Fuel for Thought

Michelin LTX M/S 2

The original Continental tires on my van lasted 71,288 miles. The Continentals are an excellent tire for the typical Sprinter owner who rarely passes 20,000 miles a year. Many Sprinter owners would run into dry rot before exceeding the wear life. Expediters are running 80,000 to 110,000 miles a year and need something more substantial. I followed the recommendation of several Expediters Online forum members, and I’ve been happy with the performance of the Michelin LTX’s.

My first two sets were the LTX M/S. Those sets lasted 202,197 and 187,337 miles in that order. The first set wore perfectly and only saw one wheel alignment because of front end work. After the first two months of rotating the tires every month, I gave up on that schedule. I ended up not rotating the tires until there was a noticeable difference between front and rear tires. I measure the tread depth using the very scientific method of sticking my fingers in the grooves. I compare each groove on a tire to ensure the individual tires are wearing evenly, and I compare front to back to decide when to rotate the tires. Tire pressure is 70 psi of nitrogen in the rear and 55-65 psi in front depending on the wear. I didn’t use the manufacturer’s recommended 47 psi because steering was just plain sloppy. The second set did have quality issues. Within the first month there was cracking along the side of the tread. At the time I figured I would wear out the tires before it became an issue. That ended up being the case, but I should have taken the tires back. It sounds like other people were also having quality issues during that time frame. I had bad wear on the outside edges of the front tires and after an alignment the tires wore back to even. The second set was on track to last longer than the first set, but between the tread cracks and the season, I decided to not be greedy. I would have reached the end of usable tread just at the end of the messiest part of the winter—I’ll save my luck for something less foreseeable. The tires served me well.

This round I opted for the LTX M/S 2. They were available when I bought my last set of tires, but I didn’t consider them proven yet. In all categories they are rated the same or better than the M/S. I am starting with the tire pressure at the recommended 47/70 psi front to rear, and steering stability is much better than the M/S at this pressure. I look forward to see how they wear. As brand new tires the road noise falls into a wider range of volume and types of noise. On quiet pavement the tires are perfectly silent, and on noisy pavement louder. I think I need to put on some miles to make a fair judgement on the road noise. For me, road noise is a non-issue if I’m getting the performance and tread life that I expect. I suspect this is going to be my last set of tires on this vehicle.

eb