I just replaced the somehwat elcheapo Chapparal highway tires that were on my Excursion when I bought it this past May, and went with the AT2's as indicated in the thread title. I've nearly run out of tread on the Bridgestone Revo's I bought several eyars ago for my truck, and love those tires, but they have not given the wear I wanted and I had to plan for a longer running tire on the Excursion right now. Cost was nearly the same for either ($1,130 mounted, balanced, disposal fees, lifetime Rotate/Balance, and lifetime nitrogen fill).

Before choosing the Michelins, I read through a number of FTE posts and looked at the TireRack reviews, and was very encouraged by all the positive feedback on their performance for both wet/dry traction and longevity. I strongly considered buying the tires through TireRack for about $930 delivered, but by the time I would have to pay to have them mounted and balanced, and then continue to pay for repeat rotations/balances over the life of the tires and nitrogen fills, it would have cost me a good bit more in the long run.

I've already run the 285's on both an Excursion and my truck, and I really like the way they fill up the wheel well in terms of appearance. No scrubbing on lock-to-lock turns, and the tires do not look too large for the stock wheel size (to me, anyway).

During install, the store manager had his techs spend a lot of extra time mounting and remounting the tires to get absolute minimum balance weights in order to help ensure a good ride, and they do ride wonderfully at all speeds. He would not simply let them get to a typically acceptable weight size, but insisted that they reposition the tires to get absolutely minimum weights for the ultimate balance. I am very pleased with both the store's effort at quality work and the outcome of that effort.

The tires have excellent road grip and a really solid feel while running both stright and on curves. Excellent steering responsiveness, too. Furthermore, even though these tires have AT tread, the pattern is not very aggressive and rides very, very quietly, especially in comparison to the Revos. In fact, they're almost as quiet as the highway tires they replaced.

I think the initial charge of 60 psi pressure is a tad high for how the tires seem to be contacting the road, but will watch carefully over the next week and adjust downwards if necessary (I don't tow or carry loads, aside from the family). The Revos I run seem to like being closer to 50 psi to get even road contact from edge-to-edge.

THEREFORE, for anyone considering going with these newer style AT2's, I firmly believe they're a solid investment (at this point, anyway).

 

Thanks for the critique Pete.

I am considering the same tires to replace my 285 LTX M/S's. Nice to know that the AT2's run quiet with their more aggressive tread.

How's the leg?

 

Good deal, Robin. Hope the info helps. I was really surprised by how quiet the tires were, and the smooth ride is really nice. As of right now, even though I've had them such a short time, I'm planning on putting the same tires on my truck when the Revo's get too thin.

The ankle is doing really well. Hoping to start putting weight on it this coming week and getting busy with work again.

 

i was in a similar situation with my wives Chevy Suburban last month. i went to tire rack and was sold on the LTX M/S2's, but the price was rather high. i settled for the BF Goodrich Long Trail tours instead from tirerack. very good price, and they're supposed to have tread wear that's close to the LTX's (i don't know of may tires that will outlast LTX's M/S's). we went with stock 265's and everything is good so far. low road noise and hopefully they'll last longer than the last set of Bridgestone Dueler H/L's that were on there.

now i've had Bridgestone Dualer A/T's on my PSD now for 3 years and love them. they wear very well and i got the 305 75's on stock 16" rims and they fill out the tire well with no rubbing at all. This is the second set i've had on my PSD and i love them. highly recommend them.

 

Another Bridgestone Dualer fan also, great tire also in all inclinmate weather but after seeing Rick's Michelins on his rig at RRE-Y2K09, they are a sharp and strong looking tire, might have't to check those out the next time around, good thread Pete.

 

What is the load rating on the AT2 tires? In the 285 series.I used to run 285 series but went to 265 to get the "E" rating to handle my trailer better.

 

Thanks for the tire review. I was eyeballing a set of the AT2's at my local Discount Tire yesterday. They look like they would work well in the snow and still be quiet on the highway. Hesitant to spend $202 each for tires, but I need to do something soon as the el cheapos on my Ex are shot.

 

5280... Keep in mind the longer life you'll get with the Michelins, too. The reviews I found indicated good traction on wet grass, dirt, gravel roads, light snow, etc. I haven't been in any of those conditions yet, but I know that the dry road traction and stability in curves is superb.

 

Does anyone know the load rating for these tires?

 

Pete: Where in Birmingham did you buy them.? I go thru Birmingham often.

 

Terry... specs listed in pic below. Here's a link to the TireRack page for them >>>Michelin LTX A/T 2


OTTOMATIC... I have been getting all my tire-related issues taken care of through Tire Engineers on Highway 31 in Alabaster. They have also done one emergency brake job and one emergency ball joint replacement for me.. They've done excellent work, and they now know me and my oldest son by name, and have several times helped diagnose an issue to get me started with doing my own repairs, and have not charged me anything for providing those diagnosis efforts.

Jimmy is the manager, Buddy is the other guy behind the counter, and both are great to work with. In fact, it was Jimmy himself who supervised and dictated the extra efforts at achieving the superior balancing on these new tires for me.

 

Thanks Pete. I was just looking to the future for deciding what type of tire to by next. I have BFG All Terrains now, 265's for the "E" rating. I would like to go to the 285's in an "E" so my trailer can be supported. The 285's look alot better.

 

Now thats a nice tire, 285 with a E load range with 17-32'nds of tread, I'm sold, next tire here..