Disappointed with new truck tires

   / Disappointed with new truck tires #1  

Alan L.

Elite Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2000
Messages
3,227
Location
Grayson County, TX
Tractor
Kubota B2710
After replacing the tires on my wife's GMC Yukon XL to Michelin LTX 275/70/16, and driving it about 2000 miles on vacation was SO impressed with the ride, quietness, and overall drive of these new tires, that I put a set of the same tires 255/70/16 on my 2003 GMC Sierra extended cab 2WD pickup. All the reviews I read for use in this vehicle were nothing short of excellent.

The truck originally came with General Ameritrac tires and made it 42K miles. I thought they drove fine the whole way also.

After putting the new tires on, the truck now seems a little squirrelly in the front end, makes sort of a roaring noise (sounds like its coming from the back), and seems to have a much harsher ride than before. Whereas on the Yukon, everything about the drive was better after putting these tires on there.

This is an expensive tire. Usually, when I have had a tire problem it has been a vibration, or sometimes pulling one way or the other. In this case, I don't detect a particular vibration, just a noise, but it just doesn't feel confortable to drive like it did before. Doesn't pull, but the steering seems to always need correction of some sort, mostly on more uneven roadways.

The front end alignment has never been checked, but the old tires wore evenly, and the steering wheel is lined up when going straight ahead.

I got the tires at Discount Tire of Texas ($645 out the door with tax compared to >$700 for NTB). I plan to go back and try to explain the problem, which is fairly difficult because it is vague, and mostly a comparison to how it drove before.

One thing I did notice after I started looking the tires over. The right rear tire has 3 weights on it, taking up about 6" of the rim! That tire musta been a real problem to balance, as I have never seen that much weight needed to balance a tire. Seems like if I was balancing that tire I would have turned it on the rim to see if I could use less weight to balance it. I might request they try to move and rebalance that one at least.

Anyone else had a similar experience with vague tire problems?
 
   / Disappointed with new truck tires #2  
Discount sells a lot of blems. I wouldn't be suprised if that was your problem.
 
   / Disappointed with new truck tires #3  
Ive read if you needed more than a ounce of weights or so the tire is out of spec. I think your right 3 weights are to many. Try and get your money back.
 
   / Disappointed with new truck tires
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Wonder how I find out if they are blems? Maybe thats why they were less than NTB?
 
   / Disappointed with new truck tires #5  
i agree, sounds like they sold you some blems. i used to change tires for a living and if it was out more than a few ounces, they were sent back to the manufacturer. either that or we switched rims and positions until we got them all close. it took extra time, but i never had one come back! since i left the tire biz, i only go to a reputable shop nearby. no big chain stores. they are usually the worst place to go. my local guy is cheaper than the big guys, they are lightning fast (call in the AM and order the tires, show up at 3pm, 4 guys jump on your car/truck, tires go flying all over the place you go in and pay, and you are out and done in 1/2 hour. beat that NTB!) customer service is also second to none in ANY business I've dealt with. after i found these guys, i gave up the big stores for good.
 
   / Disappointed with new truck tires #6  
Are LTX M/S or LTX A/S? Go to Tirerack.com and check the reviews. The M/S are great, the A/S are just OK. More folks at tirerack.com like the Michelin LTX M/S then perhaps most any tire made in those approximate sizes. It wears a long time. I know of 3 people with a 94 Suburban, 96 Yukon and 99 Suburban with front end problems that routinely wear out their tires even after an alignment. Two of them are my younger sisters. The truck I have not heard of the problem.
 
   / Disappointed with new truck tires #7  
I have a set of LTX M&S's on my S-10 Blazer. They are very nice riding tires. Try swapping your tires from truck to truck and see if the bad set runs the same on your other truck. If not, then you know it is the truck. If they do run lousy, then you know it is the tires. I have never had a bad Michelin. We run Michelin tires on my wife's Acura, my daughter's Honda Accord and my Blazer. I have a set of Toyo's on my son's BMW.
 
   / Disappointed with new truck tires #8  
Alan
I wonder what the air pressure is. Sounds like some or all the tires have high air pressure.
3 weights may not be a problem. Most tire places do not bother buying larger weights. They use multiples of smaller weights.
Typically Michelin tires do not require large weights though.
Rim may have been damaged. Do you have Aluminum wheels?
 
   / Disappointed with new truck tires #9  
I'm glad to see that most are happy with Michelin tires,, I'm one that is notl,, This is the second Dodge in a row that came with Michelins and the second time neither could get past 30,000 and they were wore out,,, I just changed last month to Cooper ATR's, which have a pretty aggressive tread pattern.. The first 100 miles were terrible as the front end was squirly.. Have about 250 on them now and it isn't too bad.. I did ask around and everyone told me the aggressive tires will be somewhat squirly.. Of course, if it keeps up then will have the alignment checked.. If I drove the truck every day, I wouldn't mind so much, but, hey, I've had the truck almost 4 years and just this Thursday broke 40,000.. I won't ever get Michelins again.. Even though they are E codes, pulling my trailer with tractor loaded, the Michelins are way too soft.. It will be awhile, but I'll see how the trailer/tractor run with these Coopers..
 
   / Disappointed with new truck tires #10  
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Cooper ATR's, which have a pretty aggressive tread pattern.. The first 100 miles were terrible as the front end was squirly.. Have about 250 on them now and it isn't too bad.. I did ask around and everyone told me the aggressive tires will be somewhat squirly..)</font>

AT's or MT's are not as good on the street as "regular" tires but should not be "squirelly". You may have too much air in them.

The kids at the tire stores look at the sidewall and inflate the tires to the maximum pressure. On my Jeep the max pressure was 44 pounds (TrXus MT's) and it rode like a buckboard from the tire store to home where I let them down to 32 pounds and they softened the ride up a lot.

When you are not carrying a load you don't need to run the maximum allowed by the tire rating.

The way I check for proper inflation is to mark all the way across the tread with chalk and back up and down the driveway (80') a couple of times. If the chalk is wearing off on the center more than the edges it is overinflated. Kept checking with different pressures until chalk was wearing off evenly across the tread then I went up 2#.

Don't forget to air up the rears if you are going to carry a big load.

Bill Tolle
 
 
Top