Michelin Tires, Cross Terrain or LTX?

has all the comments and comparisons you could ever possibly want.

I had the LTX and really liked them. Sears put them on during the Firestone recall.

I really did like the tires and was getting very good tread wear. At about

50K miles, the tire started cupping and made road noise. But they still had good tread on them.

I took them back to Sears and they gave me an allowance on each tire, so I put LTXs back on. I like the tire.

LTX/MS might be the best tired I've ever owned. I had the Sears version (LC-SOMETHING) on my '99 Explorer after the Flintstone recall. They were the best tires I've ever owned. So when the second set of Bridgestones went on my current 2003 Mountaineer at about 45,000 miles (not terrible here in the hills of Pittsburgh where 30,000 is EXCELLENT out of any tire), I installed LTX-MS. I would NOT get the Cross-Terrain as they don't seem as rugged or durable. Just my eyeball opinion though.

Anyway, the original tires (I sold the vehicle to a friend with about 35000 miles on the tires) went over 50,000 miles here in Pittsburgh which is unheard of. Unheard of.

You can find reports only from Explorer owners at TireRack.com. I have the LTX M/S and wouldn't settle for anything less. My brother's has the Cross Terrain and they are quieter but not as "truck-tire" looking.

I've been following this thread with a lot of interest because my '03 is ready for some replacement tires. I had a '94 Eddie Bauer that came with the OE Firestones and the day I installed my first pair of LTX's, I thought I just got a new truck. No more wandering, no more weird vibrations, no more fearing for my life! However, I always wondered about the Cross Terrains.

What is the primary difference between these two treads? From the comment below, it sounds like they might be a quieter tire. That was the only thing (aside from the price!) that I didn't like about the LTX's....the tire noise. It wasn't THAT bad, but as an audiofile, I didn't like the sound of the tires competing with some of my quieter music. Any help or info you guys can offer would be appreciated as I need to get a new set of tires before a Thanksgiving trip to Tenn.

dave

I put the Cross Terrains on my 02-F150 , nice smooth ride and very quiet, grips the road in rain. A few months later it was time to replace the tires on our 99 EB, so I went with the Cross Terrains for the Explorer too. Just got back from the Smokies and it handled great - This is the fourth set of tires on the Explorer (129,000 miles on it)...............So far these are the best tires.......got the best price at Walmart special order. Got the set for the truck at Tires Plus, but the price went up and had to go shopping. Here is my experience on the Explorer tires.

1st set was original Firestones (very quiet tire and handled well) These were recalled. 2nd set was Bridgestone Duelers, (worse tires I ever owned) noisy after 15,000 miles, was so glad to get rid of them and thought I had found the solution with >

Continental SUVs - nice quiet tire for about 20,000 miles, drove them until they reached 50K and then Michelin Cross Terrains., so far I have around 6000 on them and they are still as smooth and noise free as day one.

Enough said, I could go on.............

As Andy said... " I have the LTX M/S and wouldn't settle for anything less."

MASSIVE difference in ride quality, longevity, and handling. And "noiseless," AFA truck tires go!! (at least IMO)

Plus, they will stand up to much heavier loads IF you need to haul/pull anything. (Mine are C rated IIRC)

Best of luck with your decision!