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Michelin kaboom! Michelin tire update!

klutchdust
Explorer II
Explorer II
Tire was built 3rd week of July 2014, 32K miles left rear inside. That makes it a 5 year old tire.

proper inflation and coach is within weight guidelines. Driving on the freeway and without warning kaboom!

Lots of damage underneath that I am repairing now. A tire separation really damages things. My repair will include my own upgrades underneath to lessen the carnage should it happen again.
Check your tires. Age, not tread left determines their usefulness.

28 REPLIES 28

pnichols
Explorer II
Explorer II
LOG wrote:
The Defender LTX M/S has not been discontinued. But it has been discontinued in the size 225/75R16 LRE.


Rats .... the Defender has also been discontinued in the size I use on my E450 Class C for better ground clearance and dually interspacing - 215/85R16 LRE.

I guess I'll have to give the 215/85R16 LRE Agilis a try at tire replacement time.
2005 E450 Itasca 24V Class C

LOG
Explorer
Explorer
The Defender LTX M/S has not been discontinued. But it has been discontinued in the size 225/75R16 LRE.
LOG
2005 Chinook Glacier

klutchdust
Explorer II
Explorer II
My friend is a dealer and Michelin was unable to send him any. Americaโ€™s tire same thing and tire rack.
The Agis looks nice . The defender date code was late 2018 and the Agis last month.
I have read production stopped in April this year.

pnichols
Explorer II
Explorer II
klutchdust wrote:
Found out the Michelin "defender" is out of production, the replacement is the Agilis. Slightly different tread design. I now have all rear tires replaced.2 new defenders and 2 new Agilis. The rears were worn 50% based on my tire depth gauge and the fronts 60% .

I already purchased the defenders and later decided to replace all four. Within a week the defender was not available. Slightly different tread design but who cares.


Hmmm ... they seem to still be available on Michelin's website ... what dealer told you they weren't?
https://www.michelinman.com/all-season-tires/defender-ltx-m-s.html

I have six Defender LTX M/S Load Range E tires on my Class C and assume I can replace them with the same when the time comes. They have been outstanding tires so far.
2005 E450 Itasca 24V Class C

klutchdust
Explorer II
Explorer II
Found out the Michelin "defender" is out of production, the replacement is the Agilis. Slightly different tread design. I now have all rear tires replaced.2 new defenders and 2 new Agilis. The rears were worn 50% based on my tire depth gauge and the fronts 60% .

I already purchased the defenders and later decided to replace all four. Within a week the defender was not available. Slightly different tread design but who cares.

js218
Explorer
Explorer
Changed my Michelins at 2.5 years and 149,000 miles no cracks just wear. Put 10 Michelins back on,8 XDN2 drives, 2 X line Energy steers.
2017 Haulmark 45' Super C 600hp, 12 speed I shift transmission, tandem drive axles, 3 stage engine brake, towing 26' trailer with an 08 explorer inside.
Jim

Dakzuki
Explorer
Explorer
Sometimes bad stuff happens. Did you contact Michelin. They may be interested.
2011 Itasca Navion 24J
2000 Chev Tracker Toad

lane_hog
Explorer II
Explorer II
Our dry-rotted Michelins were 2004's so no free tires for us. And as Powertour said, they just don't last in dry climates...

Since then, I've tried BFG's, Uniroyals, but Coopers are the keepers.
  • 2019 Grand Design 29TBS (had a Winnebago and 3x Jayco owner)
  • 2016 F-150 3.5L MaxTow (had Ram 2500 CTD, Dodge Durango)
  • 130W solar and 2005 Honda EU2000i twins that just won't quit

LOG
Explorer
Explorer
NWboondocker wrote:
LOG wrote:
We had Michelin tires on a 27 ft Winnebago class A motorhome. They had dry rot cracks on the sidewalls. They were less than 3 years old with less than 12,000 miles. The motorhome was parked under cover on gravel. The tires were not covered, were not aired up to maximum, and motorhome was not moved for the last year owned.
Our current class C motorhome has Michelin tires that are five years old with 33,000 miles and have no dry rot on sidewalls. The motorhome is store inside, on concrete, driven every two months or less, driven at 65 mph or less in hot and cold weather, aired to maximum psi on rear dual tires, and weight is under GAWR and GVWR.
Maybe just a coincidence?

Were the cracked tires part of the '10-'12 Michelin recall? Our used class C had them and the sidewalls suddenly went from good to badly cracked around year 3-4. Replaced with 7 (incl. spare) free new Michelins which we're still running.


No. The tires were 19.5 wheels. The tires were put on in March of 2012 and the motorhome was sold in July of 2014. The dealer who sold the motorhome on consignment would not list the motorhome for sale until we put on new tires. They said they would not sell a motorhome with dry rotted tires.
LOG
2005 Chinook Glacier

NWboondocker
Explorer
Explorer
LOG wrote:
We had Michelin tires on a 27 ft Winnebago class A motorhome. They had dry rot cracks on the sidewalls. They were less than 3 years old with less than 12,000 miles. The motorhome was parked under cover on gravel. The tires were not covered, were not aired up to maximum, and motorhome was not moved for the last year owned.
Our current class C motorhome has Michelin tires that are five years old with 33,000 miles and have no dry rot on sidewalls. The motorhome is store inside, on concrete, driven every two months or less, driven at 65 mph or less in hot and cold weather, aired to maximum psi on rear dual tires, and weight is under GAWR and GVWR.
Maybe just a coincidence?

Were the cracked tires part of the '10-'12 Michelin recall? Our used class C had them and the sidewalls suddenly went from good to badly cracked around year 3-4. Replaced with 7 (incl. spare) free new Michelins which we're still running.
'13 Coachmen Freelander 26QB

LOG
Explorer
Explorer
We had Michelin tires on a 27 ft Winnebago class A motorhome. They had dry rot cracks on the sidewalls. They were less than 3 years old with less than 12,000 miles. The motorhome was parked under cover on gravel. The tires were not covered, were not aired up to maximum, and motorhome was not moved for the last year owned.
Our current class C motorhome has Michelin tires that are five years old with 33,000 miles and have no dry rot on sidewalls. The motorhome is store inside, on concrete, driven every two months or less, driven at 65 mph or less in hot and cold weather, aired to maximum psi on rear dual tires, and weight is under GAWR and GVWR.
Maybe just a coincidence?
LOG
2005 Chinook Glacier

30sweeds
Explorer
Explorer
Same thing happened to me with the mud flap and bracket flipping up and over.The road was super busy and there was absolutely no place to pull over because of shoulder construction.Stopping and fixing would be suicide.Anyway,creeped along trying to make the next town.There was so much pressure on the other tire from the flap that the SOB caught on FIRE.Now we had to stop,the road crew was kind enough to let us in and a guy used a torch to cut off the flap bracket.The other tire managed to stay up till the next town where we got a full set of Michelins at Sams.

marty1300
Explorer
Explorer
Sorry to see that happen Klutch. The tire looks pretty bad. Hope you get it fixed up

Marty
Marty

klutchdust
Explorer II
Explorer II
ron.dittmer wrote:
klutchdust,

I am sorry to read the tire damaged your rig. That is the "serious" damage done. I am so glad that you were able to maintain control to a "stop". I suppose being an inside-rear, it wouldn't be hard to pull over. But doing so in haste while the tire is thrashing up your rig, that would be the challenge.


The first thing I did was slow way down and hit the 4 way flashers. I drove a short distance to the next off ramp as the shoulder was narrow.
It turned the mud flap bracket and metal box upside down and tore the cover off the outside panel exposing insulation. Above the tire is a plastic wheel well,it should be metal,that was split in three places.
Thatโ€™s all been repaired and a new tire on order. Going to put new tire on front and use the older front to match the older rear. Itโ€™s best to keep them within 1/4 inch in diameter of each other.