Crappy BF Goodrich'

[Old Sparky]

Nothing new, they've been **** rubber that turns Brown since the late 70's... but just thought I'd show the difference between ONE year old Goodrich's and 32 year old Goodyears. Cleaned them both today with some naphtha. Not a hope in hell the BF's were even White to start with...
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I use SOS on the lettering at a regular wash time it cleans them up real nice

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

I'm running RWL Mickey Thompson Sportsman S/T. They are not great, but MUCH better traction that BFG's. Lots of others are running RWL Cooper Cobras and have similar positive reports (i.e. Dennis H).

 

[Kern Dog]

In 68 , I put new set of Michelins on my 67 Gtx, after the redlines, got used up , 255x on rear 225x on frt ! I seem to remember those being tube type tires and maybe natural rubber ! May be wrong, but for a street car , once lite up , they would really bite ! But very expensive, for a kid starting out , as a dealer mechanic!

Nice memory but the P-metric number tire sizing system was not in place in 1968.

 

[Jc cooper]

Nice memory but the P-metric number tire sizing system was not in place in 1968.

They were definitely Michelins and radials and best I can remember, tube type , could have been a year later , but all else is accurate, to my best recall!

 

[Kern Dog]

I remember in the 80s they were still calling tires HR60-15s,
N-50-15s, etc.
P- numeric tires were starting to become common. The 1982 Camaro had Eagle GT 215-65-15s, the first time I recall a new American car using the new tire codes.

 

[Jc cooper]

I remember in the 80s they were still calling tires HR60-15s,
N-50-15s, etc.
P- numeric tires were starting to become common. The 1982 Camaro had Eagle GT 215-65-15s, the first time I recall a new American car using the new tire codes.

That’s all fine and dandy , no other tires on my 67 Gtx, after the redlines, but Michelins! Sold the car in 70 , due to family necessity!Maybe they had another number, as in the HR something x 14” , can’t recall ! Maybe that’s the issue! Stating wrong sizing, just to try and clarify!

 

[guy gadbois]

I'm pretty sure BFG TA's are now made by Coker.

...and they're CRAP.

No sir, BFG still makes em, but the TAs are made in mexico... Coker does use some BFG carcasses tho as I understand.
The reason so many of us use the TAs is that BFG is one of the few companies that still makes the sizes we need. That, plus history and looks, but it ofttimes comes down to what you can get in the size for an old car.
Ive used TAs on two of my last 3 'old/fun cars; no issues. I tried some Generals the last set I bought at the recommendation of a friend in the business; he told me that BFG was switching design on the old TA and that anything in the pipeline in the size that I needed could be old, and that they are made in mexico now. So far the Generals are fine and nice. May look into Mickey Thompsons next time; they are Coopers, but have been told they are the top grade units only. Used Coopers for years on several cars and trucks - still use Avon motorcycle tyres which Cooper bought - but stopped using them on the Jeep and the wifes car when those lines were offshored to redchina.

 

[YY1]

I'll spare you the red X but I'm 99% sure they are.

There is still some "old stock" BFG out there but the new stuff is Coker.
There are different part numbers. IIRC One has ah "E" in it.
The traction ratings on the coker built ones are not as good.

 

[Ron H]

Mentioned I’ve had the BFG T/A’s on two of my old cars; but years not miles is the deal as I drive the '63 1,100 or so miles in a year. My current set went on in 2018 having around 3,000 miles on them. Only reason I’m pondering on a change is to drop RWL to get redlines. Wearing out tires on my ride would take a decade from old age not miles. No issues with them; they were quite an improvement over the poly's; but could be I'm missing some better handling with other radials I'm unaware of.

 

[guy gadbois]

I'll spare you the red X but I'm 99% sure they are.

There is still some "old stock" BFG out there but the new stuff is Coker.
There are different part numbers. IIRC One has ah "E" in it.
The traction ratings on the coker built ones are not as good.

Interesting... I'll hafta check in on that. My info came from a person in the tyre binness - a BFG [and others] retailer, tho he works on the wholesale side.

 

[guy gadbois]

They were definitely Michelins and radials and best I can remember, tube type , could have been a year later , but all else is accurate, to my best recall!

Well, I sure cant comment on exactly when the 'p-metric' size notation began, but the tyres you mention could very easily been exactly as you recollect; Michelin made red line radials in the late 60s - they were OE on certain Triumphs and Jags, and maybe others. Had a TR6 that had them on it. AND they were most probably tube type as they were used on cars with wire wheels.

 

[YY1]

It's only the T/A line.

 

[i_taz]

How's this for browning? Sitting inside over the winter... They UV crap comes from the inside out so there's no way to get them white without something like the old Westley's, the 80's before aluminum wheels Westley's....

 

[MoparGuy68]

I’ve posted a photo of a BFG T/A that was bought new in March 2000. Photo was taken, February 2021, shortly before discarding due to age. Letters look white to me.. So some of the older T/As don’t have the browning problem. None of them on my car did.

That said, I don’t like the tread patterns on the T/A or the Cooper Cobra. Their tread looks weird on a late 60s / early 70s car. I used to run Goodyear Eagle ST in 80s/90s. They had a nice looking muscle car tread.

I went with Milestar Streetsteel last year. The tread looks better in my opinion. I’m not fond of the raised racing flag pattern on the sidewall though. Unfortunately, someone at Milestar thought that looked good..

Strangely, only the letter “R”, in Milestar, has turned brown, on one tire, after a year. It turned brown within one month after buying the tires. The rest of the letters still look white.

 

[guy gadbois]

I'll spare you the red X but I'm 99% sure they are.

There is still some "old stock" BFG out there but the new stuff is Coker.
There are different part numbers. IIRC One has ah "E" in it.
The traction ratings on the coker built ones are not as good.

Hey, its fine to disagree... you have the inalienable right to be wrong. [ ;) kidding, just kidding...]
Tyres are a 'thing' with me, so Ive been doing a bit of research. BFG still makes the TAs - the ones we're talking about here, no one is questioning Comp series - but are made in mexico. Coker uses BFG casings as I understand it. The 'E' is a reference to a type of rubber as I remember - 'eco' formula or something. Dont bet the farm on that memory tho.
Now, Cooper has made Mickey Thompsons since time immemorial - now is no different. Interestingly tho, apparently Cooper has been using Goodyear casings for the Sportsman ST line since they brought them out! [wonder if theyre based on the old Eagle ST...?] Anyway, now that Cooper has been brought into the blimp hangar, Goodyear is apparently making that line of Mickeys themselves and they are made here in the US. So next set of this type of tyre will be MT for me.

 

[moparedtn]

I looked up available tires in the sizes I run on Fred on tirerack.com and only two
options came up - the aforementioned Coopers and BFG's.
As far as where each is manufactured:
BFG:

Cooper:

For those who can't see the details in the pics, they both indicate that their country of manufacture is MEXICO).

As far as who makes BF Goodrich tires:
In the 21st Century, Michelin North America, Inc., a part of the global Michelin empire, is responsible for producing
the Goodrich tire brand.

A specific statement from Coker Tire on production of the Radial T/A tires from their website:
"Although we do build certain BFG options under license from BFG, the T/A is not one of those."

 

[Big Bad Dad]

This is one of the BFG's on my 67. I purchased them at a local tire shop in 2003. My car has mostly sat in the garage since then. Probably less than 3000 miles on the tires. They had NOT been cleaned or washed in a long time when this pic was taken a couple of years ago. I don't seem to have the turning brown issue.

 

[69L48Z27]

I fixed my brown white letters today. On the first page Jim posted a link to a BFG site. They said SOS pad or 400 - Grit sand paper. I’m happy to report the 400 grit did the trick. Whiter than they’ve ever been. Sprayed my cleaner and scrubbed them, the lightly go over them with the 400 grit unit the white starts rolling off. Rinse and WOW!

 

[YY1]

I still have a set of 215/70/15 whitewalls that were on a parts car 5th Ave I bought in 2005.
They are still fine and not dry rotted or checked.

However, I bought some new tires in 2012 and 2 of them developed broken belts- one while sitting in the shop.

Pretty sure whatever happened to tire manufacturing or materials happened roughly between those years.