Firestone vs. Michelin

dancorn · Sep 21, 2011

Due to necessity and location I installed two Firestone tires on the rear of my Ford van 69,000 miles ago, 700 miles later I replaced the two front tires with Michelins. I did not rotate the tires so the they remained put for the whole time. Last week I replaced the ball joints which required a front end alignment. While at Firestone they measured the remaining tread depth. They measured the Firestones at 8/32 'and the Michelins at 11/32". I asked the depth of a new Load Range E tire and was told 13/32". A little math tells me the wear was 5/32" vs 2/32" (assuming the Michelins also started at 13/32"). Given that 5/32 divided by 13/32 = 38% wear for the Firestones while the Michelins' wear was 2/32 divided by 13/32 or 15%. The Michelins were about $40.00 higher but this tells me they are much cheaper per mile. I am astounded they wore that much better than the Firestones especially given their front end location. Am I missing something in my analysis?
Oh yeah, an FYI for anyone who may be interested, this was my fifth alignment at Firestone in 210,000 miles. The first one cost $179.00 for the lifetime alignment the rest were and will be free and can be done anywhere in the country.

Fr8 Shaker · Sep 21, 2011

I run the Uniroyal Liberator from Walmart made by Michelin. Last ones lasted 117,000 miles.

usafk9 · Sep 21, 2011

Yes, you are missing something: you assumed the beginning tread depth was identical. Can't arrive at a solid conclusion with unknowns.

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chefdennis · Sep 21, 2011

5 alignments in that time sayes you are doing a good job to keep ft tire wear to a minimum...thats great....you are also missing the fact that while hauled, the rear tires are bearing higher weight bearing miles...they will wear faster....

I run firestone transforce on my 3500 extended gmc cv, they have given me well over 125,000 miles....

dancorn · Sep 21, 2011

All good points, I thank you all.

LDB · Sep 21, 2011

I'm at 91k on my originals and will likely be replacing in 10-12k miles. I've been planning to go to Michelins for the next set. I'll have to look into that Firestone alignment also. I wasn't happy with the last one I got elsewhere.

jrcase · Sep 22, 2011

You can go to tirerack.com and look under the specs of the tire and it will tell you the tread depth. Different sizes show different depths on the same tire type. Also, sometimes an E rated (10 ply) tire will have different depth than a non E tire.

mjmsprt40 · Sep 22, 2011

One thing that occurs to me regarding tread wear on the rears--- ten gets you one that the right rear tire is more worn than the left rear. The reason for that is that if you do spin a tire, the right rear is the one more likely to spin in slippery conditions (torque is responsible for this, the right rear tire tends to lift slightly when you apply power to move forward).

leezaback · Sep 22, 2011

Not getting into tech end- we found michlen tires wore like iron on drives- avg 250,000 mi. steers- 125,000 avg. and less balancing required. more pricey but held up better than others we tried.

Jenny · Sep 22, 2011

We run Michelins on our Sprinter. Just put a new set on after about 150k. Still had 7/32 tread on them. There are plenty of tire threads for comparisons if you search

jrcase · Sep 22, 2011

Jenny said:
We run Michelins on our Sprinter. Just put a new set on after about 150k. Still had 7/32 tread on them. There are plenty of tire threads for comparisons if you search

Just curious as to why you would replace them with 7/32 left. That is about half worn??

Moot · Sep 22, 2011

dancorn said:
Last week I replaced the ball joints which required a front end alignment.

Did your friendly Firestone dealer recommend replacing the ball joints at 210,000 miles?

The Enemy · Sep 22, 2011

jrcase said:
Just curious as to why you would replace them with 7/32 left. That is about half worn??

We replaced them because we were starting to notice some slight cracking where the sidewall met the tread. Also with them being at 7/32 I knew they wouldn't be good in snow by the time it started to fall. Plus they were starting to wear a little more on the inside than the outside, no fault of the tire, as the alignment was off just a bit.

I am very proactive with preventative maintenance on my Vehicles. Plus with Michelin only rating the M/S for 60K miles I figured I more than got my moneys worth when we changed them at a little more than 150k miles.
We replaced the M/S set with the AT2's.

I am completely satisfied with Michelin products even if they are a little more expensive than similar tires in their class.

BTW, the Michelin M/S's in a 16" size come with 15/32 worth of tread.

TeaDance · Sep 22, 2011

I currently work for a company that does the government rating on tires (UTQG) and tire testing for most of the tire manufacturers.
Personally from what I've seen from the test results....YOU just can't go wrong with Michelins. Yes they cost more, but once you experience them, you won't go back. You truly get what you pay for with them. And NO, I don't work for Michelin.

ron · Sep 23, 2011

dancorn said:
Due to necessity and location I installed two Firestone tires on the rear of my Ford van 69,000 miles ago, 700 miles later I replaced the two front tires with Michelins. I did not rotate the tires so the they remained put for the whole time. Last week I replaced the ball joints which required a front end alignment. While at Firestone they measured the remaining tread depth. They measured the Firestones at 8/32 'and the Michelins at 11/32". I asked the depth of a new Load Range E tire and was told 13/32". A little math tells me the wear was 5/32" vs 2/32" (assuming the Michelins also started at 13/32"). Given that 5/32 divided by 13/32 = 38% wear for the Firestones while the Michelins' wear was 2/32 divided by 13/32 or 15%. The Michelins were about $40.00 higher but this tells me they are much cheaper per mile. I am astounded they wore that much better than the Firestones especially given their front end location. Am I missing something in my analysis?
Oh yeah, an FYI for anyone who may be interested, this was my fifth alignment at Firestone in 210,000 miles. The first one cost $179.00 for the lifetime alignment the rest were and will be free and can be done anywhere in the country.

Having worked in the tire business,and as the tire man for an expediting company that had both trucks,and vans. Firestones worked well on light runs. Miclelins did wear better, so we used them on heavy loads that were for long distances.They had stiffer sidewalls. They did ride harder when the van was empty. Complaints from the drivers I got. The one thing we realized that may help a lot of you van drivers. We found that having all four tires that match made a lot of difference in vehicle control in bad weather. You said you had Firestones on the front,and Michelins on the rear. I'll bet the tread pattern is different front to rear also. You'll want to pay attention to the load range on the tire,and when you check tire pressure...do it when the tire is cold,and the vehicle has no load. We had guys have a heavy load on,and then check the tire pressure. They weren't getting in as much air pressure as they thought they were getting. The drivers kept comming back to the shop, complaining of low air pressure. We gave them a little education,and it cured the problem. Hope this helps you guys.

dancorn · Sep 25, 2011

Moot said:
Did your friendly Firestone dealer recommend replacing the ball joints at 210,000 miles?

Actually I had them replaced elsewhere at half the cost and then took it to Firestone for the free alignment. I got the van at 142,000 and have put 210,000. It now has 352,000 and running fine. I appreciate the 7.3 International engine but wish the Ford stuff on it was as hardy, i.e, starters, idlers, alternators, etc.

BobWolf · Sep 28, 2011

Michelin bought B.F. Goodrich a few years ago and has put B. F. Goodrich's tech. into Michelin line.
B.F.G. typicaly used harder rubber compounds and still do especialy in their TA series tires which is why B.F.G. tires usualy carry a higher milage rating.I belive this has also increased the quality of some michelin products. The key to tire longivity along with maintainence, inflation and rotation is the tire class, sidewall thickness, and rubber compound. P or passenger tires are for cars they are built for quiet smooth ride LT light truck tires are ment for trucks and have thicker sidewalls. They ride tighter but handle better.
A few tips.
Make sure you run at least an LT tire there are ten ply but you need to justify if the cost is worth it they are usualy capable.
Rotate your tires every 5,000 or so.
Try running an extra five pounds over what the placard calls for cold they will roll easier and run a little cooler at 70 pluss mph loaded, and mabey last a little longer it works for me in my work truck.
Drives will also wear quicker than steers because that is where your power is being transmitted to the ground.

Good luck and drive safe.
Bob Wolf

Monty · Sep 28, 2011

I have not seen a single comment about ... rotation.

If you wish long wear on your tires, they must be rotated. There are different wear patterns betweent front and rear, left and right.

I replaced the EOM tires on this Sprinter with Firestone Transforce tires. I went to the Michelin dealer to get new tires, he pulled me aside and said from what he has been selling, I would do much better with these.

I now have 50,000 miles on these tires, they look new. I have had alignment checked and rotated once.