My Voyager midarm loves Glide thread -- never any shredding or breaking (unlike King Tut, CT polyester, and other threads). I have used it successfully with both a #16 needle and a #18 needle.
One thing that comes to mind is that you may need to change your tension settings. Although this Youtube video is aimed at longarms, the information seems to work for any machine used for free-motion quilting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1mRhcquZTM
Once I set my tensions as he suggests (I could not get my bobbin tension as low as he recommends; the screw fell out first!), I have had zero problems frame quilting with my Voyager.