I have two customers that had to replace the Michelin Defenders due to sidewall cracking.  Both sets were less than 2 years old and had less than 20k miles.

IMO... Michelin quality has tanked.  They're still getting by on an old, not deserved, reputation.

Cheers, 

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Stan Shapiro
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2015 7:53 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: tiresla

Michelin Defender vs. �General Grabber AT2

Being a newby to Westies, i took the gowesty 2 WD suggestion on their 16 in wheels and the Michelin Defender tires. �I was leary of going with any of the All Terrain tires, because i thought they would be noisy. �I have a 90 westy with bilstein shocks. �The ride was always rough, or even jolting, �no matter what tire pressure i used. �I even considered changing the shocks. �I had NEVER been happy with the ride.

To make a long story short, i switched to General Grabber AT2. � what a huge improvement in the ride. �Noise level is basically unchanged. �Much smoother ride!!! � �I think that all of that rubber in the 14 millimeter tread, markedly softens the ride, and thats at 42 lbs.

I bought them from Walmart online for $115 each with free shipping to the store. �$12 each �to mount and balance, with free lifetime rotation and balance--which is a real plus since i am on the road 6 montha a year.

These Generals wont have the length of treadwear of the Michelins, but I would rather buy another new set of General tires than�put up with that Michelin ride for another year.