In this YouTube segment, solo presenter Mike Melton showcases a passenger‑truck tire installation at Speedy Tire in Lincolnton, NC. He introduces the Michelin Defender LTX MS2, explaining that it is a redesigned version of the previous MS model with a key improvement in wet‑traction achieved through a new zig‑zag siping pattern. Melton highlights the tire’s 70,000‑mile warranty and then demonstrates the balancing process using a Road Force balancer, a diagnostic tool that applies 1,200 lb of simulated load to detect vibration‑causing issues. The balancer reads near‑zero imbalance (0–1 oz) and only 10 lb of force, which Melton declares as an “amazing” result, implying the tire will ride exceptionally smoothly.
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This truck right here came in for a little something different. Now everybody knows us for doing like big all-terrains, mud terrains, stuff like that, but we do a lot of passenger car and light truck tires. Let me show you what's going on this one. Now before we get back to the video, remember Speedy Tire in Lincolnton, North Carolina. All right, here's the Michelin Defender LTX MS2. Now this is the one that they redesigned. The other one was regular MS. Now this is the 2. Now the biggest difference in this tire is the wet traction because it still has a 70,000-mile warranty on it. But let's talk about that wet traction on this tire for a second. So for one, they changed up the, the, uh, pattern of the sipes. So the sipes are all these little cuts inside the tread blocks, and these are zigzags. So what the reason they did that, because it actually gives you better wet traction. Now let's see how these things balance out. It's a Michelin, they should balance out good as much as these things cost. Now what we got to do, we got to take that damn sticker off, son. All right, now let's balance her out. All right, now if you never see my content, we use Road Force balancers. What this is, is a diagnostic balancer to check for any vibrations. Now you see that roller just came down? It's putting 1,200 pounds of force on the tire itself, being simulated, being driven on that vehicle. So it's going to look for anything that'll cause a vibration. Now it's coming off. Now here we go. We are calling for 0 ounces here and only an ounce here. That is amazing. And only 10 pounds of force. So everything's green. So this thing's gonna ride better than a Cadillac, son.
