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michelin a/s or m/s

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Old Oct 12, 2012 | 11:39 AM
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michelin a/s or m/s

I am going to buy new tires in stock size and have the oe a/s tires, which I have 82,000 on and except for side wall cracking, have been great. I see that they make a m/s too thats rated at 70,000 miles instead of 60,000 on the a/s. a/s claims better mpg and m/s claims better braking. Would there be that big of differance in mpg? Has anyone run the m/s for awhile? Thanks.
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Old Oct 12, 2012 | 11:58 AM
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From: Northern BC Canada
I have had the a/s and the a/t my next ones will be the m/s I only got about 45k out of those, I guess because I tow a 5th wheel lots, I will be interested to see what others say about the m/s
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Old Oct 12, 2012 | 12:53 PM
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I don't tow anything with mine, but I did get in an accident and they replaced the front two tires about 30,000 ago which I have left on the front. They put the best two of the oe ones on the rear where they have stayed. Maybe thats why I got 82,000 out of ones on the rear. I was only going to buy 2, but , I found a big chunk of tread missing on a front tire and they have a sale 70 dollars of of 4 now.
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Old Oct 12, 2012 | 01:02 PM
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Where is the sale at, I am heading for Arizona at the end of this month.
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Old Oct 12, 2012 | 02:09 PM
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I don't all the rules for posting ads, so I sent you a pm.
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Old Oct 12, 2012 | 06:39 PM
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I'v been using the M/S tire for the last 10 years or so. 60-70K miles is about right. Quite and smooth on dry pavement. Excellent traction on snow and ice. It's the only truck tire I'll use.
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Old Oct 12, 2012 | 07:46 PM
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3rd set of A/S's. Get 70K out of each set, towing 5er about 10K out of the 70. A bit slippery on grass or wet pavement when unloaded.

Towed through several HEAVY rain storms and they were rock solid at 50MPH

I don't think MPG will be any different
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Old Oct 13, 2012 | 11:23 AM
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From: Western CT
M/s
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Old Oct 13, 2012 | 11:38 AM
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Thanks for the input, also I wonder why it's a few bucks cheaper for m/s, but 70,000 and a/s is only 60,000 wrnty.
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Old Oct 25, 2012 | 05:04 PM
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MICHELIN LTX M/S vs A/S

My first set of A/S went to 120k with 4/32's remaining. Second set went to 65k with 11/32's remaining and manufacture defect. Would have hit 150k on the tires and the truck would have gone to 270k on the first two sets of tires at the rate of wear shown.

Now on M/S. Yes, there is a mpg hit. Not big, but then mpg is all about small stuff. 1-mpg+ loss I'd say. I haven't had them long enough to break in or to do comparative driving yet. They are just as quiet, BUT they pick up more stones. Time for some mudflaps anyway.

Trade-off really is that A/S is notorious for hydroplaning above 55-mph (and lousy on wet grass, sand, etc). All tires hydroplane to some degree, but it is not as good as it ought to be in that. But a closed shoulder highway rib tire never will be compared to others. They just wear like cast iron.

.boB convinced me that the M/S is worth the expense of a shorter-lived tire (I put on 65k in five years, tires ought to be replaced by no later than year seven no matter the miles) due to better all-around traction in inclement weather. I may be moving north in another year or so thus was planning on a tire change anyway. Just not quite yet. Got a very nice deal on [4] brand new tires though since the A/S failed in service so 7/70 ought to work for planning purposes.

The M/S is slightly wider across the tread, and in section width. I don't imagine it will wear as evenly across the tread, so will be rotating more often than 25k as with the A/S.

My truck was delivered from factory at 6,860-lbs. WIth bed topper, bed liner, driver, full fuel and the usual "trunk junk" I mainly drove around at 7,350-lbs with the factory recommended minimum pressure of 50-psi FF and 50-psi RR. Recently weighed the truck again after divorce and am now at 7,950-lbs where all four wheel positions are within 40-lbs of each other. Moved pressure to 50-psi FF and 60-psi RR as truck is halfway to GVWR of 9k (at 9k, factory calls for 50-psi FF and 70-psi RR on mine; check door placard on yours).

There is no mpg benefit to running higher pressures than indicated (past 5-psi more than the recommended) as it is offset by worse tire wear, worse handling & braking. I want the lowest pressure where the rise in psi from cold after 1.5 hours steady state driving is no more than 10%. A 15% rise would mean psi is too low. The factory guidelines build-in a 15% load reserve, overall. (See website Barry's Tire Tech for more)

So, weigh the truck, and see where the psi should be. Solo, loaded, and for towing (towing mainly empty, and towing mainly loaded). A pair of tests -- truck weight and psi rise from cold to hot -- to check for consistency. Have a set of psi numbers to cover your conditions of use, IMO.

I picked up a 120V CRAFTSMAN 125-psi/3-gl air compressor as I have [10] tires to keep track of. Doesn't take up much space (compact) and is just under the "too heavy" mark. That, and the top quality tire gauge I haven't yet sourced (looking at LONGACRE Racing) means easy changes when moving from one "state of load" to another.

MICHELIN on a DODGE CTD is a marriage made in heaven. Almost as good as having a handshaker behind that turbo 6.

.

Last edited by Rednax; Oct 25, 2012 at 05:13 PM. Reason: Clarity
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Old Nov 8, 2012 | 08:58 AM
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Anyone try the X radial IT2 tire? Sounds good, 70,000 mile wrnty. The way they decribe it, it almost sounds like the M/S tire, but cheaper. Thinking about getting it.
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Old Nov 9, 2012 | 06:54 AM
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From: Tomball, Texas
The A/S is a good towing tire but worthless when it comes to traction. Get the M/S.

MikeyB
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Old Nov 25, 2012 | 09:51 AM
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From: British Columbia, Canada
I ran mich LTX a/t sipped on a dually year round got about 77000km out of them I pull a 14' cargo trailer almost daily fully loaded with tools. I found that even with the dually in the winters the tires would stick to the roads pretty good. I decided to try a different tire this go around as with mich I find you pay for the name. I wasn't willing to do it this time. my bro runs good year silent armours on his dually and loves them just as much. So I am giving them a try. Just put 6 new ones on about 200km ago. So we'll see how they compare.
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