It requires wheel spacers if you are going to run a large tire on stock wheels.
So I think the Michelin Defender is the perfect all-terrain tire... (For most of us) (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter chriscosta416
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It requires wheel spacers if you are going to run a large tire on stock wheels.
thanks!!It requires wheel spacers if you are going to run a large tire on stock wheels.
Spidertrax Toyota 5 on 150mm x 1-1/4" Thick Wheel Spacer Kit (Pair)
www.spidertrax.com
Zjohnsonua
SILVER Star
The Defender is a fine tire. A very good one even. But let's call a spade a spade...the Defender is built as a highway tire.
bloc
SILVER Star
Which means it is more appropriate than a mud terrain or more aggressive AT for the vast majority of people that run those tires.
Zjohnsonua
SILVER Star
Fine by me. Misleading title is all.
Very odd tread design. It’s like an HT in the center with blocky lateral portions and sidewalls. They are definitely trying to be the best of both worlds here. Will be very intrigued to see how the reviews fare.
bloc
SILVER Star
That’s the thing. This tire you judge as designed for highway would handle “all terrain” category better than the tires you’d judge as being approved for all terrain. Because all includes road. Not to mention these doing significantly better than those other tires in some off-road conditions like slick rock or sand, or winter in some cases. And yes worse in mud.. but many ATs aren’t that great in mud anyway.
I’m very happy with how my defenders performed in SW CO, and the whole way there and back from Texas.
Pskhaat
Tourer
And yet it performs off highway. Quite well. Despite the intent, and despite our expectations.
I almost get it, but did you read his post? He did called limits on heavy mud (which will still see MTs stuck in anyway) and hard rock crawling. Everything else would be AT, gravel, washboard, dirt, snow, ice, sand.
Just because it doesn’t look like an AT doesn’t mean it can’t do it, all these photos proves they’ll do it fine. And I bet most of the AT/MT crowds drive many more miles on pavement than off.
Now with so many different compounds and tread patterns tires can check more than one box. My wife’s highway tire went everywhere my wildpeaks went, and they started on my truck and are still going!
I get that they don’t look like tough off road tires, and to some that’s enough to keep them off their truck.
Zjohnsonua
SILVER Star
I read the thread. I think lots of people are perfectly fine on HTs, and would likely be better served by them, yet they buy ATs (or even MTs) for many reasons. ATs are generally built differently and will, albeit marginally in some cases, outperform an HT. This thread and embedded video talks to this idea in more detail: Why there is no “best” All-Terrain Tire,… - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/why-there-is-no-best-all-terrain-tire.1315377/
Other threads are actively comparing it to an HT: Tire Rack Michelin Defender vs. Continental HT - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/tire-rack-michelin-defender-vs-continental-ht.1301324/
Can tell you for certain that bolting these up to a Blue trail-capable truck will immediately render it less capable in my area.
I can hike a path in dress shoes and not suffer any consequences - doesn't mean they were the right choice.
Other threads are actively comparing it to an HT: Tire Rack Michelin Defender vs. Continental HT - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/tire-rack-michelin-defender-vs-continental-ht.1301324/
Can tell you for certain that bolting these up to a Blue trail-capable truck will immediately render it less capable in my area.
I can hike a path in dress shoes and not suffer any consequences - doesn't mean they were the right choice.
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bloc
SILVER Star
Is running a marathon in hiking boots because there is a gravel finish line more appropriate?
It’s almost as though people should buy tires that fit their use case. These tires are great at a very broad array of use cases. By that definition they are all terrains.
That depends... does it make me look cooler on pavement if I am running in the hiking boots?
Well, you just look "butch"....That depends... does it make me look cooler on pavement if I am running in the hiking boots?
So I'm going with 285/60/18 on some HE wheels (have to keep truck height low to park in garage with ski rack on top) and been debating the XL Defender vs the XL Toyo AT3. I'm likely to go with the Defender, but mainly wondering if the slightly heavier/burlier AT3 would have any tangible benefits to make me go that route? My needs in no particular order are light offroad use, snow performance, low noise on hwy, and fuel economy.
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We've been using Yokohama Geolander A/T G015 for the past 75k miles. My first set went about 55k miles and had another few more thousand to go before the treads were too low. Very quiet on the highway, very capable in the rain, good enough for snow, and good enough for the trails. Great stopping capabilities. Very affordable. Great gas mileage on the highway (20-22 mpg).
If you're like me and do a ton of highway miles, very quiet and capable tires are the way to go. They are so quiet I can hear what my family is thinking
If you're like me and do a ton of highway miles, very quiet and capable tires are the way to go. They are so quiet I can hear what my family is thinking
oh good call - I'll add those to the list too. thanks!
Get Defender.
AT3, esp non-LT, are POS. Wears quickly. Bad in bad weather. Noisy. They do look good....but that's about it. AT3 took 1 year to develop and produce...and it shows.
I love G015. But reviews have tanked it for bad fuel economy. Interesting that you are getting good mileage!We've been using Yokohama Geolander A/T G015 for the past 75k miles. My first set went about 55k miles and had another few more thousand to go before the treads were too low. Very quiet on the highway, very capable in the rain, good enough for snow, and good enough for the trails. Great stopping capabilities. Very affordable. Great gas mileage on the highway (20-22 mpg).
If you're like me and do a ton of highway miles, very quiet and capable tires are the way to go. They are so quiet I can hear what my family is thinking
Great tire. We used those for about 60K miles . However MPG really wasn't its strong suit. They were 43lbs. We switched to these at 45lbs https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=General&tireModel=Grabber+A/TX&sidewall=Raised White Letter&partnum=765TR8GRATXRWL&tab=SizesWe've been using Yokohama Geolander A/T G015 for the past 75k miles. My first set went about 55k miles and had another few more thousand to go before the treads were too low. Very quiet on the highway, very capable in the rain, good enough for snow, and good enough for the trails. Great stopping capabilities. Very affordable. Great gas mileage on the highway (20-22 mpg).
If you're like me and do a ton of highway miles, very quiet and capable tires are the way to go. They are so quiet I can hear what my family is thinking
