Replacing Tires due to Age/RWL Tire Choices

 I have a good buddy who is a manager for a local Firestone and he told me when a tire reaches 7 years old, they "should" be replaced. Don't risk it, imagine trying to find a good front fender or rear quarter for a '72 GTS!

 

BTW, I have a brand new set of Firestone Firehawk 245/40/20's sitting in my warehouse but won't use due to age, they are 7 years old.

I am reading problems about BFG Radial T/As having browning letter problems.  Anyone have this issue?  I am probably just going to stick with Radial T/As as they are easily available locally and I have had okay luck with them over the years.  I could probably special order the Cooper Cobras (they aren't stocked by any of the local tire shops), but to be honest, I am really turned off by the look of the RWL on them.  That is just my personal preference, so I don't mean any offence to those who like the Coopers.   

Westley's changing their formula (changed ownership) sure hasn't helped the whitewall community,

that used to be the Go To but it don't work worth a any more.

the Old Man used to keep a brass brush in the detail bucket for the WW's & RWLs

what size are you looking at, what do you think of Silvertown Redlines?

(it's a T/A Radial)

looks like the FR60-15 compares to a 235/60-15, it's a GR60-15 that compares to a 245/60-15

and of course they're not listed

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/45_conversionchart.jsp

I like Rock's idea of the Firestones that look like bias-ply tires but are actually radials.  Those tires look so much better than any modern tire.  Too bad they are so expensive and that they also only come in smaller sizes.  I also wonder how they are for handling and traction?  BFGs are just okay, but not like a modern performance tire.  But the BFGs are way better than the old Polyglas tires.

Calling around today, I am pretty much limited to BFGs and Coopers.  The Coopers are more expensive locally because no one is a Cooper dealer so there is extra mark-up.  I got a good price on BFGs so will probably just go with them again...

The Coopers are growing on me, so I looked up the specs to compare to the BFGs.  One thing I noticed was that the BFG's are slightly taller but are a fair bit wider in the tread footprint.  In fact the 245/60-15 BFGs have a wider footprint than the Cooper 255/60-15s.  The Coopers have a higher speed rating though, rated at "T" vs "S" for the BFG.

72FordGTS wrote: I am reading problems about BFG Radial T/As having browning letter problems.  Anyone have this issue?

BFG faq

https://dcadprod.azureedge.net/b2c-experience-bfg-production/attachments/ckoss264w02hs01o89pidv5yy-b2c-product-bulletin-wsw-browning-vff-3-bfg-only.pdf

ebay search Westley's original formula

I don't dress my tires, but I did that for years in a detailing job.

Try Brown Royal for a serious wheel and tire cleaner. I have a gallon of that which I needed for some used forged wheels I bought many years ago. That stuff will hurt wheels if you spray it on in full sunshine and let it dry. But it is very good to clean with, if you are careful to use it properly. I would try to only use it on a cloudy day, and keep the wheels wet constantly. I had to scrub a lot to remove old build up, and it did that, but the process also revealed or added some corrosion in places. I have liked the Brown Royal for general wheel/tire cleaning during normal car washing.

I use Purple Power for most general tire and lower side cleaning, gently on the front bumper too on occasion. I dilute that to about 20%, more than that does more damage to paint etc.

Theyve been around a long time & make decent stuff. Seem a little softer than the other stuff in this size.

No comparison shoot outs for these sort of tires that i could find.