to run with a SRW, Rickson makes those too.
Rickson Wheel Manufacturing






Rickson makes 19.5 rims that will bolt up to our stock 8 lug EXs.
Rickson Wheel Manufacturing
I looked into them a while back, the 19.5s wear and ride like iron and they are very heavy as well as expensive. The do look cool but the higher ratings are totally overkill, I tow pretty heavy and still have excess capacity on my 35" E rated tires.

 

16.5 and 19.5 inch wheels and tires seem like they'd be hard to find.
I'd go with the 20's that are on newer Super Duties...

The main thing I was looking for was the brake upgrade. If the wheels and hubs are 10 lug, then the brake rotor would be 10 lug too.

How do you put F450/550 10 lug brake rotors on a F250 8 lug hub?

 

I ended up finding a set of 275/70/18's off a 2013 Super Duty with 7/32 tread remaining. They are the Michelin Radial x's. Even with a 50% tire, they ride way better than the Hankook Dynapro ATM's I had on it. I'll know better after towing our camper over the 4th of July how they really do. Here are some pictures, albeit in the dark but pictures nonetheless

 

I know you found some but I always like to throw props to the Hankook Dynapro ATM in these threads....40000 miles on my '02 Ex w/o issues, hundreds of thousands on various work vehicles and love them in a larger size on our '02 Ex....

 

After rereading this post with the highlighted sections for emphasis:

I have come to the realization that this will NOT happen without a lot of work. The bolt pattern is all wrong. 450s and 550s came with 10 bolt wheels, the rotors won't fit on the F250/350 hubs.

 

Recommend installing Tire Pressure and Heat Monitor system with your new tire purchase. Nice peace of mind tracking Excursion and your trailer tires.
one negative - my Dill System does pick up another vehicle tire at times and startling first couple times it picks up car next you with 32lbs.

I'm running Michelin LT285/75R16 M/S2 past 10,000 miles towing 95% of the miles.
My rear is 3.73 (even though i ordered and paid for limited slip) and i have been happy with 285 tire performance past 240,000 miles. The front driver side tire lightly rubs tire well on tight turns (on original springs).
Can not recommend Kelly tires or Bridgestone Dueler A/T REVO 2 as the three sets i ran over 230,000 miles did not wear even last half of their life. Bridgestone Dueler tires do look cool, handle soft/sandy campsite locations and never hydroplanes even in the heaviest rain (Bridgestone was first class about policy replacing two tires for cupping)

 

Those are the LTX A/T2. The all terrain version of the LTX MS2. A great tire, but the MS2 (or Defender now) is the best for highway and towing, in my opinion.