New Michelin LTX A/T 2 in LR E Review

Last week I had my friend who owns a tire shop install a new set of Michelin LTX A/T 2 on my PRO. I stepped up to the LR E this time for a couple of reasons. These are not in order of importance.
1. I like the look of a white letter.
2. I am hoping that the LR E will last longer than 35 to 40k miles. My friend assures me that the LR E will. Time will tell.
3. The 275/65R18 LR E has 17/32" tread depth vs. 14/32 for the Standard Load and almost every other size of this tire.
4. I do two quite a bit and a stiffer sidewall may be advantageous.

They balanced out very well. One tire only required 0.25 oz whereas the worst tire needed 3 oz.

I started out inflating them to 45psi. This is what the chart says I should be at. I need to do a chalk test to see if they are what they should be.

200 mile review:

They have noticeably better off-road traction than the stock LTX's did. This is probably because of the additional tread depth.
They are louder than stock. It is a smooth non-lumpy hum. It is not unpleasant but I was surprised by how much louder it was.
The ride is noticeably stiffer with more jitter from the wheels over bumps. I expected harsher so this is not all bad. The truck was butter smooth. These are still smooth but not as good as it was. I am not sure if this is tire pressure or sidewall. Probably both.
The steering response is much quicker. This is good because the wheel was a little numb before.

Overall I am happy with my purchase. I will update in a few months.

Mike

 

Just fyi of typo. Should be 275, not 265.
Great post. This is about as SL vs LRE all else equal as you can get I suppose. Interested for more updates as you go.

 

Thank you for catching the typo. I have corrected it.

I am now at a little over 2,000 miles. My thoughts.

These are noisier than the SL equivalent. It is not very loud but it is a noticable. My family has noticed. It is not the hum that is normally associated with a an aggressive off-road tire by more of a higher pitch. This is likely due to the tighter tread than the typical off-road tire.

They are smooth. My son and I went up north (4 hour drive) and they will cruise at 80 all day long. No shimmy or shake. They do not soak up the bumps like the SL tires did. Better than I expected here as well.

Snow traction is excellent. Better than the SL tires.

I have not noticed a difference in fuel mileage nor I have I noticed a difference in power.

 

I wish the sidewalls looked a little more beefy with some thicker rubber.

 

I will say between these and 5W-30 Amsoil that I lost about a mile per gallon. Like you I started out with 45 psi and ended up at 40psi. Could probably run 38 when road temperature warms up during summer months

 

My 285-65-18 AT2's will need replacing this year. I'll be watching OP's progress.

 

Same here

 

These are only 12# per tire heavier

I had a couple of concerns that have kept me from going this route for the last several sets of tires that I have purchased for my Tundras. I have also always been happy with the performance of LTX A/T and the M/S. I was less than happy with the life I was getting out of the A/Ts. 35,000 miles is just too little. I loved the M/S but my vanity got the best of me. They are just a little to grandpa looking This time I set my concerns aside and gave it a try. What is the worst that could happen? I could hate them and sell them. The load range E tires are sellable.

I thought long and hard about stepping up to a 275/70R18 but that tire was a full 19 pounds heavier. The stock tire is 40#, this tire is 52# and the 70 series tire is 59#. AND that 59# is further away from the center of the tire. I think that this would be even worse so I went with this one.

Here is my mileage for the last 4,000 miles. 2,000 with the old and 2,000 with the new. I put the new tires on at 35,000 miles. It is a little to early to say for sure but to me it does not seem like three is a shift.



The 9.9 was pulling my camper. Yes, I am thank kind of nerd. In fact, here is what I have for the entire life of the truck.



Just for fun, here is my 2015's CM's numbers. These were all done on SL LTX A/T or the M/S for the last 20,000 miles.



I will keep you updated as the miles roll on. So far, in my opinion, if you like the SL LTX A/T, I think that you will be content with the load range E version. I am hoping for more life out them. They are better in the snow too.

 

You say nerd I say impressive.
Very helpful. I’m debating btw 65 and 70 on the new duratracs. I was leaning 65s in the XL, which is similar in step up in weight . Granted a very different tread but this really helps tease out impact from different variables.

 

8,000 mile update:

I am happy with my purchase. I have pulled the camper several times now and the stability of the truck is excellent. The tires seem to be wearing very well and the fuel milage seems to be unchanged. I have settled on 40psi in the front and 45psi in the rear.
Here is my list of pros and cons after 8,000 miles:

Pros:
Tires are smooth and balanced well.
The tires work good in every condition that I have tried them. I am sure that there are better tires off-road but they work great on dry, wet, snow and ice.
I think that he white letter really sets of the Pro wheels.
Wear seems to be better than the standard load tires.

Cons:
They make more noise than that standard load tires. It is not bad but it is noticeable.
They do ride rougher. There is more weight there and less compliance and this can be felt.
Like most AT tires these will require regular rotations. Not a problem for me but worth noting. The wear patters/cupping are very similar to what I saw on the standard load tires.

 

Very good to hear, thanks for the feedback.

I'm looking to replace my stock LTX A/T2, debating on which way to go...

I'd like to bump up to 275/70r18, which leads to mostly e-rated tires. I was thinking of going with the LTX A/T2 or the Defender LTX M/S2. With your notes on the tire noise, i'm tempted to steer more towards the Defender M/S2.

 

In my opinion the M/S2 is the best truck tire on the market. Period.
As long as you are OK with the look and you don't really do hard core off-roading it will get the job done for you and then some.

I assume that you want to bump up to the 70 series for the look? I am not sure what other advantage that would bring.

 

You are correct on all accounts Bumping to the 70 just for looks. I could just as easily stay with the 65 series as well. E-rated weight in both is only 1-2lbs difference. If i stayed with the 65 series i'd probably just go with the p-rated again though.

 

I probably would have hopped up to the 70 if was only 2 pounds difference!
But then again, all of that weight was combined with a bigger diameter..... Maybe not....

In your situation, I would probably go with the E-rated 65 series for the deeper tread. 14 vs. 12.5 will get you some additional miles.
It also gets you a wider tread width. By more than an inch!

 

Very interesting on the tread width differences since they are all 275 tires. Weird.

 

Might want to check different resources for tread width. I see varying specs in same exact tire when I was looking around on tire weights. It does seem odd given all 275 but perhaps it’s linked to stiffness or load rating and side wall height somehow and how tire behaves under each respective load