Michelin Tires Back Ordered For 3-6 Months?

[Spencer Was Here]

I need new tires on our spare vehicle. It's a '96 Chevy Blazer, four door, 4WD. It has 235/75R-15's on it now, but the sticker on the door states 235/70R-15's should be used.

Most everywhere I went stated that the 75R's are an acceptable alternate for this vehicle, which may be true, but I would like to use the 70R's if possible.

I'm a fan of Michelin tires and almost everyone has a $70 rebate on a set of four right now. I chose to purchase four new Michelin LTX M/S 235/70R-15's from Sears on Black Friday due to their instant $70 gift card as opposed to a $70 mail-in rebate everyone else is doing.

Sears had to order them, just like everyone else would have, because apparently the 70R's are not that popular and are generally $30 more than the 75R's, so everyone just uses 75R's.

So I paid for them and received my instant $70 gift card only to receive a call from Sears today stating that there is a Nationwide 3-6 month back order on Michelin LTX M/S in 235/70R-15.

Can any of you confirm this backorder situation? I think Sears may just be trying to get me to go with their Michelin XC LT4, which does not appeal to me at all.

 

[Art From De Leon]

Could well be true, there was an article in the Ft. Worth 'newspaper' a few days ago stating that tire prices are set to increase at least 10 percent after the first of the year, on top of the 35 per cent tariff that we were told would only apply to chicrap tires, but seems to apply to ALL imported tires.

 

[matt H]

i dont know what sears was thinking, but Michelin is discontinuing all LTX M/S's because the updated version(LTX M/S 2's) were just released. costco cant even order the regular M/S's anymore.

you could look into similar tires such as the x-radial or LTX M/S AT2...both will last just as long and at a similar price point. i always suggest the AT2's to customers over the M/S

i work for costco tire center btw

 

[tatra]

matt, here in canada there is a huge back order on micheys..........how's stock where you are?.........

 

[matt H]

the stock down here is great...ive never had a problem ordering tires from any distribution centers on the west coast.

 

[jcs_in_ky]

I don't know if it's hard to get the size you are looking for but a couple of weeks ago I bought a set of LT235/75/15's in the LTX M/S and the dealer was able to have them from their warehouse the next day.

 

[nate379]

Any reason to not go with the slightly larger more common 235/75r15?

 

[jake00]

I ran 235/75's on my 96s10 and had no issues

 

[godremmas]

What about cancelling your order and buying American?

Cooper, Kelly, GoodYear? Dunlop at 75% American owned?

Full disclosure: both on fleet vehicles and personal vehicles, my experience has been TERRIBLE with GoodYear products, but they must turn out something people like, they're still in business.

 

[brownbagg]

tirerack.com

 

[cashishift]

What about cancelling your order and buying American?

Cooper, Kelly, GoodYear? Dunlop at 75% American owned?

Full disclosure: both on fleet vehicles and personal vehicles, my experience has been TERRIBLE with GoodYear products, but they must turn out something people like, they're still in business.

Ditto on the Goodyear failures.. I'd never buy them again.

I currently have BF Goodrich.. and am very happy with them.

Cooper makes EXCELLENT tires.

 

[brownbagg]

i got some michelins hydro edge on my small toyota truck, they are great for wet road.I use to slide on every corner. Paid out the tail for them but worth every penny.

 

[lawfarm]

Two notes, as a former Sears tire salesman:

1. The difference between 70 and 75 series sidewalls is minimal. You're talking about less than an inch in heigh difference...and in reality, probably about a 1/4" difference (if that) in vehicle ride height. The 75 series tires look and perform well on that make/model of vehicle; I wouldn't hesitate to use them. The 75 series also typically have a higher weight rating, even for the same weight class (e.g. a Load Range C tire will have a higher pound rating). You won't notice a difference in driving them.

2. There is really no difference between the LTX M&S and the XC LT4. There is a minimal difference in tread block design, but both share the same carcass, the same design, the same rubber compound, and--most importantly--the same full-depth siping on the treads. I would have 0 hesitation in getting the XC LT4 if they didn't have the M&S. Really, honestly, you will never notice a difference, unless you read the name of the tire on the sidewall.

I've sold both, and dealt with this same issue. My uncle had a same vintage blazer that we put 75 series on (along with many customers I didn't know, who moved to 75 series on that vehicle). I've also had both the LTX M&S and the XC LT4 on personal vehicles, and both are great tires.

In short, based on extensive experience with both tires, I wouldn't hesitate to make the switch to either a 75 series or to the XC LT4.

 

[Steevo]

Two notes, as a former Sears tire salesman:

1. The difference between 70 and 75 series sidewalls is minimal. You're talking about less than an inch in heigh difference...and in reality, probably about a 1/4" difference (if that) in vehicle ride height.

The height difference between the two is .9". That is .45" higher ride height.

The 230's have a diameter of 27.9" and a circumfrence of 87.6" and turn 746 revs per mile.
The 235's have a diameter of 28.8" and a circumfrence of 90.43" and turn 728 revs per mile.

Pretty insignificant.

 

[Lippyp]

I have BFG Long Trails on my pickup and General Grabber AT2's on my 4x4, best AT's tyres for the price IMO, as good as BFG's, I'm on my second set now and would reccomend them to anyone.

 

[lawfarm]

The height difference between the two is .9". That is .45" higher ride height.

The 230's have a diameter of 27.9" and a circumfrence of 87.6" and turn 746 revs per mile.
The 235's have a diameter of 28.8" and a circumfrence of 90.43" and turn 728 revs per mile.

Pretty insignificant.

The above calculations are based off of the 'no load' design calculations for the tires (and I'm assuming you mean the "75s and 70s" not the "235s and 230s). If you account for static load on the tires, at normal inflation and normal load, you're talking about less than 1/4" of difference in ride height. In the real world, we're talking about a minimal difference.

The revolution calculations you have are also based on design calculations, not accomodating the actual use on the car. In actual use, the circumference will be less, and the revolutions/mile will be much closer than you're calculating (I'd guess the difference would be less than 1/2 of what you're forecasting).

And yes, sidewall bulge from normal use of a radial tire does reduce its effective circumference on the street, even though the tread doesn't change. Try it some time. Measure how far your truck goes with the tires pumped fully up (how many feet it travels in 10 revolutions). Then, air down to 10 PSI and try again. Same tire, same vehicle, it'll go a significantly shorter distance.

 

[benjamming]

tirerack.com

Which has them for $110/tire in stock (at least 4).

 

[Spencer Was Here]

i dont know what sears was thinking, but Michelin is discontinuing all LTX M/S's because the updated version(LTX M/S 2's) were just released. costco cant even order the regular M/S's anymore.

you could look into similar tires such as the x-radial or LTX M/S AT2...both will last just as long and at a similar price point. i always suggest the AT2's to customers over the M/S

i work for costco tire center btw

I just checked out the Costco here and they can't ge tthe LTX M/S 2's yet. They did confirm they can't order the LTX M/S in 235/70R-15 anymore.

He showed me the X-Radial LT, confirmed he could order them in 235/70R-15 and wrote me up a quote.

Costco, by the way, does also have a $70 instant rebate going on until the 12/20/09, which I was not aware of before.

 

[Spencer Was Here]

Any reason to not go with the slightly larger more common 235/75r15?

The main reason is that the sticker on the door says 235/70R-15. There are actually 235/75R-15's on the Blazer now.

The tech's at Costco tonight looked it up and told me they couldn't even put 75's on it for me unless I signed a waiver. They said there was a 3.3% difference going with the 75's and they are only allowed to go up to a 3.0% difference.

 

[Spencer Was Here]

What about cancelling your order and buying American?

Cooper, Kelly, GoodYear? Dunlop at 75% American owned?

Full disclosure: both on fleet vehicles and personal vehicles, my experience has been TERRIBLE with GoodYear products, but they must turn out something people like, they're still in business.

It's certainly an option. I've never had Cooper's or Kelly's, but I am open to looking at them. I was not aware Michelin's were foreign owned.

I have always had good luck with Michelin's and what little online and in store research I did before I went to Sears sure made the LTX M/S look like the right way to go.