Has anyone replaced those dreaded Bridgestone's?

[BobDobalina]

I have a 16 Yukon with the 20s. I had Revo AT2 on my 15 Tahoe and they were great. No louder or harsher than stock. So at 6K miles I get some Revos put on my Yukon. They were awful. Loud as hell and handled bad. Luckily Bridgestone has a 30 Day try and buy. I went to my local Autotire and had Michelin Defender Ltx put on. Loaded the Revos in back of truck and took back to Firestone for 100% refund. Michelins ran me $981 out the door for 275/55/20. The ride and handling are superb and quiet as can be. I'll take pics later

 

[Shadow17]

Just to report back, the wet weather handling is amazing with these tires.
As I said in the original post the OE tires spun badly in the rain ever since the beginning.
Even aggressive starts when dry caused the tires to break loose.
We have been receiving a deluge of rain up here and I can accelerate just as aggressively on wet roads as dry.
I have always known how good Michelin tires are (at least the ones I have owned), but I never imagined the wet weather characteristics would be so much better than the Bridgestones.
As someone else mentioned previously, I would highly recommend switching to better tires.
It was every bit worth the $1200 spent!

 

[BlackDenaliXL]

Just drove down from east of Toronto to the Gulf Coast of Florida.

Michelin Defenders did not let me down.

First day I drove through snow and slush for a good 4+ hrs. Traction was great. I didn't once lose confidence in the tires.

Second day it down poured most of the day, and once again, the tires acted as expected. Great wet traction and inspired confidence.

Third day was dry and sunny and traction and handling were great.

What I can say, is that the yukon xl is a fantastic road trip vehicle and paired with the Michelin Defenders, it's even better.

 

[08HoeCD]

I'm getting Michelin Defenders when I'm due for new tires.
Case closed.

 

[okfoz]

Personally I have the LTX M/S2 on my Tahoe, the LTX M/S on my wife's Buick Rainier, the LTX M/S was a little more (slightly) noisy on concrete, and the M/S2 is a little better than the M/S. I had the Michelin Cross Country on my Rainier before the M/S2 and I absolutely loved those tires. I think the Premier tires are a 60K mile tire rather than the Defender LTX Tire is a 70K tire. The Premier may be a quieter tire because it may have a softer compound.

EDIT: I have noticed that the new LTX tires they now offer are now "Defender LTX M/S" Where I just have the LTX M/S tires, the Premier tires were not available when I got my last set. Also I have noticed that over time the tires are actually slightly quieter now than when I got them, so they have gotten better with age IMHO.

 

[Shadow17]

From what the installer told me- the Premier uses a softer compound. It is supposed to be bit quieter and handle better than the Defender. However the Defender will last longer. Oddly the Premier has a higher load capacity than the Defender. Not quite sure why on that one.
So they both have trade offs of sorts.

 

[okfoz]

The Higher load may be due to more plies, or how it is constructed.
I went to tirerack.com and I compared the Premier LTX, Defender LTX M/S and the LTX M/S2 and it appears that the Premier is not for off-road at all (for me no biggie)

Comparing the two here is what the site states, advantages
Premier LTX
+ Hydroplaning resistance
+ Wet Traction
+ Cornering Stability
+ Steering Response
+ Ice Traction
+ Less Noise
= Dry Traction
= Deep Snow Traction

Defender LTX M/S2
+ COST is about $ 25 less each.
+ Better for off-road
+ Light Snow Traction
+ Ride Quality
+ Tread-wear (70K vs 60K)
= Dry Traction
= Deep Snow Traction

With the exception of Tread-wear these two models beat my LTX M/S2 tires in every metric, and the MS/2 only beat the Premier LTX but not the Defender LTX M/S.

 

[ts0293]

It has been a while since I have posted in here.
But one thing has been a long time coming...replacing the tires.
The Bridgestone Dueler HL's have been pretty bad since day one on my Denali.
They are 285/45x22 and are close to down to the bars with 17K miles on them.

They have always been horrible in the rain and anything less than AWD when the road is wet is asking to spin and slide constantly. I have them set to OE specs- 35psi(?).

Checking tire rack it appears the Michelin LTX is rated #1 followed by the Pirelli Scorpion in the OE size. I have always liked Michelin's although they seem to wear quickly. I had Pirelli Scorpions on a Tahoe 10 years ago and they rode a bit rough compared to the Michelin's they replaced.

Any thoughts?

I bought a 2013 Escalade CPO last month after 15 years with a 2002 Denali that I bought new and really loved. Thought I had made a bad mistake - the Escalade ride was sharp and jiggly and the mag shocks seemed confused or befuddled. Steering was vague and not confident. Put on a set of Michelin Premier LTX 22's and the thing now rides and handles almost as good as the Denali - I don't think the 22s can match the 17s for ride - the 22s are really truck 'high heels.' 36,000 miles on the Duelers and they had life left, but the ride is now waaaay better and no regrets. The Duelers were noisy and that is much better as well. Don't know how the Duelers ride when new, but have to wonder 'what was Cadillac thinking?' Highly recommended: LTX Premier.

 

[abond2014]

So im curious has anyone tested these Premier LTX's on snow/ice yet because here in lovely freezing Massachusetts it gets quite messy in the winter, I'd be curious to see because the quietness you guys are stating these tires are sounds great but id worry about how they handle come snow/ice

 

[okfoz]

My LTX M/S2 are not rated as high as the new Premier LTX, and my tires are great in the snow. Especially in AWD or 4WD. 2WD I get around ok, I would probably get a set of dedicated rear Snow tires if all I had was 2WD.

My wife has Goodyear snow/Ice tires on her 06 Buick Rainier and those are fantastic for getting through the snow and ice, AND they are even more quiet than her LTX M/S (not the 2) Michelin Tires. The only down side is they are soft, so they wear quickly, otherwise I would leave them on her Rainier all year long.