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Michelin XL's vs XZL's

AJMBLAZER

AJMBLAZER

Better to be lucky than good.
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I have a set of the 11.00R16 XL's with my name on them and for $200 more can have a set of the XZL's instead.

Anybody got opinions one way or the other? Not sure if I can scrape up the additional cash for the XZL's but if I can I'd hate to miss an opportunity.

It sees mainly road miles during the better weather but I'm not afraid to play on the two tracks, trails, and hills of Northern Michigan. Not much of a mud guy but I always make sure I have tires that can get me through what mud I encounter on the trails.

xl_tire_168.jpg


xzl_tire_146.jpg


Yeah, I know they don't list a 11.00R16 but they did make them. Seen plenty of them for sale.
 
I dunno, their tread looks kinda tight to me.
 
Groove them. I would go with the XLs myself, but I have not run the others. I have sen the XLs grooved down the sidewall and through the main tread pretty deep to helpo them flex and for better gription.
 
The center tread blocks are definitely getting siped. Not so sure on the grooving. Hesitant to groove tires that are going to be under a semi-daily driver.

Not that worried about "gription" around here. The nearest real nasty, rock crawling action is a day trip away. A good aggressive tread alone will get you over most of the "clawable" stuff around here.
 
Note that first bullet in upgraded tire's description - sidewall protection - if you're doing serious offroad, that's important. a stray branch or rock can rip the sidewall on he XL really easily. (I've done it with a curb in a parking lot.)
 
Knew you'd chime in.

Gotten to drive it yet?
 
Jeesh, dat's a biggun!

howdiy, what do you think of the XZL's?
 
I have wheeled the xzls and driven them just a bit. The set I used was worn a bit they drove fine, if there is hardcore wheeling in your future grooving the tires would help a ton. On the rocks out here they don't work that well. They are super hard
 
Grooved the first 2 tires this weekend. I let them sit in the sun for a few hours and it only too me 20min per tire. Both tires netted 1.5lbs of rubber, almost enough to fill a coffee can. :D

TireGrooving1.jpg


TireGrooving2.jpg


TireGrooving3.jpg


They seemed to do okay on the trail before the grooving, and mine don't have all that much tread left. Heck I only paid $35/tire, so can't hardly complain.

Here's a video showing them in action. You can see them climbing, but the lack of front locker won't let the front help enough. But I was happy wiith how they seemed to be working.

 
Yeah, think I did the mental math wrong.

Would grooving have any potential problems with maybe making the tire heavier on one side or anything?
Tempted to have at it over the winter since I'll be siping them.
 
That's the beauty of internal balance with pellets, they just adjust to fix any balance issues.

I didn't notice anything different driving home 16mi at 70mph. Matter of fact, they seemed a little quieter.
 
AJMBLAZER said:
Jeesh, dat's a biggun!

howdiy, what do you think of the XZL's?
Click to expand...

Thats just a pictrue I took from the gallery. Can't help sorry.
 
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