New Tires for 20" Nissan Armada Platinum PICTURES!

[Timmbo]

I am not going to deal with another winter on the stock 20" Michelin Latitude tires so it is time to shop for new shoes on my ride! The Latitudes have terrible tread life and are horrible in light snow and ice. On my '08 Armada I had the same tires, and I replaced them with General HTS Grabbers. While the Generals were better overall, they still were not great in light snow and ice. They may have even been a little worse. Keep in mind my Armada is totally stock, and I will keep it that way. I figured I would share my research and decision process with everyone here in hopes of making a good purchase and helping others do so with their Armada or QX56.

Anyhow, I believe I have my selections down to a few, and I wanted to see if anyone had some feedback for me. Here are the contenders:

- Michelin LTX M/S2
- Michelin LTX A/T 2
- Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 2
- Goodyear Wrangler SilentArmor

I know it is interesting that I currently have HT style tires, and most on this list is AT..........still a bit up in the air on whether to go HT or AT, but my feeling right now is I am not happy with the traction I have received from two different brands of HT, so maybe I should try an AT.

Lets hear your thoughts and feelings! Again, keep in mine these are 20" rims, so I do understand that off road traction will not be my strong suit!

[Bubba1]

I am not going to deal with another winter on the stock 20" Michelin Latitude tires so it is time to shop for new shoes on my ride! The Latitudes have terrible tread life and are horrible in light snow and ice. On my '08 Armada I had the same tires, and I replaced them with General HTS Grabbers. While the Generals were better overall, they still were not great in light snow and ice. They may have even been a little worse. Keep in mind my Armada is totally stock, and I will keep it that way. I figured I would share my research and decision process with everyone here in hopes of making a good purchase and helping others do so with their Armada or QX56.

Anyhow, I believe I have my selections down to a few, and I wanted to see if anyone had some feedback for me. Here are the contenders:

- Michelin LTX M/S2
- Michelin LTX A/T 2
- Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 2
- Goodyear Wrangler SilentArmor

I know it is interesting that I currently have HT style tires, and most on this list is AT..........still a bit up in the air on whether to go HT or AT, but my feeling right now is I am not happy with the traction I have received from two different brands of HT, so maybe I should try an AT.

Lets hear your thoughts and feelings! Again, keep in mine these are 20" rims, so I do understand that off road traction will not be my strong suit!

My 4 runner is a little smaller/lighter than your 'Mada, but I've personally had excellent luck with Goodyear Wranglers. I have the all-season RT/S on 16" wheels. They've worn like iron for me, but I;ve logged mostly highway miles on her and I'm also faithful about rotating and inflations.. As far as bad weather grip, we don;t get that many snowy/icy days here in Philly, but as a partial testament to the tire, I almost never have felt the need to engage AWD , except maybe in deep snow in the alley way behind my house where I park.

[Timmbo]

Here we go, after much research and thinking, and even more research, I have decided on the Bridgestone Revo 2 tire. I like the Wrangler Silent Armor as well, but the tread is a bit more aggressive then I need. Problem now is the Revo 2 tire appears to be on back order everywhere! Not a huge deal since I am not really in need of the tires until winter, but I am just trying to stay a step ahead of the game. So at this point I am in a holding pattern until I find out the tires are in. Thanks for everyone's input, I really appreciate it!

[Timmbo]

Alright, so due to the fact that someone wants to buy my existing tires, I have now decided to go with the Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor. If everything goes as planned I should have these on either next week or the following week. once I have the new shoes on I will post some photos and my initial thoughts on the new treads!

More to come so stay tuned.................

[Timmbo]

Got the new treads installed today! 275 60 20 Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor is the winner! They totally look tough on the Armada, there is no question about that! I must say they are very smooth, and seem very grippy. I only had a chance to drive it home from the dealer at this point, but so far I am impressed. I don't know that they are any louder than the stock Michelin Latitude tires, but maybe a different sound. Not better or worse, just different but I can only notice that if I turn down the radio and fan. Here are some photos I took with my phone.

[VinceG]

We just put 4 new P275 60R20 Mastercraft Courser HTR+ on our 2008 Armada LE.
They look good and the drive seems the same as the stock Michelin Latitude Tires.
We paid $740 for all 4 including tires, installation and balance.

The local Nissan dealer had a special for August/September for the stock Michelin tires of buy 3 get the 4th for $1. The total price stall was about $950??

The Michelin Latitude tires were basically shot and about 35-40K miles on our 2008 Armada LE, and also at about 30K miles on the 2009 Armada LE. I don't expect the Mastercraft tires to last much longer, but at least they were $200+ cheaper.

Vince

[Timmbo]

All the NissN dealers are running the "buy 3 get 1 free" promo right now, but the tire selections are somewhat limited, and all the selections were mostly HT style tires, not AT.......being in an area where we have a lot of snow and now having tried a few different tires in the 20" HT style without much luck, I had to go with an all terrain tire.

Love the Silent Armors! Had them in the rain for the first time yesterday, and they were awesome! I will continue to keep everyone updated. My wife who is very picky, said the new tires are quieter than the Michelins. We were on a 3hr drive. She said the Michelins had more of a whine to them.

Other tire that looks good is the Nitto Terra Grappler.

[Timmbo]

Very impressed with the Silent Armors! They are awesome in the rain as well. I will continue to keep everyone posted, especially as we get into winter weather (which hopefully will not be anytime soon)!

[Timmbo]

Another update...........LOVE THE TIRES! Gas mileage has not changed at all! My wife can't believe how nice and quiet they are!

[Timmbo]

I thought I would touch base and update everyone on the new tires. I have about 5,000 miles on them now and had a chance to try them in snow, and even one storm where I drove on almost a 1/4" of wet ice. These tires are simply amazing on the Armada! I seriously could not stand the Michelin Latitude tires on both my '08 (had 20" rims as well) and my current 2010. The Latitudes were TERRIBLE in Wisconsin winters. The new Silent Armors are so much safer and better handling. Here are a few highlight regarding the Goodyear SIlent Armor vs: the Michelin Latitude:

- SA's are SOOOOO much better in snow and ice

- SA's are not necessarily quieter, but a much better sound on the highway, not nearly the whine of the Latitudes

- SA's corner a lot better then the Latitudes. They seem to have a much firmer sidewall and I can fly around corners without squealing.

- SA's make the Armada look so much nicer. I was at the dealer and they had several Armada Platinums, and they don't look nearly as nice as mine because of the tires. The SA's have a nice design on them and they are so much more aggressive looking.

- The SA's have an EXTREMELY nice feature, the "rim protector". Now I have been one to scrape my tires against a curb, but if it were to ever happen, you don't have to worry about scratching up the nice chrome rims. But even more so then the function, the feature makes the tires look even tougher yet! They simply look awesome (check out the photos at the top of this thread)!

- On the highway, both the SA's and the Latitudes are extremely smooth. I thought I would loose some of that by going to an All Terrain tire, but not at all the case. No vibration or shake from the steering wheel at all with the SA's. They literally could not be smoother.

- Fuel Economy: seems to be exactly the same, I dropped from 15mpg to 14.8mpg, but that was in late fall to winter, now using 4wd more, car is running more to heat up, and also the winter blend of gas is a factor.

- Price, yes, the SA's are extremely expensive, but you get what you pay for. They are certainly one of the more expensive tires in this size, but the cool thing is they will be a year round tire for me, yet they have the Mountain Snowflake symbol for winter handling. So no need to switch out tires and rims for the changing seasons. Cool thing is my Nissan dealer was able to match the Tire Rack price, and I also received an $80 rebate from Goodyear. I get free rotations and road hazard thru my dealer as well. Nice package!

All in all, I am nothing short of impressed. I noticed now on the new QX56 they have gone from Michelin Latitudes which they had on the 2011 models to the Bridgestone Duelers. That should be a nice change, but they still don't look as sharp as the SA's. I am just glad they made the change for customers in the snowbelt regions.

Let me know if you have any questions!!!!

[Debonair70]

I thought I would touch base and update everyone on the new tires. I have about 5,000 miles on them now and had a chance to try them in snow, and even one storm where I drove on almost a 1/4" of wet ice. These tires are simply amazing on the Armada! I seriously could not stand the Michelin Latitude tires on both my '08 (had 20" rims as well) and my current 2010. The Latitudes were TERRIBLE in Wisconsin winters. The new Silent Armors are so much safer and better handling. Here are a few highlight regarding the Goodyear SIlent Armor vs: the Michelin Latitude:

- SA's are SOOOOO much better in snow and ice

- SA's are not necessarily quieter, but a much better sound on the highway, not nearly the whine of the Latitudes

- SA's corner a lot better then the Latitudes. They seem to have a much firmer sidewall and I can fly around corners without squealing.

- SA's make the Armada look so much nicer. I was at the dealer and they had several Armada Platinums, and they don't look nearly as nice as mine because of the tires. The SA's have a nice design on them and they are so much more aggressive looking.

- The SA's have an EXTREMELY nice feature, the "rim protector". Now I have been one to scrape my tires against a curb, but if it were to ever happen, you don't have to worry about scratching up the nice chrome rims. But even more so then the function, the feature makes the tires look even tougher yet! They simply look awesome (check out the photos at the top of this thread)!

- On the highway, both the SA's and the Latitudes are extremely smooth. I thought I would loose some of that by going to an All Terrain tire, but not at all the case. No vibration or shake from the steering wheel at all with the SA's. They literally could not be smoother.

- Fuel Economy: seems to be exactly the same, I dropped from 15mpg to 14.8mpg, but that was in late fall to winter, now using 4wd more, car is running more to heat up, and also the winter blend of gas is a factor.

- Price, yes, the SA's are extremely expensive, but you get what you pay for. They are certainly one of the more expensive tires in this size, but the cool thing is they will be a year round tire for me, yet they have the Mountain Snowflake symbol for winter handling. So no need to switch out tires and rims for the changing seasons. Cool thing is my Nissan dealer was able to match the Tire Rack price, and I also received an $80 rebate from Goodyear. I get free rotations and road hazard thru my dealer as well. Nice package!

All in all, I am nothing short of impressed. I noticed now on the new QX56 they have gone from Michelin Latitudes which they had on the 2011 models to the Bridgestone Duelers. That should be a nice change, but they still don't look as sharp as the SA's. I am just glad they made the change for customers in the snowbelt regions.

Let me know if you have any questions!!!!

I'm glad you like the SA's. I was actually looking at those when I was looking for an All-Terrain tire to put on the stockers for when winter hit (the 26's come off after Halloween). I ended up going with the Cooper Zeon LTZ's 305/60/20. They're a little more aggressive looking than the SA's, but with them being strictly "winter" tires I don't mind. They drive well in the snow and ice so I'm happy with them. I'm next door to you in Minnesota so I know how rough the winters can be.

These are the only pics I have of them on the truck

[Timmbo]

They look nice! Certainly gives the QX a more rugged look!