Pics of old just shy of 60,000 and right at the wear indicators, as well as the new tires fresh from installation.

 

Doug, much like the CAC tube discussion, I think that how you use your truck will effect whether you have an issue. In other words, commuter miles will allow for a lot more life out of the Michelins than towing heavy. I think running around with 2500-3k of pin weight out back and hanging a plow off the front like I did will expedite wear. I know that the GY's I replaced my Michelin's with wore a lot better over the same amount of miles being used the same way. Clearly, everyone's use and associated outcome will be different though. My point is only that this is a truck and if used for truck(ish) tasks more often than not, there are much better options out there...

 

40,000 on my Michelins and going strong. Probably 20,000 of it is highway and 10,000 of it is towing a snowmobile trailer. I am satisfied with their tread wear to date though my next tires will be a bit more aggressive for better winter traction. I can foresee 50,000 miles on mine before they will need replacing.
My challenge will be finding tires of the same height that do what I want as my truck just fits in my garage with the stock height. I dare not go up even 1" overall.

 

In my opinion Michlin uses a Softer Rubber Compound to Increase Traction. I don't tow, or carry heavy loads in my F250 but have experienced accelerated wear of the Stock Michlins in both my 2011, and now in the 2016. When I swapped out the Michelins on the 2011 at 35K I installed Nitto Terra Grappler G2 tires and they seemed to hold up much better. The Michelins are run at 65psi as per Ford, where as the nitto tires were 85psi as per their rated pressure. Perhaps it is My style of driving, I do like to push it a bit sometimes.

 

Right after I got my 2012, I ran into a guy that delivered boats using his Superduty. He had over 100K miles on a 2011. I noticed that he had the Michelins and I asked him if he had decided to go back with the same tires after he wore out the first set. He said "no, these are the original tires that came on the truck." It was hard to believe, but I can't imagine any reason he would have to lie to a guy he was talking to at the local Pilot.
When I traded that truck in with about 40K miles on it, my original set was getting pretty low on rubber and starting to spin every time I took off.

 

You'll get no argument from me on any of those points Rodney. I had originally intended to put the pics up with my post from the 25th, but got distracted. Again, my surprise was that they lasted as long as they did, after seeing what looked like surprisingly fast initial wear. My new tires already have 10,000 miles on them and still look new. Conversely, the factory tires at 10,000 miles looked like I could only hope for 30,000 total.

As you said, for guys that haul heavier loads on a more frequent basis, the factory tire won't last as long. I feel that the chunking in my factory tires was caused simply due to the torque the truck puts to the ground - even with no load in the bed, or behind the truck. For 60,000 miles of empty highway driving for the most part, the tires did well enough. Obviously they didn't fit my needs sufficiently for me to use them for my replacements. The added capacity of the new tires, more aggressive tread and extra width work much better for my application, and the compound on the Toyos seems much more durable, but still offers good on-road traction and handling. The Michelins were quieter, and that's about the only positive I can offer when comparing the two.

 

On my 2012 F350, it was used primarily to haul a 5th wheel RV and occasional highway trips. At 42,000, the factory tires were at 5/32 wear but I was getting a terrible death wobble and my steering damper was only a year old. Replaced with new tires and a new sterring damper. Also, had alignment done and a bushing changed to upper ballpoint to go to max castor and still be barely within Camber and it rides perfect. Just my $.02

 

My buddy is a tire distributor in my area. Apparently, it has been rumored that the OEM tires are made with softer rubber so the ride is nicer. Again, this is not proven fact but rumor/opinion.


I can't remember the brand or size, but he showed 2 listing for the same tire. One was marked OEM and the other wasn't. The OEM was more expensive. I can't remember how much, but don't think it was a lot. Just because it's an OEM tire, that's crazy to me that they charge more for a tire that probably won't last as long.


When my Michelins go, I'll probably go with a different brand. While I do think they performed well enough in the snow, I believe I could do better and also save money by getting the tires from my friend.


Just my opinion...


**PS**


Okay, I admit that I didn't read through the entire thread here so after doing so, I hope that I get the mileage you guys have been getting and mentioned here. I'm on the 5k mile oil change schedule with the dealer and the tires are getting rotated.