Michelin Latitudes Falling Apart - New Tire Recommendation 09 LX570

[7schulz]

So out of no where my Michelin Latitude Tour HP tires fell apart, they started chunking and shredding, and separating, no off-roading, all on-road driving, tires are from 2014 and have only 50K miles on them and are about 50% tread. Rig tracts straight, could my alignment be that far out?
Looking at the GYDT in 275/55/R20 to replace them.

 

[Sandroad]

Those tires look like they "aged out". Check the date code on them and I bet you'll find they are 6 years old, which is getting to be old age for a tire. The compound is hardened, cracking and chunking from just cornering and braking. Definitely time for new.

 

[7schulz]

They are 1414 date code, I’ve pulled 18 year old spare tires out of the bottom of LC and they hold up just fine. I found out it was the original by accident on a 98 LC I had. This is poor quality for an expensive Michelin.

 

[Sandroad]

I agree, they should have held together better than that. For sure don't do Latitude HP again!

 

[hickuptruck]

My last Michelin was an MS2 on an Escalade. They started dry rotting and cracking in 2 years and they wouldn't warranty them. Never going Michelin again. The competitors are just as good and way way cheaper than them.

 

[M1911]

I had Michelin MS2s in my 4Runner. They lasted about 75,000 miles and 7 years. I was very happy with them.

 

[AL LC2013]

The latitude tour hp is a 55k mile tire per Michelin. If you are at 50k that's near the lifespan you should expect for a heavier vehicle.

 

[marques]

I had a similar experience with the same tires on my LX570. And they were not “aged out”. One day I noticed they had begun to loose chunks of rubber. Only the front tires. The rears were fine. I fixed the problem by downgrading to 18” wheels with AT KO2 tires (factory Land Cruiser size). That was about 40k miles ago and so far so good. I’m not convinced those Latitude tires were designed to handle the stress of a front axle AWD application on a 3 ton vehicle.

 

[TeCKis300]

I echo much of what's been said above. These are likely the wrong tire model for the application.

It would be your loss to dismiss Michelins as a whole, as they truly are the crème de la crème tire manufacturer. It's up to the individual choose the right model tire for the application. Especially our rigs, which are tremendously heavy, bordering on 3/4 ton truck weights. Combine that with potentially low inflation pressure and the compound just overheats and destroys itself. At least it still provided respectable mileage.

Michelin LTX line of tires would be great for our 200-series vehicles.