Michelin Tires

You might also take a look at Goodyear Fortera Silent Armour

I have the Cross Terrains on my 99 XLT. They are very smooth riding tires. I think the general concensus of previous discussions is that the LTX's are slightly more aggressive the Cross Terrains, although I do not think you will go wrong with either tire.

I was thinking the same thing. I'm sure they are both great tires. I should probably go with the LTX since I am something of an aggressive driver.

I was at Costco and they were out of both yesterday. I guess I can call around and try to negotiate with someone else. The LTX was $155 and the Cross Terrain was $175. Plus at Costco, all the mounting, balancing, and stems are free.

Wish me luck!

What's the price like.

Be aware that the tires sold at Costco are not the same as tires sold elsewhere (at least that was true for the Michelin X-One/X-Radials I was looking into a couple of years ago). Go the the Michelin web page and look up the tire specs. They are incredibly boring-looking tables, but they will likely tell you that the tires you'll get at Costco have 2/16" less tread than the tires you'll get somewhere else.

The Cross Terrain Michelins are great. Very smooth. Have had them on my F150 for two weeks and will put them on the Explorer soon. Got them at Tires Plus for 142.00 each. You can special order them at Walmart for 147.00.

I had the LTX/MS on my '99 and have the Cross Terrains on my '03. The Cross Terrains are quieter and have better traction in both rain and snow conditions IMO. My 03 has 30K miles and the Cross Terrains have lots of miles left. They wear evenly with no alignment or balancing - I only rotate them every 10K or so.

Dick O'Keefe

I bought a set of the Forteras's in July 2005 for my wife's '98 XLT and I think they're great. Much smoother than the UNI Laredo's they replaced. Those Laredos were the Firestone replacements. They weren't smooth tires but I got 80 grand out of them before the tread wore down.

I found an Internet price at Tire Kingdom for $120 for the Forteras and took it to the local Goodyear shop here in South Carolina because I needed a few other maintenance items done. They matched the price and I got them for $120 each installed with lifetime balance and rotation.

Damn fine tire so far with about 8K on them.

I have had LTX M/S tires on my '95 explorer since '97, live in So. Cal. and recommend them highly. They wear like iron and have a comfortable ride. I'm on my second set! If you desire a smooth ride, replace shocks with Monroe Sensa-Trak or Monroe Reflex to complement your tires....it makes a huge difference.

The X Terrain are better than LTX for smooth roads. I have just replaced my first set of Cross Terrains with a second set, both were from Costco. I rarely go off road, but they are great in Long Island snow. They are quiet on smooth roads. Needless to say, I think they are great.