I'm looking at another set for the Expedition at discount, and being the bargain hunting cheapskate I am, the price and ratings on the Pathfinder AT look good, $210 a tire. I always see rave reviews of the Michelin Defenders though, and am curious are they really noticeably worth the extra $80 per tire I would have to pay? I have no frame of reference which is why I ask. Keep in mind I really hate to spend money on a premium unless the value proposition is very distinctly and noticeably better. Just curious about real world experience others might have had. Did you really notice any big difference in ride and durability?

A side note: I've been fighting a long battle to determine the source of a front end vibration that keeps occurring on the expedition. Balancing/rotation, alignment, new tires, and now new KYB struts all seem to help some but it never quite goes away. It's not braking so it isn't a rotor. It doesn't seem to move with tire rotations so I don't think it is a bad wheel. I think, but am not sure, it is the front passenger side, but when I was in there replacing the struts, all the linkages and ball joints seemed fine. Bearing also seems fine. The tire in that position seems to wear faster with edge feathering suggesting an alignment issue. I'm pretty much stumped. It is only noticeable at 60+ mph.

The question you'll really want to ask is are you "cheap" in that you pay for something quality in hopes that it lasts reliably a long time, or do you just want a lower out-the-door price?

I'm sure for 30k miles you won't notice much of a difference, but the Michelins have a 70k warranty and will probably last that long with proper rotation and use.

Tires are one thing I don't like being cheap on as they are the single most important safety component on your vehicle, but I understand that they are a large chunk of change, which is why there are "discount" brands for everyone's budget.

I think to me there's an issue of diminishing returns here. The pathfinders have a very solid reputation. I'm just trying to gauge if the defenders are $320 noticeably better or not, and I know it's very subjective.

How many miles on the expedition? On heavy trucks/suvs it's pretty much impossible to tell a "barely bad" bearing by pushing and pulling on it. I'd replace that bearing and see if it helps. But also get the michelins lol

Talk to the guys at discount. They've seemed to always shoot me straight. I've had Toyos, Michelins, Pirellis, Hankooks, and Goodyears. Some were for cars, some small and full size pickups, mid size and large SUV's.

On the accord coupe I had for about 6 years, I put on Pirelli scorpions (I think). First set were fantastic. Went past the warranty. The second set gave me about 1/2. The guys at CS discount told me they had seen several of that same line come back way under the expected mileage. They put me in the Hankooks, which I was a little leery about, but they were on there and still holding up great when I traded it in for my first dad car.

Anecdotally, I ran Potenza RE0970AS Pole Position tires on my GLI and on my S4. I bought Michelin Pilot Sport AS this last time around on my GLI, and there is a noticeable difference. Not the same class of vehicle, but they felt different from the moment I drove away from Discount Tire.

I'm sure you'll be perfectly happy with the Pathfinder AT. They may be a little louder than the Michelins, especially after 30k miles and they likely won't last as long, but the price difference will be nearly impossible to objectively quantify.

Defenders are road tires, the AT tires are All Terrain. Pretty much any road tire will be better on the road than any AT tire. If you never or rarely go offroad, get the road tires. Get the Michelins if you drive your vehicle at the limit: max towing / max payload / over 80 mph / drifting the rear end around high speed turns. Get cheaper tires if you commute to work, take the kids to school/practice and go on road trips.

Here's how I approach tires, and it seems to work for us:

For my truck, I balance an aggressive offroad AT tire vs weight and cost, and find something that meets the categories I want at a price that's reasonable. I ended up with 35" Mickey Thompson Baja Boss, coming from Cooper ST Maxx.

For my wife's car, she gets Michelin Defender LTX because I want the best tire I can get without having to worry about it.

Look on facebook marketplace. I was able to find a set of Michelins for $300. Usually ~$250/tire. They all had 8-9/32nds of tread so not brand new. But my truck has 270k miles and don't want to spend money on a brand new set if it decides to die tomorrow.

Also bought a used full size spare from this ebay seller and was pleased:
https://www.ebay.com/str/unitedtires

It's my wife's vehicle so it sees a ton of highway miles, and sometimes tows the horse trailer. 4wd if it makes any difference. Yeah, I might have to pull the front hubs apart and inspect the bearings more closely but they feel as good hand rolled as my Nissan does, and it has no issues. I guess I'll just have to keep chipping away at it until I find the cause.

At some point we'll probably get a minivan and the expedition will assume towing and farm truck duties, and get far less highway miles, so cheaper might be better if that happens in the next 2 years or so, but she easily drives 40,000 miles a year

The Michelin Defenders will outlast your Expedition it sounds like

Why don't you calculate the cost per warranty mile and see how those two numbers compare?

Try loosening and retourquing lugs to spec.

One thing to watch on off brand tires, the measurements are often a lie, set a Michelin next to a off brand, the tread width will be thinner.

I like Michelin.

Pathfinder at discount is made by Hankook and is an excellent value.

Quote:

---

Tires are one thing I don't like being cheap on as they are the single most important safety component on your vehicle

---

I mean...brakes are important too.

I was told by the wife I must do something by Sunday so I went ahead with the pathfinders. When they do the balance I will ask they look carefully at the rims for any indication of a warp or balance problem. If that and a new alignment doesn't get it, I might replace the bearings. If that fails, I might swap out the entire knuckle.

I've also been told a rotor shouldn't affect balance but I am not sure about that. Maybe I should swap out for new rotors?

I primarily get Michelin for our vehicles. I had Michelin defenders on a F150 in the past and now ATX on a F250. I really like them. I mostly drive highway and tow here and there. Tires have always lasted 70k+, and I personally think they are worth the extra cost. I have not really tried other tires, though.

My wife had them on a Ford Edge and Expedition, and I liked them. We currently have Firestones on her van, but that is because they are OEM tires. I plan to upgrade to Michelin's w/n the next 1-2 years when those are done.

Flaith said:

---

The question you'll really want to ask is are you "cheap" in that you pay for something quality in hopes that it lasts reliably a long time, or do you just want a lower out-the-door price?

I'm sure for 30k miles you won't notice much of a difference, but the Michelins have a 70k warranty and will probably last that long with proper rotation and use.

Tires are one thing I don't like being cheap on as they are the single most important safety component on your vehicle, but I understand that they are a large chunk of change, which is why there are "discount" brands for everyone's budget.

---

Except cheaper =/= worse quality.

So it's a valid question. Just because something is more expensive, doesn't mean it's better. Maybe it was, and they're just hanging onto that reputation. Or maybe it's simply perceived as better quality because it's more expensive.

Not like the OP is asking about some recycled tire at a place on the corner of Long Point in Houston....

MouthBQ98 said:

---

I was told by the wife I must do something by Sunday so I went ahead with the pathfinders. When they do the balance I will ask they look carefully at the rims for any indication of a warp or balance problem. If that and a new alignment doesn't get it, I might replace the bearings. If that fails, I might swap out the entire knuckle.

I've also been told a rotor shouldn't affect balance but I am not sure about that. Maybe I should swap out for new rotors?

---

They're good. I've run them plenty of times.

I've gone through about 6 sets of Pathfinder AT. The first five were solid. The sixth only lasted about 25000 miles. Discount made me a deal a new set of nittos to replace them and took care of prorating the pathfinders, etc. but they did tell me the quality had gone down significantly on the pathfinders in recent years.

It's just a Ford. Put crappy tires on it and trade it in on something that rides better than a chuck wagon.

Know that you can get Discount Tire to compete against itself to help make an expensive tire like the Michelins a bit easier to get into. All it takes is a few phone calls.

Pick the two closest Discount Tire stores to you.

1.) Call the closest one to you and get a price quote over the phone. Ask if they can give you a discount and you usually get $10 a tire off. If they say no, humorously goad them with the fact that "Discount Tire" can't give any discounts.

2.) Now call the second Discount Tire and tell them that the Discount Tire closest to your house is beating the advertised price by $10/tire, but the second store is closest to where you work. So if they can beat the $10 off you'll have them do it instead. Presto, now you're quoted $20/tire off. Be sure to get this guy's name. Let's say it's Joe.

3.) Call the first store back and ask them if they know Joe over at the second store. They will because they call each other all the time for inventory swaps. Tell them Joe said his store will do it for $20/tire off and Joe has the first store beat because there's no way they can beat that. Presto, now you have $30/tire off and the first store gets your business.

Literally 3 phone calls and you've saved $120 not counting tax. I've successfully done this three times now in a row. Each store is a competitive profit center so they will compete for business even at slimmer margins.

Compared to Pathfinder's yes they are worth extra, I always lean towards Michelin on my personal vehicles and shop them against Bridgestone & Yohohama. Unless those are a lot cheaper I get Michelins.
Pathfinder's are trash

If you just want some cheap shoes for your truck, go to a custom truck place that does lifts and whatnot, buy a set of take-offs from them. Place near me has a trailer full of take-offs they don't want to pay to get rid of.

I'm usually a cheapskate.

I have (or will have) Michelins on all our vehicles.

They last longer (usually past their mileage ratings) and are great tires.

I'd rather pay more once than less twice, which ends up being more.

I've always projected based on mileage

For a truck going 10K miles per year Michelins wouldn't make sense to me. I usually begin to see minor dry rot wear on the sidewall surface around 3 years so I'm replacing at 3 years regardless.

For highway, high mileage, I think Michelin LTX Defenders are worth it. Quiet. Durable. Good traction. Never had a balancing issue.

For ATs find their AT2s good but not the best and plenty of competition. I think Yoko, Generals, and some Coopers as good and better value. KO2s too, but you're back at that premium price point.

EDIT - for the specific Pathfinder question, Most people I know who have bought them find their rubber to be very soft and notice very early wear. I don't believe there is an industry standard on tire mileage rating so the published mileage or UTQ rating I think are all self reported.

I used to always buy Michelins. Whenever I bought another tire brand that was also supposed to be good, I ended up regretting it. However, I don't find that Michelins hold the same quality or treadlife that they used to, and they started tanking about the same time that BFG ATs started sucking. It seems as if Michelin changed their rubber compound, but who knows? What I do know is that I never get the life out of Michelins that I used to.

I had BFG ATs on my truck for only 25000 mi before they were worn out. They went really quick. BFG used to be all I would run on my trucks. The last set had 2 tires that would not keep a balance. I was taking it in every couple thousand miles and as soon as I would leave I would get tire shake. That coupled with the low tread life, I knew it was time to try something different.

I got the Defenders, and what an immediate difference. They are 10# lighter per tire (35"), infinitely quieter, smoother, and seem to have much better traction, not to mention that my fuel economy went up almost 2 mpg. For 35", the Defenders were actually cheaper by several hundred dollars than the BFG. I have no regrets.

Same. BFG's are one of the most expensive you can get (at least in my size), but on my previous truck they were tough to balance at about 30k. That's frustrating.

I went with the Michelin AT2s with this truck. They dont have the All Terrain look I'd prefer, but the ride is extremely smooth.

A buddy of mine drives his truck all over the State and puts a ton of miles on his truck/tires. He loves the Cooper Discoverer. I might try those next time.

I have Cooper ATPs on my Silverado 1500 now. 275/60r20

Just hit 35K on them and still have 9/32 of tread left. So I'll prob hit 55K if I keep the truck until December

They are noticeably rougher at 35K though.

Random other thought…my next truck will NOT have 20s.

Pathfinder AT in 275/60R20 installed today. Trucks leveled in the front.

mm98 said:

---

Random other thought…my next truck will NOT have 20s.

---

mm98, why not 20s? Is it the ride or availability/price of tire options?

Like the higher profile sidewall. More comfortable

You'll sell it before the first tire rotation…