Just to be difficult, Im going to side with the naysayers regarding Michelins, for the sole reason that I grew up with a 1989 Ford Aerostar XL extended model with alloys, that came with factory Michelins and busted belts on tire after tire from day one. We always replaced the tires with the exact same size and model, and only after we installed Firestones five years later did it stop eating tires. Always the belts. Ive known a few others that complained about belts busting on their Michelins and I have never bought a Michelin tire, new or used because of this.

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I've been calling it as i see it for my entire life and that's not about to change. Take it or leave it.

About Michelins, they are European tires. European cars are overall way lighter than US cars, maybe there the reason? Michelins are considered great quality tires over here, and I've never heard anyone complain about them,... I'm thinking they are way better than the Generals I've got on the Dart now.

Just a thought,..

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1965 Barreiros Dodge Dart. 225 / 4 speed.

Maybe in your part of the world, they make Generals to different specs, but around here, they are about the only thing worse than a Goodyear. I'd rether have the Firestone Radial ATX's that they recalled on so many Ford Exploders. (Notice that that was the ONLY vehicle that had that trouble with that particular tire, but the Goodyears were doing that too, on the same vehicles!) As far as Michelins, I did have 1 set, I do not remember which Michelin it was, on an 88 D-100 shortbed that only went 27k miles, but I had an 87 B 250 van that had LTX's on it with 50k on them and still over 1/2 tread (I sold the van at that point) , they are also on my Dakota with 45K and counting, still over 1/2 tread, and overloaded more than a few times, as well as on my Wrangler with 37K since installed, over 1/2 tread remaining there, as well. Quiet, even with a soft top, evenly worn, great in snow with the 4X4, I love em! And I see all kinds of vehicles daily with all brands of tires, and hear way less complaints on the Michelins than anything else among the customers. Alot of it is matching the right tire to the way the vehicle is used (tread pattern, load range, speed rating, etc) and keeping the alignment and tire pressure right, as well as rotating them, especially on Ford Twin I beams as well as wrong wheel drives, like your Sebring,too. Also remember the higher the speed rating goes, regardless of brand, the mileage capability goes in the toilet in exchange for that handling.

mine breaks traction on corners to it is just part of driving a large rear wheel drive car with loose suspension

a set of those "junk" Michelins collecting dust in the garage?? I want 31X10.50R15's for my Jeep Either LTX A/T's or LTX M/S's.

pierre.... just a shot in the dark here: notice the big thick lines painted on the crosswalks at the intersection? those could be the source of your squeak.
i know on my dart and cuda i'll get a squeak as the tire transitions from the asphalt or pavement to the line and then back again, giving that **squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak** as i round the corner at about 15~20mph

**this HIGHLY scientific test has been performed with a number of different cars, suspensions, tire sizes and compounds and still yields the same results**

as for tires... well... different strokes for different folks... but like they say, you can pick two: cheap, safe or fast

-JYH
245/50/15 Hoosier R3S03
225/60/15 Yoko AVS Intermediates
245/60/14 Firestone Firehawk
205/50/15 Falken Azenis
205/50/15 BFG KD
225/50/15 B'stone S03 Pole Positions
205/55/16 Kumho MX
205/50/15 Kumho Ecsta 710
31" Goodyear Wrangler AT/S
yeah... different conditions necessitate different tires!

Nah it happens in the middle of the intersection just as the shift of weight is the greatest. Its not really a squeak like a mouse would make, its just like if you were burning out except lasts for about a second.

Good call though, i'll have to watch out for that in the future. Those painted lines can get kind of slick in the rain too.

Pierre,
I finally figured out what your problem is! You have a set of tires intended to be installed on a car used in an action movie chase scene. You know the ones, they even squeal when the cars are racing around on dirt or gravel roads. James Bond movie cars were especially notorious for exhibiting this phenomenon.

Jerry

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There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

Well, as a tire installer of many years myself, i'll have to go with volaredon on this. Michelins are defininately the highest quality tire out, *if you put it on the right vehicle* As far as being noisy or low traction, perhaps you have something else going on, or your driving on ice! Once had to refund a set because a guy said his car slipped out of his driveway while parked overnight. Only AFTER I gave him a free set of Go##Ye@rs, did he tell my that his driveway was at a sharp slope, and that he NEVER ONCE salted this beast of a hill.

I work for a large shop, (no, not sear's thank god) and have sold over 100,000 tires in my years, (not to meation the countless rotations and such)

These tires are smoother, quieter, longer-lasting, better wearing, hold their balance better, etc. than most that I ever seen.

As far as the belt problem, well, what can i say man, it's an Aerostar. One of ford's finest inventions I'm glad you went with the 'stones, crappy tires for a crappy vehicle.

P.S. funny how that works

Michelins are junk. I was suckered into putting a pair of at the time top of the range(XGTV) tyres onto a Ford Galaxie I had. These tyres were designed for large european cars like the big Mercedes sedans, and the front end weight is about the same. The rims were within Michelin's fitment limits too.
They handled well enough, but weren't impressive for what I paid for them($250 australian EACH, which is about $100 more than I have ever paid for a tyre since).
The best thing about them is they lasted 5000 miles......

Regards, Andrew.

Once again, you need the right tire for the right car. XGTV 4's are about the WORST choice for a Galaxie.

You put a very high performance tire on a big 'ol passenger car that was designed for a MUCH less stiffer tire.

As far as the 5000 miles, were they actually wore out, or just to your standards?

Hold on, is the Australian Ford Galaxie you had the same as the '60s American ones? They were discontinued here after about 1970.

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I've been calling it as i see it for my entire life and that's not about to change. Take it or leave it.

Was a 72 Galaxie, basically an imported Canadian built car, with an Australian Ford RHD conversion.
I say again, the Michelin XGTV were designed for large european passenger sedans like the large Mercs. The Mercs actually weigh about 200kgs more than the Galaxie I had, and I am sure have much better brakes to torture the tyres as well as being expected to sustain much higher speeds.
I don't see how sidewall stiffness would affect a tyre's life, especially when you consider that the car was set up to handle very well(for a large car anyway). All the tyre is going to do is roll across the rim a little more and being a radial, keep the tread flat on the road. Considering they were mounted on 8 inch rims, I doubt they were doing that either. They weren't even very low profile, 225/60 15's.
They were worn out, tread wear indicators showing through is worn out to me....
I guess it says a lot about Michelin dealers if they supposedly sold me the wrong tyre, when I went back to them, they couldn't care less, and tried to sell me more of the same......the BF Goodrich Radial T/A's I put on after them lasted a whole lot better(were on when I sold the car), with the same traction, and about half the cost.

Regards, Andrew.

The stiffness of tire will definatley change the overall tire treadlife. To acheive the high speed-rated tire, they must put a MUCH softer rubber to get the grip that you expect out of a high performance tire.

A standard stiffness tire will have a treadwear rating from around 450 to over 700(new michelin hydroedge, 85,000 mi warr.).

A high performance tire(xgtv4--very stiff) wil have a treadlife rating of 300 or BELOW. Quite the differance.

So yes, speed rating and sidewall can make a HUGE differance in overall tire life.


P.S. That 'v' in XGTV stands for 'v' speed rating, which is second from the highest.

V rating on big @ss sedan=no treadlife

Earlier in this post someone saidsomething about 3 qualities everyone wants in a tire, and you can pick any 2 but not get all 3 ??? We have a contract with both the city and county cops around here for their tires and alignments, the county will not take anything but Michelin PilotXGT's. They run crown vics and have experimented with other tires usually when we run low on their spec'd tires, and every time they are due to be replaced the next time, they always go back to the same Michelins. And yes, among any brand tire, you need to match the tire to the application; it aggravates me seeing people come in with P (car) rated tires on a truck that needs 10 plys (load range E) yet a guy that uses the truck as a glorified car and never carries anything but a few bags of groceries could get by with them it seems that those are the guys buying the heavier ones than what they need "for insurance" that they wont have any problems. You gotta match the tire to the vehicle or nobody will be happy, brand preferences aside.