Michelin tire availability changes

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by Ebyronjr

David:

I installed the new Michelin Agilis tires on Libertas in late May 2018 and Fred Ahlgren (Gustov) installed Agilis around the same time. We have both been pleased the ride.

There is an option of the 2019 MB order sheet for a Michelin tire upgrade but it didn't say which Michelin tire. I did order alloy rims. I may review this again but the Vancour 4 Season Continentals were satisfactory but didn't last long. We may drive to Alaska again next summer before much tire wear.

[booster]

Originally Posted by Nekit

I have the Michelin Agilis Cross Climate C tires on my 2006 158" Sprinter Rv and am happy with them. These are the directional tread tires. Can't tell much difference from my old LTX MS2 tires. I have about 7000 miles on them.

They are also available in a non directional tread in my size 245/75R16.

I was just looking at available sizes and I didn't see the 245-75-16 in the C metric directional tires. Did you use a different size than that?

[PJ2016]

Originally Posted by booster

Did you get the directional or symmetrical tread pattern version? It appears both are available in the US?

Symetrical tread pattern; I was not interest in directional pattern but now that you asked I don't recall every seeing that choice in my size by any seller (and priced them all over the internet);

[booster]

Originally Posted by PJ2016

Symetrical tread pattern; I was not interest in directional pattern but now that you asked I don't recall every seeing that choice in my size by any seller (and priced them all over the internet);

I may be wrong, but I think all the Cmetric sizes are symmetrical tread. If you look at Tire Rack site they list Pmetric and Cmetric sizes as available, so I think those would be different patterns.

[rkloud9]

Back in March I replaced the stock Coni front tires with Defenders on my 2016 Sprinter with 44000 miles. I guess it lost alignment, and the inside on the passenger side was mostly gone. After replacing the fronts, I took it to an MB dealer, who’ve had a super wiz bang alignment set up, and they spent a lot of time on the process, including 3 test drives. As I recall, the cost was quoted at $150, but some alignment parts were needed, so the cost was around $250. The rear 4 were still just Ok, so I put off replacing them till last month (47000 miles). Of course, the Defenders were nowhere to be found. We have a membership with FMCA, and one nice benefit is that they have a national account with Michelin that results in a discount. The process of finding a participating tire source led me to a commercial truck tire supplier that offered the “ribs”. They were about $50 more per tire, and they did not know what the difference was with the Agelis line. They said the ribs were all steel belts with a 60000 mile rating. So I called the Michelin customer hot line... they said that the Agelis had both steel and nylon belts, and that the ride would be better than the ribs, but that they did not have a mile rating, and probably would not last as long. He felt that the Agelis would have a similar life to the Defenders.

Although more miles is better, I was looking for a better ride, and I will be happy if we get 45-50k miles on the new set. With just the 2 Defenders on the front and old Coni’s on the back, I did not notice a big difference in the ride. But the new Agelis set on the back has really made a noticeable difference... much smoother!

[PJ2016]

Originally Posted by rkloud9

Back in March I replaced the stock Coni front tires with Defenders on my 2016 Sprinter with 44000 miles. I guess it lost alignment, and the inside on the passenger side was mostly gone. After replacing the fronts, I took it to an MB dealer, who’ve had a super wiz bang alignment set up, and they spent a lot of time on the process, including 3 test drives. As I recall, the cost was quoted at $150, but some alignment parts were needed, so the cost was around $250. The rear 4 were still just Ok, so I put off replacing them till last month (47000 miles). Of course, the Defenders were nowhere to be found. We have a membership with FMCA, and one nice benefit is that they have a national account with Michelin that results in a discount. The process of finding a participating tire source led me to a commercial truck tire supplier that offered the “ribs”. They were about $50 more per tire, and they did not know what the difference was with the Agelis line. They said the ribs were all steel belts with a 60000 mile rating. So I called the Michelin customer hot line... they said that the Agelis had both steel and nylon belts, and that the ride would be better than the ribs, but that they did not have a mile rating, and probably would not last as long. He felt that the Agelis would have a similar life to the Defenders.

Although more miles is better, I was looking for a better ride, and I will be happy if we get 45-50k miles on the new set. With just the 2 Defenders on the front and old Coni’s on the back, I did not notice a big difference in the ride. But the new Agelis set on the back has really made a noticeable difference... much smoother!

Early in my search I decided to buy Michelin Rib tires; I called Michelin and was told the Rib did not have high ratings for wet weather traction; I took her word for it and move on; ended up with Agilis Cross Climate.

[Mike]

I used to have a set of Michelin LTX AT2 tires on my Roadtrek, and they were probably the best overall wear, ride, and traction tires I've ever had. If they came in a 215/85R16, I'd probably use them next time around on the Navion. Being an all terrain model, they worked well in snow, mud, gravel, and sand, and the edges of the tread were a bit "gnarlier" than the newer Agilis CrossClimate based on website visuals. The tread depth was deeper than the comparable MS2, as were the sidewalls.

I replaced them at a 69,000 miles (almost 10,000 miles past their stated life expectancy of around 60,000 miles), after I noticed a tread separation caused one to start to fail on a trip in 2015. That was in the TriCity area of Michigan. Discount Tire in Traverse City said there was enough tread left to prorate a discount to a new set of LTX MS2s - unfortunately they didn't have a set of AT2s in stock, and we were on a timed schedule, so I replaced them with the summer tires. Got a $434 off discount on the new set. I love Discount Tire.

Just a thought for those who might occasionally encounter poor traction situations out there. The AT2 is a great all season, all terrain,option. IMO.

[Boxster1971]

The Michelin LTX MS2 tires installed in 2014 at 30,000 miles have gone 90,000 mile and still have useable thread life, but they are checking badly on the sidewalls. I plan to get them changed during my 120,000 mile B-service next week.

Dealer quoted me a set of Defender LTX tires back in February, but they are not sure if now available with less than 6-month age code. I'll find out what is available next week so I might end up with Agilis Cross Climate tires.

[Mfm]

I replaced my tires about a month ago with the Michelin Agilis on my 2014 Sprinter Agile. However, have only driven around town so far, we are taking a longer trip next week and could then tell you if I can fell any difference in the ride. Around town, the ride feels better, but that could be due to the fact that the old tires were in bad shape-lots of cupping on the rear tires and lots of chunking in the front tires.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

. . .
Dealer quoted me a set of Defender LTX tires back in February, but they are not sure if now available with less than 6-month age code. I'll find out what is available next week so I might end up with Agilis Cross Climate tires.

Took van to Freightliner Sprinter shop that I normally use. They can get Michelin Defender LTX tires that are new (dated less than 6-months) but their supplier did say they are being "phased out".

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

Took van to Freightliner Sprinter shop that I normally use. They can get Michelin Defender LTX tires that are new (dated less than 6-months) but their supplier did say they are being "phased out".

Well - dealer told me Friday they could still get the Defender LTX, but called today and said supplier only had one tire in stock as this tire is being phased out. I will be getting the new Michelin Agilis Cross Climate tires.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

Well - dealer told me Friday they could still get the Defender LTX, but called today and said supplier only had one tire in stock as this tire is being phased out. I will be getting the new Michelin Agilis Cross Climate tires.

Finally got my van back with the new Agilis tires. Also needed new tierod ends. Now drives like a new van. The Agilis tires are quiet and smooth on the road. After 120,000 miles and 90,000 on the old Michelins I'm amazed how much the new tires and steering parts have rejuvenated this 2012 Sprinter.

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

Finally got my van back with the new Agilis tires. Also needed new tierod ends. Now drives like a new van. The Agilis tires are quiet and smooth on the road. After 120,000 miles and 90,000 on the old Michelins I'm amazed how much the new tires and steering parts have rejuvenated this 2012 Sprinter.

Sounds good. Glad your Sprinter feels rejuvenated. If only it was that easy for us to feel rejuvenated.

I got maybe the last set of Defender LTX M/S tires in my size a few months ago because there were too few reviews of the new Agilis. I certainly don't regret it, but it's good to know your first impressions are positive. If my tires do as good as your old set, I hope to never need my own set of Agilis tires.

[Boxster1971]

Here is a photo of my new Agilis tires. The look a lot like my old Michelin’s.
IMG_1729.JPG

[booster]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

Here is a photo of my new Agilis tires. The look a lot like my old Michelin’s.
Attachment 8180

I had noticed that too. That style seems to have made it up from the MS2 through the Defender to the Agilis. I think that is good because the run quiet and have decent traction.


The literature would indicate the biggest change was to the sidewalls by adding more belts to increase durability, I think. I was concerned that there might be a decrease in ride quality with the Agilis, but at least so far nobody has seemed to notice anything issues. It will be interesting as they get onto some of the models other than Sprinters to see how they fare on them.

[D&J Phillips]

I think I'm an outlier on this.

I needed new tires on our 1999 Xplorer - Dodge 3500 with dual rear conversion, so 6 tires + spare. We bought the van in 2014 with nearly new Ironman tires. I had never heard of Ironman but since they were nearly new, we kept them and have put about 25k miles on them since. I will say the Ironman tires were very quiet and smooth so I had no complaints at all but I had a couple that were getting close to the wear bars.

I had read on this forum that the Defenders were, by far, the most highly recommended but they were being discontinued and I didn't want to experiment so in early August I ordered a set of 6 Defenders from our local Discount Tire store because they showed them still in stock at a nearby warehouse. They called back the next day and said the computer was wrong and they only had 5 and wanted to substitute with the Agilis Cross Climate. I was nervous because there was not much feedback yet on the Agilis (they didn't even have mileage ratings yet) but he said it might take a while to find a 6th Defender and Discount Tire has a 30 day guarantee where, if you aren't happy with the tires, you can pay whatever difference there is and install different tires of your choice. So I ordered the Agilis.

A week later they put them on and I drove home. I knew immediately that they were a lot noisier that the Ironman and there was a faint but fast vibration similar to a bad U-joint. I drove home (about 15 miles), speeds up to 60mph, and the directional stability was great but the hum and vibration was bugging me. We live on a short gravel road and they were picking up gravel and flinging it onto the bottom of the van much worse than the Ironman tires ever did. I took my wife for a short drive and she felt the vibration and heard them too.

We decided to return them and asked Discount Tire to find another Defender to make a set of 6. It took them about 2 weeks but they found a 6th tire and we had them switched (no additional cost since they both sell for the same price at Discount Tire). I think there may not be any left by now.

When I drove it home I was immediately glad we made the change. Much quieter and no 'bad u-joint like' vibration. An added bonus is they pick up much less gravel on our gravel road. I have no idea why I had the noise and vibration with the Agilis (I do admit I am very picky about these things - why I had 6 or 7 alignments before I liked the way it drove) but I am very pleased with the Defenders.

Not very scientific but though I would pass it on FWIW.

Dave

[Boxster1971]

Dave - what is the date code on those Michelin Defenders? My new Agilis tires have date code 2919, made in mid-July this year.

The vibrations you describe on your first set of Agilis tires sounds like they were not balanced properly.

Glad you are enjoying the Defenders.

[rowiebowie]

Similar to Dave (minus thre experience with the Agilis), I had Discount tire order and install 4 Defender LTX M/S plus a 5th as a spare back in late April. They made it sound like I was getting the last 5 Defenders in my size. They probably weren't far off.

And my reason for staying with Defenders was the same as Dave's. There were just not many reviews on the new Agillis. I specified all date codes needed to me within the past 6 mos. and all codes were 45/18.

[Mfm]

I agree, took a trip with the new Agilis tires on 2014 Sprinter Agile van and felt that the ride was more smooth and quiet. However, that was is comparison to the old , very beat up tires.

[booster]

Originally Posted by Mfm

I agree, took a trip with the new Agilis tires on 2014 Sprinter Agile van and felt that the ride was more smooth and quiet. However, that was is comparison to the old , very beat up tires.

What tire brand/model was on the van before the change?