Another set of bad Michelins

[WRS'99STS]

Well, after only 10k miles on the second replacement set of Pilots, the sidewalls are cracking again. The first set were replaced with about 15k miles. They were cracking around the bead. ( I have mentioned this in another thread)

I contacted the tire dealer again, he checked out the tires and told me that Michelin will adjust the tires with a new set. I sure don't want another set of Pilots. They suggest the new Hydroedge. He also said that they should be run at 45psi. That would be like riding a basketball. The reason behind the high pressure is that the Hydroedge have a tendency to wear more around the edge..

I am not sure I understand the dealers reasoning. I asked for some time to do some research. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Wayne

[navion]

I can't say anything about the Pilots, but I got about 80,000 out of my Symmetries before I had a belt break. (Had an hour straight of 100+ in Montana early in their life.) Can't complain about that.

Britt

[JasonA]

My Pilots have about two years and 35,000 miles on them. They're down to 3 or 4 32nds of tread. Replacement will be occuring within the season.

Like yours, mine have cracked near the bead. I should say, however, that the cracking is incredibly minor, and you'd only notice it if you were on your hands and knees cleaning the wheels/tires (which is how I noticed it). I seem to recall them not appearing until 10-15k miles ago, which kind of puts them in the window where yours appeared.

I will not be putting Pilots back on there. Not because of the cracking, but because of the fast treadwear and harsher ride than I'd prefer. When new, they're fantastic, but when old, they're pretty harsh (as I'm sure any tire would be). We put a set of Michelin Agility tires on our Grand Caravan in January (http://www.jnjhome.net/dodge/michelin.htm). That's what I'll put on the Seville in another month or two.

For me, all season traction is now a priority, since I can't leave the Seville at home anymore when the weather is iffy. I also want a softer ride. I don't have a vehicle that can really take advantage of the Pilots' capabilities, so I'd rather take advantage of another tire's hallmarks, like long treadlife and smooth ride. I've never met a Michelin tire I didn't like (the sidewall checking isn't a big deal to me), and the Agility has proven to be a fantastic tire on the van so far. Incredibly QUIET and smooth, and GREAT traction. They even handle pretty good.

If you look at the actual tire specs, the Hydroedges are "wide" for their size. Here are three Michelin tires, in 225/60/16 size, with their heights and widths given, respectively.

Pilot XGT H4 / 26.9" / 9.2"

Agility Touring / 26.4" / 9.0"

Hydroedge / 26.5" / 9.3"

When I replace the Pilots with the Agilitys, I'm actually going to lose .5" of overall height, and .2" of overall width, even though they're all nominally 225/60/16 tires. Since the Hydroedges are wider than normal for their size, I could see how they might wear the sidewalls if you put them on skinny rims. However, you're putting them on 7" rims (completely acceptable for 225/60s). If you buy those, I'd inflate them to 35 psi and see how they run. According to Michelin's website, the Hydroedges have a 30 day test drive, so if you don't like 'em, you can turn 'em back in.

It seems to me that if you want a "performance" tire, and you don't care for the Pilots, get the Hydroedge. If you want more of an "all season" tire, get the Agility Touring (or other variant; see my link above for explanation of that) or Symmetry.

Both the Hydroedge and Agility Touring have excellent treadwear warranties. The Agility Touring is 80,000 miles and I think the Hydroedge is 90,000 miles.

[JimD]

I have had 38,000 happy miles out of Michelin Energy, MXV4 Plus, tires on my '98 Seville. Can't find a depth gauge right now, but they have many miles remaining.

The car sees a lot of wet roads in GA and once a year it sees snow / ice to and from MI. The tire has not let me down for traction. Just a tad noisy on dry hot blacktop pavement.

FWIW, the same tire (different size) is OEM on my '04 Deville.

[an01sts]

I have the MXV4's on mine, and I'm more than happy with them.

[Garlicdude]

I've been happy with my Bridgestone Potenzas. I like the dual compound idea, as the tire wears it exposes a different rubber so the traction doesn't suffer as much as tread wears.

[Scotty]

I have never had a problem with Michelin tires

[Poobah]

Michelin Energy MXV4 Plus here - absolutely no complaints

[JoeM]

I have Pilots on my car, I have about 25k on them, no cracking of the side walls. I try to keep the pressure close to the max inflation psi (44 lbs, so always 40 or above, adjust for seasonal temps)

[kcd1184]

I've got 8000 miles on my set of Cooper Tire's 225/60/R16 Lifeliner Touring SLE H rated tires.

I'm very happy with all aspects- handling , noise, ride and wear. 32lbs front and 26lbs rear. Made in USA

Kent

[IaBoy]

I have had Michelin Symetrys on my 2 SLS's and they ride quiet and smooth and after 35K still plenty of tred left.

[gygmy]

When you change tires from the manufactures spec. tires does the inflation spec.s posted on the door change? How do you tell? I try to keep the tires inflated to the spec.s posted on the door. Am I missing something?

[JasonA]

When you change tires from the manufactures spec. tires does the inflation spec.s posted on the door change? How do you tell? I try to keep the tires inflated to the spec.s posted on the door. Am I missing something?

I've found that the specs on the door are always a compromise. For example, on our Grand Caravan, Dodge recommends 36 psi front and rear. The ride is a bit crisp at that pressure, but fuel mileage is probably pretty good. My old Nissan truck recommended 26 psi front and rear. The handling was kinda mushy at those pressures, but the ride wasn't as sharp. In both cases, I'm sure Dodge and Nissan looked at the situation and came up with pressures that they felt provided the best driving experience.

I always ran my truck tires at about 35 psi. I couldn't take the handling mushiness at 26 psi. I also got better mileage, and slightly better power, at the firmer pressures. On the van, we just bought new Michelins for it, and Sears inflated them to between 35 and 40 psi. I didn't like 'em that high, and I lowered them all to 32 pounds. And just last night, I lowered the rears to 30. All the pollen on the ground does do one thing -- it sticks to the tires. So as the van rolls up the driveway into the garage, it collects pollen on the tires where the tires actually touch the concrete. Parked in the garage, I saw that the full footprint of the front treads were yellow...most of the full footprint anyway...out to within 1/2" of the edge. On the rears, however, about an inch of tread on the side was still black...meaning it wasn't touching the ground...meaning they're a little overinflated for the situation. I lowered 'em back to 30 psi and I'll see how they wear like that.

On the Cadillac, I'd start with 32/32 front/rear and see how you like that. I think Caddy recommends 30/30, but you should be able to pickup some better handling with slightly firmer pressures. Many people run as high as 40 psi, if the tires allow. I used to run my tires on the soft side, for a better ride. As the tires got older and harder, I kept airing them down to keep the ride. I wouldn't go lower than 28 psi all around. The shoulders of the tires wore quickly this way, with more tread available in the center, because they were really underinflated. Lately, I've been running them at 38/35 front/rear, to try to capture the better-but-still-thinning center tread before I replace them this summer.

[kcd1184]

On all of my cars, I always watch the weight distribution by watching the coloration on the bottom of the tire. After it rains and your tires are clean and the road is dry, a short drive will pick up road dust and you will see how your weight distribution can vary from front to back. You can decide if you like where your rubber meets the road.

I usually wind up with at least a 4lb front(higher) to rear difference in front wheel drive vehicles. The factory specs on the door of my 94 Eldo say 28lbs front and 26lbs rear , but 28lbs feels too low.

In the end it is all personal, but I have always had good wear patterns on my tires when running the rears much lower. I rotate and rebalance every 5000 miles also.

Kent