Drive tires. Decisions, decisions.

I'm late to the party but I switched 2 trucks ago to the BF DR454 for drives. No weird wear patterns, good life and low rolling resistance. Cheaper than the Michelin and great in the snow.

 

I have some furry XDS2s on all my drives. The new tire nubs still haven't worn all the way down after a month running the mountains in BC.

 

Im usually a Michelin fan but I found the xdn2's lack luster. Theyre good for ice until about -35 after that useless, deep snow forget about it sippings to close they just pack up and turn to slicks same with mud if your running them year round like i did as a company guy. If you do any offroading like bombing through the field to load or get a large dump of snow you cant count on them. Dont get why they're so hyped up, i havent run the multi compound version tho which may be why people love them so much, dual compounds csn make a huge difference.
I ended up going with General Grabber OD'S, supposedly a softer rubber compound than the xdn2's so they wear faster but when it comes to mud and deep snow the xdn2 wont compete. They're not as good on ice as the xdn2 but still perform well enough to make them safe to run year round.
If your mostly on road the Michelin xdn2 will be a good tire but if your offroad just as much as on road theres better tires.
My 11r24.5 OD's cost me $4500 installed with a national account the xdn2's would have cost me $6300 installed. $1800 more i could put else where in the truck.

 

I used the General Grabber AT2s on my pickup. They eat snow.

But my Michelin XDS2s are like driving on dry pavement, no matter what crap is on the road or in lots. I don't do offroad except when a drooling moron immigrant swerves and forces me into the ditch. Twice so far this winter, but those tires grabbed and I powered out before I got stuck each time. Can't rate them high enough.

 

Yea, if you live in BC, you pretty much need to run XDS2’s and just be happy about whatever milage you get. It’s also nice rolling thru WY/MY/IL on such ties when #### hits the fan!

 

I aint had a michelin quit on ice yet.

Its a little pricey. However if it means the load gets through, even at 15 mph? Or 4 mph on ice no one can stay stuck on... then thats all it matters.

 

I run XMD in 255/70R22.5 (carhauler) and have no complaints. I spend at least 1/2 the winter north of 90 in the Dakotas. They're better on packed and slightly worse in loose than an XDN, but definitely better tread life.

Our duty cycle is so high I've always been afraid to try the winter tires, figure I'll just end up burning them off when I'm home in Colorado, gets fairly warm a lot of days in the winter. If I spent all my time up in the cold, I'd try a set, because there's no doubt snow/ice traction is phenomal with them.

 

If you can't afford the high priced virgin XDS2s, then call a shop called Tirecraft in Langley BC. They will be able to give you virgin Michelin casings with XDS2 caps for a very good price. I'm not affiliated with them, just passing on a good tip for everybody else.