Factory tires rated less than manufacturer?

February 4, 2022

My 2021 DRW came with Michelin Primacy XC tires. I noticed today the tires are rated at 28XXlbs at 80 psi. Michelin rates the same tire and size at 3085lbs at 80 psi.
I only noticed as I’ve been getting close to replacing the factory tires and have been comparing load ratings and going slightly larger with an AT.
Are the factory tires made cheaper than the one direct from Michelin?

powderMonkey · February 4, 2022

I have read many different places and been told by a dealership guy, that some tires for some vehicles, even sharing the same name markings and sizes, are made specially for the vehicle manufacturers. Now if you compared the OEM'd tire vs a retail tire, and checked every mark on the tire you may find a difference. From what I have been told by someone at a dealership the OEM'd tire is made softer and quieter usually to try to help sell the vehicle.

CamGTP · February 4, 2022

In short, yes they are.

You'll often find that OEM tires have less tread depth on certain tires compared to the tire you buy down at Discount tire.

Grumpy Bear · February 4, 2022

The Bridgestone that came on my truck Tire Rack was selling at a discount AND the same tire with a longer tread life warranty at a slightly higher price. Thing is, I got 125K miles from those OEM factory installed tires that performed flawlessly. Lord how long would the replacements last?

I know that Honda motorcycle had a deal with Dunlap to produce a 'special' sized tire to fit some Shadow models with a five year lock on production. Handy as the replacement tire cost almost $400 and lasted about 10K miles.

Silverado4x4 · February 5, 2022

1 hour ago, powderMonkey said:

I have read many different places and been told by a dealership guy, that some tires for some vehicles, even sharing the same name markings and sizes, are made specially for the vehicle manufacturers. Now if you compared the OEM'd tire vs a retail tire, and checked every mark on the tire you may find a difference. From what I have been told by someone at a dealership the OEM'd tire is made softer and quieter usually to try to help sell the vehicle.

You are 100% correct. I did alot of research on this and the tire put on at the factory is not the same tire you get at the tire store even though its the same exact brand and make.

MTU Alum · February 5, 2022

The load calculations are the same whether its oem or aftermarket. Its simply volume vs pressure. I think you maybe getting confused with load carrying with dual rear wheels vs single rear wheel.

#iworkforGM

KARNUT · February 5, 2022

I’ve noticed that car dealership are selling tires now. So are they selling OEM or tires that look like OEM? I don’t think there’s a difference. My tires on my Honda are noisy on certain roads. There’s no way I’m buying that tire as a replacement. Same if it wore out too fast. It doesn’t make sense.

newdude · February 5, 2022

15 hours ago, Phobby said:

My 2021 DRW came with Michelin Primacy XC tires. I noticed today the tires are rated at 28XXlbs at 80 psi. Michelin rates the same tire and size at 3085lbs at 80 psi.
I only noticed as I’ve been getting close to replacing the factory tires and have been comparing load ratings and going slightly larger with an AT.
Are the factory tires made cheaper than the one direct from Michelin?

No, they are not rated for less than Michelin says. This is a simple misunderstanding on your end, let me explain.

The 3085lbs at 80psi, that is for a SINGLE tire application so if they were on a 3500 SRW.

Many LT tires carry a dual load rating on them. There is a load index for single wheel application (SRW truck) and then one for dual wheel (DRW truck) application. These are printed into the sidewall of the tire as well.

The factory Michelins are a 120 load index single wheel/117 load index dual wheel. 117 load index is 2833lbs per tire, x2 for DRW per corner on the rear.

Here is the data from Tire Rack on it. I opened the box showing both load ratings:

Edited February 5, 2022 by newdude

INTJ · February 5, 2022

7 hours ago, KARNUT said:

I’ve noticed that car dealership are selling tires now. So are they selling OEM or tires that look like OEM? I don’t think there’s a difference. My tires on my Honda are noisy on certain roads. There’s no way I’m buying that tire as a replacement. Same if it wore out too fast. It doesn’t make sense.

I don't know if the OEM tires are different from the aftermarket versions or not. I do know that the Michelin LTX AT2 OEMs that come on many of the HDs are a joke as an all terrain tire. They are absolutely terrible in the snow. I just about slid off a snow covered logging road with them.

This was new snow on a sideways sloped logging road with a big drop off on the low side. I was slowly driving through when the rear wheels started slipping. I put in in 4WD and wound up with four tires slipping and I started sliding off the road. I managed to get through that spot, then stopped hunting and went immediately to Les Schwab for some real AT tires.

Two days later, after it had warmed up and frozen again--making that spot icy and even worse--I drove thought it in 2WD with no issues.

Now this is puzzling to me because the reviews on the Michelin LTX AT2 aftermarket tires say they are one of the best out there. Michelin is a good company, and the OEM Michelins on my wife's 2019 Acadia work very well in the snow and on ice.

This leads me to believe that the OEM Michelin LTX AT2s are not the same as the aftermarket ones. Regardless, when I pick up my new HD next week my first trip will be to Les Schwab for new tires, and they won't be LTX AT2s.

The tire companies may be doing themselves a disservice if they are putting lesser quality tires on new vehicles, but are keeping the same name as the aftermarket.

Edited February 5, 2022 by INTJ

KARNUT · February 5, 2022

16 minutes ago, INTJ said:

I don't known if the OEM tires are different from the aftermarket versions or not. I do know that the Michelin LTX AT2 OEMs that come on many of the HDs are a joke as an all terrain tire. They are absolutely terrible in the snow. I just about slid off a snow covered logging road with them.

This was new snow on a sideways sloped logging road with a big drop off on the low side. I was slowly driving through when the rear wheels started slipping. I put in in 4WD and wound up with four tires slipping and I started sliding off the road. I managed to get through that spot, then stopped hunting and went immediately to Les Schwab for some real AT tires.

Two days later, after it had warmed up and frozen again--making that spot icy and even worse--I drove thought it in 2WD with no issues.

Now this is puzzling to me because the reviews on the Michelin LTX AT2 aftermarket tires say they are one of the best out there. Michelin is a good company, and the OEM Michelins on my wife's 2019 Acadia work very well in the snow and on ice.

This leads me to believe that the OEM Michelin LTX AT2s are not the same as the aftermarket ones. Regardless, when I pick up my new HD next week my first trip will be to Les Schwab for new tires, and they won't be LTX AT2s.

The tire companies may be doing themselves a disservice if they are putting lesser quality tires on new vehicles, but are keeping the same name as they aftermarket.

That’s why it doesn’t make sense. They could always put a different name on it. It’s done all the time.

garagerog · February 5, 2022

Not sure if it's still applicable but you used to be able to look on the sidewall of GM OEM tires and see a T Spec designation which indicated a difference between the OEM and replacement tires of the same manufacturer and tire model. If I recall the owners manual alluded to this in the tire section.

MTU Alum · February 5, 2022

The OEM tires are different than the aftermarket. GM will have specs to meet for tread wear, plyrat, rolling resistance, stopping distance, ride, handling, etc. The tire manufacturer determines which tire line meets the specs. Tire manufacturer's have tire lines available for OEM only, OEM/aftermarket, and aftermarket only. GM's stopping distance and rolling resistance requirements often lead to different rubber compounds and you generally have to modify the pattern to get the snow acceptable. In addition, the government has noise tests to meet that limits how aggressive the tire patrern can be.

Goodyear will not sell duratracs in future unless the OE use their tire contructions. GM will not have a duratracs in the future do to fuel economy and stopping distance issues with duratracs. You will see goodyear wrangler territory MTs instead.

#iworkforGM

Edited February 5, 2022 by MTU Alum

February 6, 2022

14 hours ago, MTU Alum said:

The load calculations are the same whether its oem or aftermarket. Its simply volume vs pressure. I think you maybe getting confused with load carrying with dual rear wheels vs single rear wheel.

Edited February 6, 2022 by Phobby