I have about 28K miles on my 2012 F250 King Ranch 4x4 with 20 inch wheels. The truck came with Michelin LTX AT's and the tires have significant wearing on the outside edges but tread depth is okay in the middle. While talking to a friend who lives nearby here in Florida, he expressed his disappointment with how Michelins have performed in the Florida heat and is now running Nitto's on his F350. I hardly ever take the truck off road, drive mostly in south Florida and would like to know pros and cons of diffferent brands/models of tires used by fellow forum members on trucks like mine. Thanks, Jim

 

Cooper AT3 or Toyo AT2 get my vote for primary hwy use. I've had both and the reason I am going more aggressive is because those 2 tires hold to many rocks from the gravel I travel. Otherwise, I like them equally as well. I have had them on diesels with no complaints, in snow/wet/dry no issues. I liked them a lot more than the Michelins that came on my 2014 F350.

 

Something to look at:


Under Inflation
This type of wear usually results from consistent under inflation. When a tire is under inflated, there is too much contact with the road by the outer treads, which wear prematurely. Tire pressure should be checked with a reliable pressure gauge. When this type of wear occurs, and the tire pressure is known to be consistently correct, a bent or worn steering component or the need for wheel alignment could be indicated. Bent steering or idler arms cause incorrect toe-in and abnormal handling characteristics on turns.

 

This is a major complaint of the Mich. LTX AT2, the outside tread is thinner or not as deep as the middle of the tire. You still have the same thickness of rubber all the way across but the outside tread.....as you know wears out quicker making you think that the tire is shot.

I just bought the Michelin Defender MS 275-65-20 from Discount Tire Online for my new dually. These are "E" rated, 80 psi 3750 lbs, I paid $261 each shipped to the house, best deal I could find.

They have equal tread all the way across the tire surface and so far the ride has been great, got in some pretty heavy rain a couple of days ago and no problem at all. You can go on Tire Rack and read all the reviews. If you go through Discount Tire Online ask for JR.....stand up guy.

 

Myself .. I have approx 28k on my Michelins and they seem to be wearing quite well ..
Several new SD's are coming with 20" Toyo Open Country's from the factory.
Will they wear better ??
Currently Tire Rack ratings are showing the latest BFG KO's as being an excellent replacement choice ..
Possibly in 6 months they will be swearing the _ _ _ are better ??
I believe it's called a Crap Shoot ..
Good Luck ..

 

I've never seen a factory tire that I wanted to keep after 30k miles.

 

I came across this which I thought was interesting:

BUY 'EM, TRY 'EM, LOVE 'EM - OR BRING 'EM BACK

No Regrets
Buy a set of four eligible Toyo Tires passenger or light truck tires* from a participating Toyo Tires dealer and try them on your vehicle for up to 500 miles or 45 days from the original purchase, whichever comes first.

If you’re not completely satisfied with the performance, just return the tires, with your original sales receipt and the specific reason you are not satisfied, to the dealer where purchased.

The dealer will replace the tires or refund the purchase price, including charges for mounting and balancing.
Find Toyo Tires Dealer Near You >


DETAILS:

Offer excludes original equipment tires, winter tires, competition tires, commercial tires, Proxes R1R and M-55, as well as Open Country M/T tires purchased before May 1, 2016.
A set is four tires.
The four tires must be purchased on the same day, mounted on the vehicle indicated on the invoice, and must be returned to the participating dealer where they were purchased within 500 miles or 45 days, whichever comes first.
This offer is available only to the original purchaser and is nontransferable.
Other service charges or applicable taxes are not included.
Online purchases are not eligible.
Commercial, racing, or off–road use, improper load or misapplication, or damage by road hazards or other abuse, is excluded.

 

I just took the Michelin's off my 250. Man I hated those things, we live on an acreage and I have to drive in all kinds of conditions from dusty dry to mud up to your ears and snow and everything in between. The Michelin's would plug up and turn into big old doughnuts that would take you where ever they felt like going and it was scary. Also the truck seemed to wander around on the highway. Finally put a set of Toyo Open Country AT2's on it last weekend and it is a different truck I bought a used set on 2009 Super Duty rims they have about 80% tread left and the truck is totally transformed, it does not wander anymore on the highway and I was surprised at how quiet the AT2's are. I had Hankook tires on my old Ram 2500 Megacab and loved them but I think I like the Toyo's better.

 

Just a thought here, the tires I mentioned....Michelin Defender MS are pretty much road tires, I don't off road except a dirt road now and then so if you live in an area that gets lots of mud and snow then you need a tire suitable for that application.

On my old '02 F250 I had Toyo Open Country ll's and they would even get full of mud and snow requiring 4WD to get up the road at times. Some of the guys here have 2 sets of tires/wheels for the different seasons.

 

I just purchased a set of the Toyo A/T's 20x12.50x37. love them. not bad sound going down the hwy at 80 and plenty of grip for the trail.

 

Some guys also have alot more money than others too. So some of us have to have a compromise and can't just run out to the old money tree in the back yard and grab a couple thousand dollars to throw around.

 

I am also in Florida - Gulf Coast - Crystal River area and have 48,000 miles on my factory Michelin's. No issues yet and expect to get up to 60,000 miles out of them.

So far no issues, initially the truck pulled 10,000 pound trailers back and forth from NJ, now used in Florida 95% of the time, and is used off road in our famous "sugar sand" daily. The Michelins have done a great job so far - to be honest I am surprised how well they have done and are holding up.

As someone else suggested - check the air pressure - under or over inflated will kill a tire very quickly.

 

Here is what my tires look like after less than 28K miles. Jim

 

I think you need to get your alignment checked before you replace the tires, it appears the tread is worn on one side making me think it's a alignment issue.

Denny

 

It's hard to tell actual tread depth since there is that raised portion between the tread blocks on the outer sections. Honestly that doesn't look that bad to me. Mine looked worse than that at 14k miles when I got rid of them. They had tread blocks chunking off of them.

Do you have a tread depth gauge? Measuring in several spots across the tread face will probably tell you more than we can.