Are people really successfully wheeling these? I understand them to be excellent road tires but for the people who do 90/10 and get annoyed by ATs it still seems these aren't built for decent off roading. Tirerack reviews seem to show such and a LOT of reading through various tacoma and 4runner forums seems to net opinions that they don't hold up off road (with purely anecdotal experience, however). Given I have never seen a direct comparison between a legit AT and the defenders from a trusted publication I am looking for any additional experience here. Is there actually a robust sample size of folks here running these on trails etc. or is it a person or two who has gotten lucky so far off road with these. There are zero videos on youtube of these tires being wheeled
So I think the Michelin Defender is the perfect all-terrain tire... (For most of us) (5 Viewers)
- Thread starter chriscosta416
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Did you read the links in the original post? Small sample size but literally hundreds of thousands of miles off pavement in the two links at the beginning of the thread.
I have spent way more time than I'd rather admit looking at the 400k taco thread and various other forum posts to include the expedition portal one but I almost always see little detail on the actual surfaces and trails with the exception of the OP of this thread. I've also spent time on the phone with Michelin and they seem to be pushing that it should not be taken off road except when absolutely necessary. The most common data points I've seen have been construction fleet owners/drivers on forums and tire rack discussing their use off road but again seems more of a dirt road/gravel road situation than extensive wheeling. OP's posts throughout this thread are helpful just looking to revive the thread if anyone has updated experience/data points on these on actual trails
Maybe you need a heavy duty A/T tire for "extensive wheeling".
It's a highway A/S tire after all.
Yeah, like LX4x4 said, these are not for extensive wheeling. And 90/10 is not extensive unless you are hard core rock crawling. These should be fine for most fire roads which is probably what most people with the 200s would do.
And being an AT doesn't guarantee anything either. I ran some ProComp X-Terrains (A cross between AT and MT tires.) on my jeep for a number of years. I went through so many tires 4wheel parts tried to refuse to honor their warranty and did not allow to purchase any more warranties. I don't think I did much crazy rock crawling as a lot of those tires were damaged while running with the Dodge Durango group at the time.
I also damaged a couple of 35" Mickey Thompson MTZs doing some extensive wheeling.
I ran the Michelin AT2s on my Lexus for about 4 years doing trails around Las Vegas and Southern Utah and never had a flat. I don't think they had a stronger carcass than my current Defender MS2 XLs but will find out in July in Colorado.
All makes sense - I am not extensive wheeling but if I had to categorize the 10% it would be above the fire roads and gravel roads I see so many people have success with the Defenders on which is the main reason I thought i'd see if there were any new off road experiences with the tire on this thread
I’m more like 60/40 on/off road. And I ran the defenders for 2 summers. In in Alaska and my off roading is a combo of technical rocky forest service roads (similar to the off road passes in the Rocky Mountains), mud/glacier silt, sand dunes, and I do 2-4k miles a summer on the Dalton/Haul/steese/Elliot/Dempster all are pretty rough as far as gravel/dirt/permafrost goes.
I bought a set of tundra 18” take offs with the defenders that had ~50% remaining which is why I only had them for 2 summers. I had KO2’s prior. My plan was to get another set of Defenders but spring of 2022 none were available and options were slim when I needed a set so I had to get another set of K02’s.
In my experience (half worn out defenders) As compared to the (new) KO2 the defenders are noticeably much better in the sand, rain, highway, snow/ice (in the summer that is, I run studded Hakkas in the winter), wet rock, and gravel roads.
They are about the same in the dirt and loose rock.
Only situation I think the K02s are slightly better is mud.
On the 2 summers I had the defenders I never was in a situation when I wished I had the K02’s. My current K02s are not terrible but when it’s time for new I’ll most likely get defenders.
comments like these keep steering me back to defenders!
Super helpful insight/experience! i'm not sure what the summer snow/ice temps are for you guys in AK but do you find the Defenders struggle in cold winter conditions? I see people say they are good in snow/ice but based on the tire life they seem like they would have a super hard compound and suck in the cold closer to 0 etc.
I run Nokian Hakkas in the winter, I typically make the swap early to mid October and plan on swapping back to my summer tires this weekend (it was still snowing <2 weeks ago).
That said we can get snow and ice regularly in September and into late May. I’ve also been in snow storms in mid August.
As for temps where I live rarely sees temps much above 70F ever. Typically can see temps below freezing every month except June and July. I’m regularly still running my summer tires when my morning commute is mostly in the low 20’sF.
I know a lot of people that run defenders year round up here, with 6-7 months of snow/ice covered roads and 2-3 months of temps well below 0F.
Where I live in AK 30F and sunny is shorts and flip flop weather, when it hits 72F we think we are on the surface of the sun and it’s the apocalypse.
Your comments are very helpful and informative, and based on a lot of real world experience. Thanks so much for posting that up.
I'm running the Defenders year around in PNW and spend at least 4 days per week in the snow in the winter. They are not winter tires with which I'm also familiar on my other vehicles, but I had no problems so far. The only diff is that the max driving speed for the given snow/ice conditions is lower than the winter tires, as expected. Anyway that max speed is higher than what the speed limit or the trafic speed is.
Hello Everyone,
I run Michelin Defenders in 305/50R20’s on my 2009 LX570. I’ve had them installed for several months now and a few thousand miles. I really like them even though they cost me Appx 1/2 to 1 mpg compared to the 285 Michelins I had on it before. I’m not sure why since the OD is pretty close to the same. Maybe they are a bit heavier?
I’m still very pleased with them and they really fill out the wheel wells. Speaking of that, I have 3/4” Bora Wheel spacers as well. I did have to “trim” the front fender wheel well inserts. They were rubbing a bit at full lock when coming off an incline angle.
I do zero off road wheeling but love the fact that my rig is capable in case I need to take a shortcut in a get out of dodge situation.
I know that 20’s don’t have a tall sidewall compared to 17’s or 18’s so trail riding is more limited. The 305’s mounted on factory width rims do cause the sidewall to angle in toward the tire. I would think that would help a bit to protect the rims from damage a bit better than the 285’s I had previously?
Just my personal experiences.
Blessings, Brian
I run Michelin Defenders in 305/50R20’s on my 2009 LX570. I’ve had them installed for several months now and a few thousand miles. I really like them even though they cost me Appx 1/2 to 1 mpg compared to the 285 Michelins I had on it before. I’m not sure why since the OD is pretty close to the same. Maybe they are a bit heavier?
I’m still very pleased with them and they really fill out the wheel wells. Speaking of that, I have 3/4” Bora Wheel spacers as well. I did have to “trim” the front fender wheel well inserts. They were rubbing a bit at full lock when coming off an incline angle.
I do zero off road wheeling but love the fact that my rig is capable in case I need to take a shortcut in a get out of dodge situation.
I know that 20’s don’t have a tall sidewall compared to 17’s or 18’s so trail riding is more limited. The 305’s mounted on factory width rims do cause the sidewall to angle in toward the tire. I would think that would help a bit to protect the rims from damage a bit better than the 285’s I had previously?
Just my personal experiences.
Blessings, Brian
You are almost an inch taller annd inch wider so yes the tire will be heavier in the same model. And with spacers and (I assume) stock wheels you have more air drag and ground contact area friction. All will lead to reduced mileage.
Sorry if I missed it here or elsewhere but may I ask what is the recommended psi for Michelin LTX ms XL 285 50r20. 116H on a 2015 LX570?
Love these tires btw.
When I bought it with them dealership had them at 41psi but now I’m second guessing.
Love these tires btw.
When I bought it with them dealership had them at 41psi but now I’m second guessing.
gaijin
GOLD Star
The RCTIP (Recommended Cold Tire Inflation Pressure) for those ISO-Metric 285/50R20 XL 116H tires on your LX570 is 34psi F/R.
HTH
- Thread starter
- #497
Hi all! Love seeing this thread blow up!
I want to clarify that all my experiences were with the Defender LTX MS
Michelin seems to have come out with the new LTX MS2 and I’m sure it’ll perform just as great!
Unfortunately I sold my LX570 due to gas mileage and bought a 2020 Outlander PHEV.
Tire sizes are slim for this PHEV and LTXs are not available however I did purchase the Defender 2 and will keep everyone posted on how they perform “off-road”
I want to clarify that all my experiences were with the Defender LTX MS
Michelin seems to have come out with the new LTX MS2 and I’m sure it’ll perform just as great!
Unfortunately I sold my LX570 due to gas mileage and bought a 2020 Outlander PHEV.
Tire sizes are slim for this PHEV and LTXs are not available however I did purchase the Defender 2 and will keep everyone posted on how they perform “off-road”
- Thread starter
- #498
I think from a liability standpoint Michelin would steer you away, but you get find a bunch of cheap defenders on Facebook marketplace if you wanted to test it out.
I have no means done any difficult trails, but I have put them on sharp rocks and rocks with no issue. Since then I do think passenger tires even mild/hybrid ATs will go a long way.
You sold a 200 for a mistubishi..?
- Thread starter
- #500
I’ve owned many Mitsubishis before. I drive a lot per year (around 30k mile) so wanted to go with one of the cheapest PHEVs I can find and the Mitsu fit that need.
I also shot press photos for the outlander when the refresh came out and was pleasantly surprised by it
But I miss my 200 very much and plan to buy a late model year LX in a few years again
