Tire advice - Yokohama Geolanders or Michelin Defender LTX for the 100 Series Landcruiser/Lexus

The Lexus LX470 we have as a oh-well-we-occasionally-need-it SUV will need new shoes fairly soon. Not because the existing tires are worn out, but they're starting to crack a little bit so that's no good.

We've the previous version of the Michelin LTX on my wife's Range Rover and they seemed to work well, but while they're M&S rated, they don't have severe snow rating. The only choice over at Tirerack that does is the Yokohama Geolander A/T G015. Does anybody have experience with the Geolanders? This truck basically doesn't go more off road than a very occasional dirt road, and I'm not building an overland rig here either.

In reply to BoxheadTim :

I had Geolander A/Ts on a truck about 5 years ago. I loved them. I went off-road (FL so not rock crawling) some but mostly as a daily driver. I can't remember road noise levels but it's not something that would bother me. What I remember most was going down a mountain at the SC/NC boarder in very heavy rain. I was passing everyone and felt totally in control but I noticed that if I let off the gas it felt like my brakes were dragging. It took me a bit to realize there was so much water on the road that it was slowing the truck down. I never even felt a hint of hydroplaning. I never saw snow on them so I can't comment on that. 

I had Geolanders on my Subaru. They worked great for light off-roading and rallycross. 

In reply to Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) :

What were they like on the road? The LX sees about 99.5% road and probably 0.5% dirt road in a year when I took a wrong turn somewhere in WV.

I've run the LTX on three of my vehicles ('06 Rav4, '16 Pilot, and '17 Odyssey). It's my favorite tire, and it's done well on the snow/ice in the Odyssey. So much so that I never bothered to buy winter tires in the four winters we've had it. Never taken any of our vehicles off road, so I can't comment there. With regular tire rotations, they wear very evenly and seem to last a long time. I was very disappointed when they no longer made them in the RAV4's size.

The Geolander name appears to apply to a lot of different kinds of tires. Stock on my Subaru was G91FV. I replaced them with G058. Similar but not the same tire. The G015 looks like a truck tire. Seems confusing. 
 

for what it's worth, both sets were totally adequate on the road. The originals lasted 90k miles before aging out. They got me down a few sandy roads. Grip on the road was okay. They didn't wow me but I never had a hairy moment either. The new ones are stickier and a little louder. No offroad experience yet. 
 

If the trucky versions are similar I don't think you'll be disappointed. But I have a hard time recommending anything over a Michelin without data to back it up. 

I have run both the LTX and the G015 on a chevy silverado. Both are a great tire. Neither gave me an issue on the road or in the rain or light snow and road slush. The LTX holds the edge in noise/road comfort and the G015 was a little better in the deep snow (1ft+)/muddy tracks, but not a huge difference between the two. I would be happy to run either set again. 

Agree that there are many different tires wearing the "Geolandar" name.  Not sure which one came on the CX-9 from Mazda, but it seemed like a good all-around compromise tire.  The one thing I do remember quite vividly about them is just how easily they would spin on dry pavement.  No squeal, just spin--which led me to believe that the rubber compound was pretty flippin' hard.  Now some of this was due no doubt to the copious amounts of torque that Mazda's impressive 2.5 Turbo puts down. 

So if you were okay with a good all-around tire with meh levels of dry grip, then I would recommend the Geolandar.

Edit:  I would say that the Vredestein Quatrac Pros that replaced the Geolandars are a significantly better tire.

It looks like only reputable tires I can get locally (which includes Discount Tire/Tire Rack) are either the LTX or the Geolander G015. At least those seem to be in stock, some other tires seem to pop in and out of stock. 

This may belong in the Rant thread but I was recently shopping for tires for my Nissan Frontier on Tire Rack.   

In the last 1.5 years or so tires for it have gone up close to $100 each.     

In reply to BoxheadTim :

This is subjective: I thought they were fine- fairly quiet, good in the rain, good road traction for an A/T tire, good tread life. I'll get them again, for sure. 

LTX are quite possibly the best all-around 'truck' tire to date, and are also known for doing well on the chilly slick stuff despite the lack of snow rating, but for a less used vehicle some of its qualities might not be as important.

Whenever a mfg picks a size with crap selection though, like 275/60-18, I tend to go with the next closest popular size if it gets me the 'right' tire. I've seen stated that up to 275/70-18 and 285/65-18 both fit without rubbing. In addition to the updated (M/S 2) LTX, I think going to 275/65-18 should also get you the selection of 'on-road all-terrain' tires you want to choose from as well. While the Geolander G015 may have been a great road oriented A/T tire when it was released the better part of a decade ago, and is still good today, there are better options available.

My Geolanders got me and my family to the Arctic circle.

Thiw was in 2010.

I would drive them anywhere.

That was an awesome trip.

berkeley it, you get the full dump of photos now.

A third option is the Toyo Open Country AT3.  I have them on my 2wd shortbox C1500 for the winter, and I manager the snow and ice yesterday with far more traction than I expected.

I admit it--I love being that guy.  Yokohama does not make a tire that they call "Geolander".  It's properly spelled "Geolandar".  You have been educated.

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

All this time, and I never even saw it!

In reply to Driven5 :

It's largely a thankless job, but somebody has to do it. 

Have Geolandurs... on my Fronteer and Land Rovor.  Good tires.  Will buy again.

Pfff, get the Yokohama's, crack open an icy cold Sapporo, and crank Deep Purple's Woman from Tokyo up to eleven.

You're welcome.

In reply to Apis Mellifera :

Heh Heh Heh Heh!

Geolandars get pretty loud if you're not on the ball with rotation and alignment.  I've got them on a well seasoned '96 chevy truck and they are pretty loud at 1/2 tread.  Falken wildpeaks atw3's seemed to tolerate neglect a little better and stay quiet.

Michelin LTX AT2's are worth a look too if you want something a little more agressive than the MS. Lots of people complain about the ones that come OEM but i think the aftermarket ones are much different.  I liked the set I had for a mostly highway truck that needed to perform off road on the weekends from time to time.