zippinbye

I contemplated the five common Michelin tires that come in the stock size for the GX 470: Cross Terrain SUV, Lattitude Tour, LTX M/S 2 and LTX A/T2. X Radial LT2 ("club exclusive," i.e. Sam's Club, etc.) Eliminated the Cross Tour right away, since it is out of production (to avoid replacement issues in the future if I damage one or more). General availability also the reason for passing on the Radial LT2. "No" to the Lattitude, partially due to unproven newness, and also due to my desire for some off-road capability. I was in a dilemma between the other two. Fantastic reviews overall, and high mileage lifetime reported for both the A/T and M/S. Final concerns: 1) possible noise with the A/T (about 10% of users reported "whine," but on different vehicles and and in other sizes); 2) lack of off-road ability with the M/S. When Discount Tire committed to swap if the noise was objectionable, I went with the A/T. I live in the Desert Southwest, and do a bit of trail running. Like most of us, daily manners on the road were priority one, but a tire that does well in both arenas was preferred.

I have 100 miles on Michelin LTX A/T 2s in the stock 17/265 size. I like them. While aggressive in appearance compare to total highway treads, they have a very mild-looking all terrain tread. I have not had a chance to test them in the dirt yet. But they are way smoother than the aging Dunlaps, and feel very "grippy" on the street. No hum whatsoever ... tested to 80 mph so far. It is possible that they communicate road noise than the Dunlaps, but those were wasted with very thin tread. When I say road noise, I mean the sound that varies as the tires spin on different surface types. It's a very subjective call, having bought the GX with 58,000 miles and aging tires. I don't have the luxury of switching back to the oldies to really compare. All I can say is it has more road noise at 75 mph than the LS 430 had, but that's no surprise! It is still the quietest full frame truck I have every driven, and quieter than 90 percent of all four-wheeled vehicles I have been in. So far, it's two thumbs up for the A/T 2 tires!

Bob GX

Zip
Congrats on the new tires - always a great feeling to know you've got good tread underneath.

I believe you made the best call for your situation - the better off-road performance is more than a fair trade for any perceived additional road noise. Even if the A/T tread does have 'more' noise it doesn't mean it's objectionable!

I've had the A/Ts on my Ram HD pickup and have nothing but good things to report - good handling, excellent traction, excellent wear (and my pickup is a lot more load on tires than the GX is going to be), smooth ride, no need to rebalance, etc, etc.

Here's to many trouble free miles!
Bob