Tire Replacement(S) and Rivian Alignment

[Electron]

Question, why not the Hankooks instead of the Michelins? My feeling is they nudged out the Michelin in a couple areas, but what do you think?

I have had great luck with Michelins on other vehicles and just prefer them. I put a set of Hankooks on my Tundra and regretted it for years. Admittedly it’s a n+1 but tires are too expensive and last too long (except on Rivians!) for me to take another chance.

I've been a Michelin guy for years and have run them on pretty much all of my vehicles. They're excellent tires. That said, I switched to the Hankook iON series when they first came out a few years ago, and they've honestly been great.

From my experience, the Hankooks have a slight edge in a few areas. The all-seasons seem to perform a little better in both wet and dry conditions, and on my Teslas I've consistently seen better efficiency compared to the Michelin Pilot Sport AS4. There are many third party tests and EV owners who have experienced the same. They're also noticeably quieter. That's probably the biggest difference I've noticed, as Michelin seems to lag behind some of the newer tire offerings when it comes to road noise.

I also like the stiffer, more reinforced sidewalls on the iONs. They feel solid, ride smoothly, and do a great job soaking up road noise to shave the edge off of the annoying pitch that my Michelin's would give off.

At the end of the day, you really can't go wrong with either one. Michelin still makes a fantastic tire. I just think it's worth keeping an open mind and looking at some of the newer options out there, because they may fit your needs even better than the brands we've all been used to buying for years.

I just ordered a set of the Hankook iON HTs for the summer wheel set up. They have a $100 Rebate often so keep an eye out for that on their official website. @ksurfier

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[VSG]

Just curious, why did you do the initial alignment? Had your first set of tires worn unevenly?

 

[RivAW]

Wear on tire edges (inner or outer) could be due to overuse of different ride heights. Your ~7500 lb truck is generally aligned at the middle height setting (from factory), so naturally if you are driving mostly in a different setting, the alignment will be "off".
More importantly, you can purchase tires and have them installed and have a proper alignment with any reputable tire shop that is knowledgeable and/or experienced. There is no need to overpay to have an SC do it, patricianly with the generally difficult scheduling and communication issues.

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