Continental Terrain Contact H/T?

[Geotrash]

Hi all. Time for new tires on the 2012 tow rig. 275/55/20. I’ve been a loyal Michelin buyer for years, but I see that discount tire has the Continental Terrain Contact H/T which has a similar tread pattern and treadwear numbers to the Michelin Defender LTX but they sell it in an XL load range which would be beneficial for towing. Any of you running this tire or another 20” tire with the XL load range that you like?

 

[B-train]

Believe it or not, I've had good luck with Starfire 20" tires for my Yukon. They have great reviews, are made in America, and were on sale for $115-ish each at Amazon. Delivered in 3 days to my door. Their tread pattern is very close to Michelin defender as well. For less than $600 I figured I'd take a chance on my summer wheel set. So far, very impressed.

I recommended this to a friend with the same size wheels on his Denali and he has had excellent luck as well. FWIW

 

[91RS]

The Michelin is better in handling and ride quality. The continental isn’t as cushy. I put the Continentals on my old Yukon when I sold it and bought new Michelins for the 13.

 

[89Suburban]

Believe it or not, I've had good luck with Starfire 20" tires for my Yukon. They have great reviews, are made in America, and were on sale for $115-ish each at Amazon. Delivered in 3 days to my door. Their tread pattern is very close to Michelin defender as well. For less than $600 I figured I'd take a chance on my summer wheel set. So far, very impressed.

I recommended this to a friend with the same size wheels on his Denali and he has had excellent luck as well. FWIW

Good tires for the money I can vouch for that! Very good riding, handling, low noise, excellent traction even in wet. I call them poor man's Michelin Defenders. They seem to wear a bit faster but very good tires for the buck!

 

[89Suburban]

Hi all. Time for new tires on the 2012 tow rig. 275/55/20. I’ve been a loyal Michelin buyer for years, but I see that discount tire has the Continental Terrain Contact H/T which has a similar tread pattern and treadwear numbers to the Michelin Defender LTX but they sell it in an XL load range which would be beneficial for towing. Any of you running this tire or another 20” tire with the XL load range that you like?

View attachment 405390

I vote stick with the Michelins.

 

[Geotrash]

Thanks all! My ample gut is telling me to stay with the Michelins because they’re a known quantity and superb tires. They also ride really well so the comment that the continentals may not ride as smooth is especially helpful. At the same time, I’ve noticed more tire edge wear when towing on the rear tires despite keeping them at 44 psi, so perhaps I need a stiffer tire with a higher load range. The continentals with the XL load range top out at 51 psi as well. Arrrgh… never an easy decision because whatever I buy I’m going to own for the next 5-7 years.

 

[91RS]

The current version of the Defender is an XL.

 

[Geotrash]

The current version of the Defender is an XL.

I just bought a set for our ‘07 a couple of months ago because it’s our family trip hauler when we’re not towing, so comfort and safety were my top priorities. I’m certain they’re not XL so perhaps Michelin makes this size in 2 versions. I’ll research! Thanks for the lead!

 

[Onlyone]

If you’re towing I would go with the Continental only For the load rating. They are of course not going to ride as well because the sidewalls are stronger.

 

[91RS]

I just bought a set for our ‘07 a couple of months ago because it’s our family trip hauler when we’re not towing, so comfort and safety were my top priorities. I’m certain they’re not XL so perhaps Michelin makes this size in 2 versions. I’ll research! Thanks for the lead!

The non-XL version is discontinued but there are still places that have them in stock. The price went up on the XL version.