22" Inch Michelin - Defender LTX M/S2 115 vs 119 @ Costco

[citizen]

Got 21,400 miles out of the OEM Pirellis. Never used conserve mode and had two rotations done during the life of the tires, I do put the suspension in auto setting often but will likely refrain going forward. From the photos, every tire had the red range peeking through, some more severe than the others. Noticed that the inner grooves were more worn in general. Photos below of the readings showing the most red range. And I was pretty much at the wear bars.

As many have mentioned, good luck getting the larger tire chains (and big box stores) to install the 115 load index version. I visited the Costco in Tustin Ranch a few times to speak to various folks about the 115 before ordering. They were one of the ones in the area that had the pucks and worked on other Rivians vs. my nearby Costco which flat out refused to work on Rivians (I even offered my pucks and to walk them through it, they declined citing liability). I had gotten the go ahead from the rep I was speaking with along with his manager back in late January.

Fast forward a few weeks later, when I showed up to have the delivered tires installed, the rep helping me and another manager had issues with the 115 load index and requested that I provide manufacturer's proof that 115 was okay.

I dug up page 260 from the service manual that showed the 115 marking, sent him photos of the old OEM tires that showed a 115 load index and even a screenshot of Costco's website that allowed you to purchase the 115 load index version when you plug in the R1S but the manager wanted a written statement from Rivian.

Fortunately the manager was called into a meeting and I assume communication didn't make it to the service techs. When I finished shopping and went back out to the parking lot, my car was gone from its spot and in one of the service bays with all the wheels already off and one or two of them mounted with the new tires. I guess I just got really lucky that the install went through...

As I was driving home, the tire pressure monitor alert went off. Left side of the car was reading ~37, 38 PSI all the way home. Since I was already on the onramp by the time the alert went off, I figured I'd just deal with it when I got home. After inflating the left side to factory specs, I figured I'd take a look underneath and sure enough, two of the jack point covers were partially reinstalled.

First time getting my tires installed at Costco. Hoping the post-install service and warranty lives up to expectations. For a 2:45pm appointment, I got there at 2:35pm, started talking to a rep at 2:40pm and was out at 3:55pm. Not too bad even w/ all the pushback discussions. Total cost w/ the $60 discount (I think the prior sale was $80 off) and taxes was $1,270.87.

TL;DR, make sure you order the 119 version if you want Costco to install them. Also call ahead and confirm that your local store will work on Rivians.
115: https://tires.costco.com/product?ItemNo=1764204
119: https://tires.costco.com/Product?ItemNo=1764224

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[AYAYRON]

It’s very wishy washy, I got 115 installed with no questions asks it’s all about how much of a stickler that particular employee is being. Also now that 115 is on there I bet they’ll never question it again

 

[Riviot]

Inner wear greater than outer wear points to high torque in low/lowest. I recommend standard height and all purpose drive mode for these reasons.

 

[Rivianero]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what would be the difference between the 115 and 119 load index versions? Would one expect differences in wear, ride quality, efficiency?

 

[AYAYRON]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what would be the difference between the 115 and 119 load index versions? Would one expect differences in wear, ride quality, efficiency?

compound can handle more weight of the vehicle and it's a stronger tire which is also a lot more expensive, I'm on 115 and I have no complaints I wouldn't see a reason to spend the extra money

 

[shamoo]

I had the 115s installed at my local Discount/Americas Tire. They said they do them all the time. I had the option of the 119s too but it would take another 3 days. It was my fault that I did it last minute since I had a ~200 mile trip up/down the mountains later that day and one of my tires had worn down to the cords (bad alignment I suppose).

They did NOT use the pucks, even though they said they had them. They used multiple jacks on the lower control/suspension parts (that's what it looked like from far away).

The 115 Michelins are much quieter and softer, noticeably. "Spirited driving" is not as good as the Pirellis obviously, but I don't mind. There's definitely more slippage when you're stepping on it. More noise when doing slow turns (probably due to softness). I can't speak for the 119s, maybe they're a bit different.

This was the worst tire lols, and the reason I didn't want to wait. I have another set of Ram 2363 wheels/tires for off roading so these are fine (although I have done a bunch of gravel on these). The other 3 tires weren't nearly as bad, and were worn about the same as yours (OPs). Lasted ~22K miles.

 

[mkg3]

I think the problem is solved at all tire stores now. Btw, I bought mine over a year ago and is 115 load index installed by Costco. They've rotated the tire once already.

Michelin makes Defender LTX M/S2 in 275/22/50 116

https://www.michelinman.com/auto/browse-tires/by-dimension/275/50/22/116

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