I need a pair of these tires for my 4Runner and I just discovered that Michelin discontinued them. My front tires are 11 years old and developing dry rot cracks. Costco suggested I buy four new Bridgestone tires for $650. Well, that ain't gonna happen.

Just buy different tires. Michelin is far from the only company capable of producing quality tires these days.

Whatever you decide to buy, request to see the tire date code PRIOR to them mounting them. There has been numerous incidents of new tire blowouts and turns out they were dead stock in a warehouse which meant they were rotting from both inside and out. Big box stores are more likely to have the issue.

Your goal is to get max life out of them so 2 years old or less is ideal. When I looked into this a few years back the general consensus was new was 5 years or less, but to me (I don’t put on many miles per year) 5 year old tires better have a huge discount.

BTW, my current truck is 2 years old and I’m pleased with its Hankook. My previous truck had Yokohama and I was pleased with them.

Consumer Reports has the Continental CrossContact LX20 EcoPlus tire tied for first in all season truck tires with the Michelin Premier LTX tire

I liked my Nitto Terragrapplers!

I had some 10 ply Duravis Bridgestone tires that were outstanding tires. Bought some Revos and did not like them at all.
Michelins have not been great tires for me, then again I don't just drive around town on pavement.

I agree above. Many great tires made. Michelins are fine, but not the best imho. I won't buy them and pay their premium. No need.
I put 25k on them and feel like they are about done. Had three or four set's from Costco and the all seemed to go about the same way. No more.

Here's what I got for a search of a 2007 4Runner on the Michelin site:

https://www.michelinman.com/fi...499738&zipCode=46342

I have Defenders on my Honda CR-V

I have an old military trailer with tires from 1946. They don’t go far and don’t carry much weight, but they’re still holding air.

I thought this was going to be a “My Cousin Vinny” joke.

The tire date code info from tatortodd is good info. I never knew about this until I was buying tires for my hooptie. I had a rear tire blow and it probably had 10k miles on it. But it was over 10 years old. As I was talking to the kid at the counter (local tire joint, not a chain) he said that at about the 5 year mark the oils really begin to dry up in the rubber and they start to rot. Mileage dosen't matter. Then he told me about the date code on the side of the tire and said if you really want them to last on a vehicle you don't drive alot don't buy anything over two years old.

I bought a set of four cheapies (hey it is a hooptie) but he showed me the date (all within a year) so I was pretty happy.

I love learning new things.

Tires should be replaced every 6-10 years depending on the manufacturer regardless of mileage.

How bad is your cracking? Michelin tires, I have found, seem to develop these sidewall cracks early. They even have a chart with photos of varying degrees of cracking that you compare yours to. If it is bad enough, within a certain time frame, they will warranty the tires. But at 11 years old, you're way past that. It doesn't matter how much tread is left on them, that old of a tire, no matter what the brand, is asking for trouble.

Bridgestone makes excellent tires, likely better than your beloved Michelin.

Yeah, there aren't a lot of choices in 15" tires anymore.

Four new Bridgestone branded tires for $650 is a pretty good deal. Your two 11-year-old tires definitely need to be replaced. What are the other two like?

The rear tire are only four years old and in fine shape. They were needed when I drove through a construction zone and punctured the sidewalls on two tires. All four tires were originally purchased together 11 years ago.

There are plenty of good tires out there. I wouldn't look too hard for Michelins. In my experience, the Cooper Discoverer AT/3 is a good light truck tire for the money. They make them in P265/70R15.

quote:

Originally posted by bobandmikako:
There are plenty of good tires out there. I wouldn't look too hard for Michelins. In my experience, the Cooper Discoverer AT/3 is a good light truck tire for the money. They make them in P265/70R15.

And the Mastercraft AXT is the same green tire with nearly identical tread. We sell lots of those and use them on our own vehicles.

quote:

Originally posted by MG34_Dan:
Costco suggested I buy four new Bridgestone tires for $650. Well, that ain't gonna happen.

What am I missing? What's wrong with that?

ETA: Just read your post above.

Time for a nice set of larger wheels?

quote:

Consumer Reports has the Continental CrossContact LX20 EcoPlus tire tied for first in all season truck tires with the Michelin Premier LTX tire

I'm running these tires on my AWD Sorento right now and they are excellent. 35k miles so far and no sign of wear. We have snowy winters here and I get very good traction. I'm never going to buy a set of Michelins again. The last set I had on an Explorer only lasted 40k miles.

Jim