Michelin LTX MX/2 Off-Road???

[CA-RJ]

Yeah, I mistyped. I meant the MS/2.

[mhiscox]

I love the Michelin LTXs and have used them on LX470s, my Astro, my WJ and even the Aerocruiser motorhome. The snow performance is excellent, wet handling is very good, the highway performance is exceptional, and the dirt and gravel road performance is great in dry weather. And they are very quiet.

It is not until you have a significant mud traction challenge that LTXs aren't total winners. They just have too high a tread to void ratio to excel, but that's what makes them so quite and handle so well.

I had BFG ATs on the WJ first and found the LTXs to be considerably more refined. The ATs are a good tire and probably a little better in mud, but if you need something more aggressive than the LTXs, also consider Hankook ATMs and Goodyear DuraTracs. Both are excellent true all-terrains.

[GlennA]

My brother has a set on a 1994 Chevrolet Extended cab 4wd. He currently has over 120,000 miles on them and they still ride like new. They see about 2 miles of rough dirt road and 40 miles of pavement daily. They have never been or rotated or rebalanced. He drives it like he stole it. We use it on our property to drag downed trees etc. Once it slips in 2wd, we put it in 4wd and drive away. They wouldn''t be my choice for a mud tire, but all around, I am impressed. They will be my next set of tires.

[kehale]

In the desert, they pick up a lot of small rocks and pelt your wheel wells. That's my only complaint.

[Jay H]

I have LTX MS in 215 70 16 and they have been very very good to me, no idea how many miles are on them got them on a 2004 rav4 that had 54000 when I hot it. I now have 96000 and they are still good. Very quiet and winter capable. Not sure if I will run them again though, 170 each is almost twice the cost of geolandar ats in the same or slight up size. Might be worth the cost though. My dad had a set on his tundra in 17" and also liked them.

[pskhaat]

So I've really curious as to the off-highway and rocky capability of the LTXAT2? Can anyone expound on their experience?

[CA-RJ]

Scott, here is one thread that I've been following of a 3rd Gen 4Runner on 285/75-16's. I asked her for a review and this is what she posted.

I've got about 30,000 miles on the AT2s. I debated heavily over those and the ol' faithful BFG ATs. Because I had excellent experiences with the Michelin LTX M/S (Ford Bronco II, Ford Exploder, this 96 4Runner) I went with the A/Ts for a little more of an aggressive tread pattern/look while still maintaining civility with my daily driver.

It's almost as good as the LTX m/s on the road. So far they've been as good as the LTX m/s on the trail- those m/s's actually did really well on everything I've driven them over, can't beat all those sipes. They seem to be wearing almost as well as the LTX m/s (got 80,000 miles on those!). I do not do deep mud, preferring rocky trails instead, and these have done great on those. I had a little slippage on one small rock ledge going up mineral creek outside Ouray, CO in the drizzle but that's been the worst of it and a better angle of approach did the trick there. I've done the same trail, same conditions with the LTX m/s with similar results. The ATs do hang onto gravel but not as bad as the m/s tires. On the little mud I've been on the ATs do better than the m/s. The ATs are quiet on the road, no rumble.

Would I choose something else? Is it wrong that I would want a set of ATs with siping like the m/s??? I'm going to see how these wear and then decide but if things continue as they are yes, I would buy again. Actually, come to think of it I did buy another set- the ones on the 99!
Just went out and measured- 9/32 tread left of the 17/32 it started with...not wearing quite as well as the LTX m/s, but not bad.

The complete build thread is here with many pictures of the 4Runner off-road. It looks like these tires would be a good all-around tire.

[pskhaat]

When I bought my 1999 LC100 it had brand-new LTXMSs on it. Took it up on a relatively simple forest road outside of Phoenix and one tire had a split right down the centerline of the tread, about 6" long and slowly/audibly leaking air. Used car dealer (I bought it there at a very good deal and thus used them) refused to address it nor would any tire shop replace it without knowing where I bought them, but as I purchased in proxy I ended up using the older spare. Then, it happened again with the same style split down the center but I caught it well in time. That's when I finally put a lift on her and larger tires.

I think Michelin makes a world-class tire and initially I attributed it to the questionable car dealer, but in fact I've heard this a couple times the same situation over on 'Mud. I know if I bought Michelins myself and experienced the same they would have been taken care-of no questions asked, but I've hesitated ever since.

All that said, very interesting: almost as good as the LTXMS on the road leaves a little too much to question/the imagination, but good that on the little mud I've been on the ATs do better...

[CA-RJ]

My largest concern with the AT2 is that it would chunk in rocky settings (especially loose rock).

[pskhaat]

As to the chunking, I'm not so sure. I've seen these tires up-close and I've even heard of someone (shhhhh!) taking a pocket knife in the tire store to see how the tread cuts and "heard" they were much stiffer compound than expected. The voids are simply not big enough to get any of the tiny lugs stuck on a rock to be ripped, it would rather be a friction-thing.