Michelin Defender 275/55/20 or 60 series?

[ajs800]

I am looking to replace our current Michelin Premiers with the defenders and I'm considering going up to a 60 series from the oem 55 series.

Anyone here running 275/60/20? I'm thinking the extra 1/2 of sidewall can only help the ride as well as look better in the massive wheel wells of our XL.

 

[Glocksub]

If I end up purchasing a tahoe with 20in wheels that will be the size I have the dealer put on at delivery. From the photos I've seen, it fills out the wheel wells nicely and the 275/60 size is not hard to come by in several brands that make it in less than E load rating. Michelin defender and BFG being two I know of off hand.

 

[ajs800]

Yeah that's what I'm thinking. The current premier's I'm running look small.

If I end up purchasing a tahoe with 20in wheels that will be the size I have the dealer put on at delivery. From the photos I've seen, it fills out the wheel wells nicely and the 275/60 size is not hard to come by in several brands that make it in less than E load rating. Michelin defender and BFG being two I know of off hand.

I haven't been able to find many pics but think this is the route I'll go. I have 22s but think I'll get rid of them and stick with 20. 20s actually look good if more rubber is added.

 

[ajs800]

I have a set of 275/60/20 on order but I'm starting to have 2nd thoughts. It seems that most I see with this size have at least a leveling kit. I plan to leave everything stock, so I'm not 100% sure these won't rub. I know it's only another 1/2"....hmmmm.

Does anyone have any pics of 275/60/20 series on a stock tahoe/yukon? Maybe I should just stick with oem size.

 

[AppocAlexx]

I'm running 60s but with a different off set wheel than factory and 2.5inch level. So I can't say they will rub or not on factory wheels. I would guess they would but all I had to do was cut and knock back the pinch weld on the rear of both front wheel wells.

 

[AppocAlexx]

didn't notice this was for a K2XX, I think the wheels wells for our models are similar though, maybe someone could chime in?

 

[ajs800]

well, last minute I decided to go back to the oem size. There are two areas that would have been tight and rather than dealing also with the speedometer being off, i went with the 55 series. If I had planned on doing a simple leveling kit , I would have given the 60 series a try. I think the 60 would have looked better with it leveled anyway.

As for the tires, the Defenders seem like a much better ride than the Premier LTXs that I had on the truck. Actually, it seems to be the nicest the truck has driven since owning it and that is saying a lot since I've had 4 different sets of tires on this truck. It will be interesting to see how long these last as the premiers unfortunately only lasted about 26k miles. They also look 10x better than the Premiers

Also, I know the premier is supposdely the more comfortable tires, however, in the 275/55/20 the defender has a lot more tread depth which I believe makes the ride much improved.

Preimer = 8.5/32"
Defender = 12/32"

 

[tdc129]

well, last minute I decided to go back to the oem size. There are two areas that would have been tight and rather than dealing also with the speedometer being off, i went with the 55 series. If I had planned on doing a simple leveling kit , I would have given the 60 series a try. I think the 60 would have looked better with it leveled anyway.

As for the tires, the Defenders seem like a much better ride than the Premier LTXs that I had on the truck. Actually, it seems to be the nicest the truck has driven since owning it and that is saying a lot since I've had 4 different sets of tires on this truck. It will be interesting to see how long these last as the premiers unfortunately only lasted about 26k miles. They also look 10x better than the Premiers

Also, I know the premier is supposdely the more comfortable tires, however, in the 275/55/20 the defender has a lot more tread depth which I believe makes the ride much improved.

Preimer = 8.5/32"
Defender = 12/32"



View attachment 83059

Any updates on how the ride on the Defenders is? I'm currently debating between the Premiers and the Defenders and was leaning towards the Premiers because I had read they were alot softer and a better ride. Would be interested to hear from someone who has had both.

 

[ajs800]

Well, in town I'd say they are just as nice if not nicer riding than the premiers. However, with my latest road trip last week there's a pretty bad vibration above 60mph so the plan is to drop off this week at tire shop and have them rebalanced. It's the wife's daily driver so I haven't had a ton of drive time with it but the overall ride seems as good.

IMO, they look much nicer and they appear to last much longer as they have 4/32 more tread to start with. I only got around 25k with the premiers before hitting the wear indicators which was disappointing given it's a 60k mile rated tire.