LSUMatt1514

Mr. Tibbs,
The LTX M/S or the Cross Terrain SUV?

Swede

Hey LSUMatt1514,

It would be interesting to see if your tire guys would let you swap your tire/wheel set with the owners Limited and see if the problem shows up on his rig or stays with yours.

lee

good call

fiveofeen

cross terrains rock! we had them on the explorer when we baught it at 23k miles they are nearly due for replacment at 115k i really like them, they are pricey but good.

MTL_4runner

The tires may have some hum to them depending on the agressiveness of the tread but there should not be any serious vibration at all at highway speeds. If you have the tire pressure set too high that may be part of the rough ride, Revos should be at around 28-30 psi for your size tire (the smaller the tire, the more pressure you need to run and vice versa).

If you are thinking about the Michelins, go LTX M/S all the way (it was my second set with no probs at all).

MTL_4runner

Matt, if I were you I would want to know if it was the tire causing the problem or not. The shop should help you out (like swapping with the limited if at all possible).

Those Revos didn't get reviews like that on tirerack.com for being a crappy performer.....something is wrong there!

Mr Tibbs

I have the cross terrains and love them!! No problems at all.

LSUMatt1514

Definitely not a pressure issue. I've got a Michelin digital tire pressure gauge that I got at Sam's and I checked all four tires before I went home for Christmas. I found a couple at around 27 psi, one at around 30 psi, and one around 31 psi. I thought this might be the problem so I set them all to 30 psi. Well not so much. Same vibration at the same speed (65+ mph)

That's interesting that you got that many miles out of the Cross Terrains. Tons of folks complained in their reviews on TireRack that they only got 40k-50k out of them which to me is totally unacceptable for how much they cost. Looks to me like the best cost/benefit ratio is the LTX M/S.

Matt

SHINYSIDEUP

I just installed a set of Michelin LTX M/S on my 2nd gen 31 x 10.5 x 15. Had the same problem getting them balanced by NTB. Took them to the Toyota dealer who balanced them out nicely and NTB reimbursed me for what I paid the Toyota dealer.
Best thing you can do is swap the owners wheels and yours just to make sure the vibration is tire related. This will answer the question pronto and give you a better chance of fighting Firestone if it's their fault.
Good luck. I now have Michelins on all my cars.

LSUMatt1514

Is it possible to incorrectly mount a tire onto a wheel?

Mr Tibbs

Rotate and balance every 5k, and since I have the new wheels I don't have to worry about them screwing up the balance! It's so nice after fighting it for soooo long.

SHINYSIDEUP

Only if it's unidirectional. If it is there will be an arrow somewhere on the sidewall showing the correct direction of rotation.

02SE

I had a set of the Michelin LTX M/S tires in the LT265/75R 16 load range C size on my '97 Runner, mounted on the stock 16x7 alloy wheels.

The original Goodyear Wrangler RT/S tires could not be balanced by the dealer, even after 4 tries, so I went to Discount tire and traded the Badyear tires for the Michelins.

They were great for the next 72,000 miles. I replaced them because the tread was getting to the point that they didn't do well in snow anymore.

I replaced the Michelins with Toyo Open Country AT's in the same size, and load range.

The Toyo's have been on my 'Runner for 10,000 miles. They are a tiny bit louder than the Michelins, they balance with less weight, they have better traction than the Michelins, amazingly, they also have a better ride. There is no noticeable wear yet, so I can't guess how many miles I'll get, but I'm very happy with them so far.

LSUMatt1514

I really don't think the owner of the shop is going to take time out of his/his worker's schedule to swap the tires on my truck onto his and vice versa. It's worth asking, but I'm not expecting a yes. Like I said, they are a small shop and they won't even be open again until the 30th, so I've got to wait until then to get prices from them on the Michelins. This totally sucks because I love the wet traction performance of the Revos as well as the look, but I do A LOT of highway driving and the vibration is killing me. I hate to do it, but I may take it to Limbaugh Toyota and have them take everything off, remount the tires onto the wheels, and do a rebalance. I feel like I'm beating a dead horse and just pissing more money away, but I guess it's my last shot, outside of the swap with the owner like ya'll talked about.

LSUMatt1514

That's what kills me about the balance. There isn't a whole lot of weight on any of the wheels. There is one wheel with a little more than the other three, but talking to the other shop this past weekend (the one that convinced me not to pay for another balance), he said that none of the tires had alot of weight on them. I just don't get it. Where's the vibration coming from? If there were any tires that were out of round, A&R would have found it when they road force balanced them twice! I don't know what else to do other than give it one more go at the Toyota dealership or dump them on Firestone's doorstep and demand a refund and get a set of Michelins.

Matt

Nic

I have the Michelin LTX M/Ss and love them. They ride great. I had to have them replaced since the Dunlops that came with the truck were just plain bad.

A little pricey, but worth every penny IMO.

LSUMatt1514

Can ya'll think of ANY reason why I shouldn't run 265/75/16 instead of the stock 265/70/16? I like the extra height of the 75s, but I don't want to get a set of Michelin 75s and still have a problem. I'm reaching fellows. I don't think that the height has anything to do with anything here, but other opinions help.

Matt

02SE

LIke I said, I have run 265/75 16 tires ever since I got rid of the crap OEM tires. And I have had no problems running that size.

IMO, you just have some defective tires.

I know I will never own a set of Bridgestone/Firestone tires, especially after their highly publicized tread separation problems.

LSUMatt1514

02SE,
Which tires are you running? What year is your 4Runner and is 2WD or 4WD? No vibration problems at all?

Matt

MTL_4runner

It is likely either a defective tire OR a poor balance.
Matt, the height has nothing to do with vibration on the tire (ie no reason why they couldn't balance properly).
At least if you have them broken down and inspected, any tire damage should be noticable then.

I feel bad for you man.....don't go back to that small shop, go to Costco! (best price and can balance tires all day long)