21's vs. 22's tires & wheels -- differences observed from swap (Michelin Defender EV tires)

[Donald Stanfield]

I took delivery of my truck with the 21" rims and stock tires. Well those tires lasted about 16x miles and I'm down to the wear bars. I bought a set of 22" stock darks from another member here and changed out the tires to the new Michelin Defender EV tires this past Friday.

Just a few differences I've noticed. First off the efficiency does seem a bit less compared to the road tires. I havent done any scientific testing yet, and honestly I drive too erratically to give you all honest efficiency numbers. Just casual observation from the 15 min guess o meter shows instead of regularly getting 2.5 its closer to 2.2 and I have noticed an extra couple percent energy used for each normal errand I run. Nothing to be bent out of shape over for my use though.

Handling overall is improved a pretty good amount. Where I live is pretty much the perfect fun road course as the roads are winding, the famous dragon is in my backyard and most roads are very similar. The 22's are giving me an easy 10mph higher corner speed with the same level of comfort for me.

Road noise is maybe a touch greater but nothing really impactful and I do not have the reinforced underbody so I'd hear it. Ride quality over bumps is maybe a little bit more sensitive although the roads here are all in good shape and I keep my truck in sport low and the bigger rims haven't forced me to change that. Overall I'm much happier with the look and the driving characteristics of the 22's.

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[Rivdog]

Nice. It’s probably not possible to answer, but do you think the driving dynamics were altered solely by the wheel size, the Michelins, or both? If both, do you think the wheel or tire contributed more to the change?

 

[usofrob]

I suspect tearing it up 10mph faster around the curves may also impact range. Presuming your location, there are a lot of great roads in that area, and I go out of my way to wind my way through it when going anywhere near that area.

 

[BigE]

I took delivery of my truck with the 21" rims and stock tires. Well those tires lasted about 16x miles and I'm down to the wear bars. I bought a set of 22" stock darks from another member here and changed out the tires to the new Michelin Defender EV tires this past Friday.

Just a few differences I've noticed. First off the efficiency does seem a bit less compared to the road tires. I havent done any scientific testing yet, and honestly I drive too erratically to give you all honest efficiency numbers. Just casual observation from the 15 min guess o meter shows instead of regularly getting 2.5 its closer to 2.2 and I have noticed an extra couple percent energy used for each normal errand I run. Nothing to be bent out of shape over for my use though.

Handling overall is improved a pretty good amount. Where I live is pretty much the perfect fun road course as the roads are winding, the famous dragon is in my backyard and most roads are very similar. The 22's are giving me an easy 10mph higher corner speed with the same level of comfort for me.

Road noise is maybe a touch greater but nothing really impactful and I do not have the reinforced underbody so I'd hear it. Ride quality over bumps is maybe a little bit more sensitive although the roads here are all in good shape and I keep my truck in sport low and the bigger rims haven't forced me to change that. Overall I'm much happier with the look and the driving characteristics of the 22's.

Donald, I've been waiting for someone to try those tires...so thank you!

So I have the OEM 22's...by the way, love your truck. We have 16k miles on our tires with ~4/32" left so getting down there.

The only Michelin Defender LTX M/S2 available today is the E1 load spec, so to confirm is this what you now have? Also, if you're seeing 2.2 miles/kWh that is comparable to what we see with the OEM 22's. The E1 spec Defender tire is a 10-ply, so a much beefier tire than our stock tires which are 4-ply and also heavier at 53 lbs.

Thanks for sharing your insight.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Nice. It’s probably not possible to answer, but do you think the driving dynamics were altered solely by the wheel size, the Michelins, or both? If both, do you think the wheel or tire contributed more to the change?

As you said its hard to say but I would say both. The tires feel grippier and I don't think it would be as good with the stock 22's. I'd say it was probably more rim for cornering but the tire for starting grip. The truck has better traction compared to the stock pirelli 21's by a large margin.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

I suspect tearing it up 10mph faster around the curves may also impact range. Presuming your location, there are a lot of great roads in that area, and I go out of my way to wind my way through it when going anywhere near that area.

Yeah that's why I wouldn't take my efficiency numbers as gospel. I have a lot of fun with my truck.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Donald, I've been waiting for someone to try those tires...so thank you!

So I have the OEM 22's...by the way, love your truck. We have 16k miles on our tires with ~4/32" left so getting down there.

The only Michelin Defender LTX M/S2 available today is the E1 load spec, so to confirm is this what you now have? Also, if you're seeing 2.2 miles/kWh that is comparable to what we see with the OEM 22's. The E1 spec Defender tire is a 10-ply, so a much beefier tire than our stock tires which are 4-ply and also heavier at 53 lbs.

Thanks for sharing your insight.

IDK What E1 load spec means. They are 119 for weight rating. I have the paperwork or could post a picture of the tire if that helps.

 

[BigE]

IDK What E1 load spec means. They are 119 for weight rating. I have the paperwork or could post a picture of the tire if that helps.

Yes, that's it. A E1 is a Light truck tire category for tires meaning an E1 series can hold a max pressure of 80 lbs psi...it's just more of a heavy-duty tire say the XL series (P series) that will come out in April is a 4-ply.

 

[Ripped]

When you did the swap, did you need to reprogram the truck or did the service center do that for you?

 

[Donald Stanfield]

When you did the swap, did you need to reprogram the truck or did the service center do that for you?

I haven't done anything yet, I need to make an appointment with a service center.

 

[Jobiwan]

So I’ve been curious about this topic.
Just replaced my 22 pirellis with the same oems. I hit 25 k miles, so pretty happy
Was holding out for the Michelins but decided against; the new defenders are a firmer rubber so I expect you’ll trade some handling/road noise for the added longevity

 

[Donald Stanfield]

So I’ve been curious about this topic.
Just replaced my 22 pirellis with the same oems. I hit 25 k miles, so pretty happy
Was holding out for the Michelins but decided against; the new defenders are a firmer rubber so I expect you’ll trade some handling/road noise for the added longevity

Road noise is comparable to my 21" road tires which are supposed to be the quiet ones. Maybe it adds a tiny bit but not really enough to notice. They also handle better than the 21" road tires but as I said that could be a function of the rims too. I feel that they are grippier than the 21" road tires because the truck feels faster. The TCS doesn't kick on as much. I'm quite happy with the defenders and they cost like 60 dollars a tire more than the Pirelli tires. I'm willing to bet that they will last twice as long as the stock tires.

Even if they are worse slightly, the cost is worth it for me.

 

[Cambree]

Donald, I've been waiting for someone to try those tires...so thank you!

So I have the OEM 22's...by the way, love your truck. We have 16k miles on our tires with ~4/32" left so getting down there.

The only Michelin Defender LTX M/S2 available today is the E1 load spec, so to confirm is this what you now have? Also, if you're seeing 2.2 miles/kWh that is comparable to what we see with the OEM 22's. The E1 spec Defender tire is a 10-ply, so a much beefier tire than our stock tires which are 4-ply and also heavier at 53 lbs.

Thanks for sharing your insight.

What are you thinking of the new Defenders they are coming out with later this year? I want to try them when it is time (on 20" with less than 10k on them so have a while to go).

 

[Milermore]

I took delivery of my truck with the 21" rims and stock tires. Well those tires lasted about 16x miles and I'm down to the wear bars. I bought a set of 22" stock darks from another member here and changed out the tires to the new Michelin Defender EV tires this past Friday.

I'm very interested to hear how the Michelin's work out. Such as:
After a few thousand miles how will they wear relative to the OEMs?
How do they handle Winter snow, ice (the OEM 22s are awful in slick snow)?

One word of caution - the 22 rims are more susceptible to curb rash. Don't ask how I know.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

I'm very interested to hear how the Michelin's work out. Such as:
After a few thousand miles how will they wear relative to the OEMs?
How do they handle Winter snow, ice (the OEM 22s are awful in slick snow)?

One word of caution - the 22 rims are more susceptible to curb rash. Don't ask how I know.

I live in East TN we don't really have a winter here. At least not one with a lot of snow and ice so IDK how much I'll be able to help you there. I can imagine they'd be decent tho because it has a better tread pattern

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