Michelin XDS2 + Vision 81 Combos Installed

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We finally received the tires and installed them today. I initially installed the Centramatic balancers, spun them around with the wheels hand tightened to make sure everything fit well, set down the truck, and then finished tightening with a torque wrench. Within a mile of testing I began hearing a high pitched whine with every tire rotation and shortly after saw white smoke billowing from the front tires. I pulled over and found shards of metal and fluid all over the front wheels. Assuming that the Centramatics were rubbing on the brakes, I checked that the brake lines were still in tact and slowly limped home. Once home, I pulled the front tires off and found that yes, the Centramatics were interfering with the brake calipers after the wheels were torqued down. They were busted open and leaking fluid, so I remounted the tires without them and sent an email to Centramatic support. It was after hours so I don’t expect to hear back until at least tomorrow, if not a few days.

Other than the initial issue with the Centramatics, the tires ride really well. I didn’t notice a big difference on straight roads when they were running as shipped (75PSI) vs the Toyo Open Country AT2 275/65r20E (65PSI front, 80PSI rear) tires I pulled off. When I bumped the rear tires to 85PSI, to properly handle the anticipated load via the manufacturer load tables, the ride was noticeably rougher, but not so bad that I can’t overlook it, and certainly not as bad as some people online made it out to be. I’m sure this can be at least partially attributed to the sheer weight of the newer trucks, as they have gained a lot of weight over the ones out ten years ago.

Cornering is a lot firmer, as expected. That’s good because the truck was a little washy to begin with, and that was exaggerated under load. They are a little noisier than the tires I pulled off, but not too bad, and Kelly didn’t even notice it until I pointed it out.

I’ll update this post once we’ve put a few miles on them and towed the trailer.

Edit: these are notably noisier than the stock tires, but within reason. You can still hold a conversation at normal volume and wash it out with the radio at normal volume levels.