Ok, don't everyone laugh at once!!
I have a 99 explorer xlt 4.0 v6. I bought the car used and it had Goodyear Wranglers on it when I purchased it. About 1 year ago I had a blowout. When I went to get a replacement tire I couldn't find one and found out that style had been discontinued. I went to my local Walmart Tire Center and started asking about replacement tires. I told them I wanted a tire that looked similar to what I had. They told me that their Liberator A/T tires (Walmarts house brand) were made by Michelin (not sure if that's true now) and that they were excellent tires. They stated how good they held up, rode, and how quite they were. They seemed ok for a while but after about 15,000 miles they started to get a little loud. I keep them balanced and rotated and the pressure is good so I know it is not neglect. Also the Alignment is good on the explorer. I went in to get them balanced and rotated a while back and he said the tires were cupped really bad.

I'm now looking to replace these tires because there is way too much road noise. Can anyone provide some advice on a good quiet tire?? I don't really need an all terrain tire.

Thanks,

 

How many miles do you have on the Explorer? Could be a suspension issue if the cupping is on the inside of the tire. Also, I don't think that tire is made by Michelin. Michelin does however make BFG. Honestly, unless you get a good, name brand tire from Walmart, you're taking chances.

I'd highly recommend the Michelin LTX/MS or the Michelin XC/LT4. Both absolute fantastic tires, great UTQG rating and very quiet.

 

It's got 107,000 miles. I'm not sure if the cupping was on the inside of the tire or not, I'm wanted to say it's on the outside

 

That's generally an alighment issue. If you look at your tires on the outside you'll see some gaps, sipes. Anyway, the larger the gap, the more tchance he tire has to cupp. See, SUVs are top heavy and put an undue amount of pressure on the outside of the tire. This pushes the tire up where the gap is and causes feathering. Once the feathering starts, it's very easy to get cupping if you have weak struts... Just a thought but I'd put some good ole Michelin "B" load range tires, get your alignment checked at a reputable place and put on some new struts.

 

Thanks for the advice. I went and checked the tires. They are cupped on the inside not the outside, I was wrong. I'll be taking it to a Tire place to have an alignment done and the suspension checked out.

Thanks

 

The Liberator tire is actually made by Michelin, it is the private label that Walmart has contracted with Michelin to produce only for them. I am looking to buy some tires and did some research on the Liberator, just look up the manufacturer's tire stamp codes and you can compare it to the markings stamped on the tire, that is how I confirmed that Liberator was indeed another name made by Michelin. (like BFG's ond others....just another way to sell more tire)

I am going w/them, can't beat the $$ and just like every tire out there, you have good reviews and bad ones...all kinds of funny suspension tricks can be played on tires so it is really hard to rate tires...they need a universal test method using a tire spinning machine that all tires have to be rated by...that way we would really know if one tire wears faster, gets noisy, or whatever.

Oh well....

 

I have had an excellent experience with Michelin Cross Terrain SUV tires. The dealer put them on when I took mine in for the recall in '01 and have over 75K miles on them with at least 10K miles of tread left I'd say. The performance in any weather condition has been excellent and the ride is good. They're pricey put when you get that kind of life, I'd say it's worth the price!

 

I highly recommend the Michelin LTX M/S! I have them on my Ranger, the ride is very smooth and quiet. I have 50K miles
on them, and looking at the tread depth, they look like they will go another 50K miles!!!

 

Here's another vote for the Michelin LTX M/S/. They are an excellent compromise of dry and wet/snowy capabilities. Also, they wear like iron. I will easily get 80,000 miles from the set I have now. Of course, as they get older and harder they lose some of their handling and snow traction.

Mason

 

Another vote for Michelin LTX MS. I put them on year ago. I now have about 93,000 miles on them and still have about 3/36" of tread. I only rotated them one time! All show very even wear. I am just now starting to notice a drop in wet traction. They are also great in the snow. I once towed an S-10 pickup about 50 yards through 13 inches deep of unplowed snow in a parking lot. They are great. Just buy them and forget about it. Costco generally has the best price on them in my area.

 

note that should have been 3/16th of an inch, not 3/36.