Michelin LTX Winter

I picked up a set of Michelin LTX Winter tires and a set of new take-off 4Runner TRD wheels to mount them on.

I searched the forum for member experience with these tires and found almost nothing.

I’m curious to hear what experience people have with them, and if anyone can give a decent review of how they compare to the very similar, and visually identical LTX M/S2 or Defender.

I run M/S2 and absolutely swear by them, but want something with the snowflake symbol for the mountain passes this winter.

Share your experience. Once I have a bit of winter driving on them I will compare them to ms2 (which I ran for the past couple winters) and other winter tires I’ve run before (like blizzaks and xIce)

The wheels:

 

Left: ms2. Right: LTX Winter

 

I ran a set of those on my half ton ram for two winter seasons driving up and over the Cascades 60 miles each way every day for work. They were load range E. The winter before I Tried a set of Blizzteks in a P rated tire on the ram. Bottom line the Blizztexs were better a step better in all snow and ice conditions but I sliced the sidewall them almost immediately on the first gravel road and never bought them again. The LTX winter was the Highest rated on tire rack E rated winter tire I could find. overall they worked well and I would buy them again if I wasn’t retiring! Probably got 25,000 miles with me aggressively cornering them, my personal car is a 911, what can I say...

 

Sweet bleedin’ lord I like your truck

 

LTX winters are far from hard core, but will last a long time.

My problem with LTX winters is they aren't standard load, the LT rating makes them stiffer and heavier, which isn't good for ice and packed snow.

The LTX winter is more of a "country tire" meaning back roads, snow, and long hauls.

I only know of one person with LTX winters and the reception was luke warm. But not bad. Big 1 ton dodge.

 

Thanks. My wife and I are heading out next May on a round the world drive in our taco. We are stoked!

 

the Sequoia’s quite a bit heavier and it seems to be doing pretty well with the E rated tires. I’ve had them on for a couple weeks now and not noticing a perceptibly rougher ride than the P rated summer MS2s. They seem every bit as smooth.

Agreed, softer is better in winter but
- flats suck even more in winter, and
- I have some big ass U bar tire chains that you can’t run on P rated tires.
... so I’m ok with the compromise.

 

Any updates on these tires?

I’ve run them the last four winters on our icy Alaskan roads. So far I’ve been pleased. My perception is there are better winter tires, but these ones seem to have a proper balance for a diversity of conditions.

 

Last winter they were a little too slick on ice for me. I’m running them on summer rims now to burn them off and picked up a set of the new Yokohama G017 to run on his winter (unstudded). The Michelin LTX winter isn’t something I’d buy again. I think the regular Defenders are just as good in winter, but probably better in year-round use.

 

This helps me out a bit. I've been on the fence, as I really wanted a full A/T, but I have the opportunity for a really great used deal on Michelin Defenders LTX and Wheels.