BF Goodrich T/A brown letter tires?
 

I wonder if anyone else here has had the same issue as me and a friend of mine where our go to tire for vintage white letter look with good handling has always been the T/A radials like most people. He and I recently put new ones on our cars and the white letters turn brown as soon as you drive a short distance, And have started to just clean off less and less almost like something from within the rubber is bleeding into the white, You can scrub them with bleach, bleach white tire cleaner, even laquer thinner and they just look like crap. even the black part of the tire looks bad like you drove it out of a dirty field. My question may serve as a warning to those considering them for a show car, and to see if anyone else has experienced this. They look so bad I am considering buying a whole set of tires like Mickey Thompson or something.

I would think that using a cleaner like bleach is a part of your problem;
I wouldn't use any cleaning/corrosive agent.
As mentioned, using harsh cleaners can make the black wall look terrible.

What I have done in the past with these is simply water and a green or blue scouring pad - it's a bit tedious, but the results are worth it.

Here's a previous discussion on this topic: http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=800879 This was a recognized problem on Radial T/A tires, but apparently B.F. Goodrich made a change in about November 2017 that fixed it. Are your tires older than that?

On going problem with mine. I clean them with dawn and a tooth brush, rinse, dry well, sometimes I use toothpaste on them, usually only for shows. After they dry good I use a white tire paint pen if needed. Actually I have problems with the entire tire getting a greasy brown residue on them. :rolleyes:

Purchased the tires in July 2017, Also I checked out that other thread, Looks like I'm screwed. Probably some new regulation in making tires like they have to use olive oil and butterfly wings instead of petrolium.

I do get a weird ugly coat on them as if I put tire dressing on but didn't

Yep that’s exactly what it’s like.

I get the brown on my tires also but good old "Comet cleanser" seems to work well with a scrub brush.

I just went through that old thread link and all the comments about how BFG says the problem was solved......I'd say no.

Friend had this issue with his 68, new tires in late 2016 and the rear tires turned brown near immediately and no amount of scrubbing worked. He brought them back to the place he got them from and paid a prorated fee to have them replaced by new ones. This was roughly around Nov 2018. The car's been in his heated garage waiting out winter ever since and guess what the new and improved ones look like? Just as browned out as the first set and no amount of scrubbing is taking it off, the oil is leaching out from inside staining the white.

So BFG's answer that they solved the problem is a fairy tale.

Got mine in 2017 they still are a problem. I use dawn and a brush on the black part, Comet is wayyyyyy to abrasive and put tiny scratches in the rubber that fill with dirt even faster.

I have the same problem with my rear BFG T/A Radials I bought 5 or 6 years ago. The front ones I bought 3 years ago are fine.... the letters are still as white as the day I put them on the front rims.

Last summer it wasn't out much because of the rain we had. I'd get the rears white and in a couple of weeks they'd look dirty again.

What's the actual date code on the tires? They could have been manufactured some time before the purchase date.

When I was a kid I remember my dad on weekends when he detailed the car he would touch up the letters with white tire paint. I don't know if they still make something like that.

Everyone who has not experienced this says 'clean them with _____'. It don't work. It's not ON the tires, it's IN the tires.

Is the white tire paint the only viable solution?


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Yep, I've had the same problem with a set of Radial T/A tires on my 70 GTO for years . Tried to clean them lots of ways but the brown comes right back. Completely fed up with this crap. I'm getting ready to get some new tires for my 65 GTO, going to try a set of Mickey Thompson Radial S/T's. If they work out OK then that's what I'll be using from now on.

After a few phone calls back and forth, Michelin replaced mine (same exact problems as noted in previous posts). This time I mounted them white letters on the inside........
It’s crazy, as I have a set of BFG T/A’s from 2013 on steel rims that the white letters are perfect, and a set from 2000 on rollers that are also perfect- clearly something changed in the manufacturing process that resulted in greasy sidewalls and brown letters

The rep at Michelin didn’t fight me too bad on the replacements either

I'll get the date code next time I'm over there, but the shop was already aware of the issue when he complained about it so I can't believe they'd have put on old ones with the same issue. I know he had to wait a week or two because they had to order his size into stock.

oh, and another thing, it's just the backs he had replaced, the fronts are fine, I've seen that throughout the complaint threads too, the problem seems to be with the wider ones that end up on the back end of the everyone's cars.

My rears are 7 years old and thin. Past time to go. The fronts are 6, so I’m due a set of tires. I need 215/70/15 and 255/60/15, so, in white letter, my choices are limited. I’ve always had BFG’s because of the look, but I think I’m done with them. Other white letter offerings in my sizes don’t impress me. I’m looking at my car and considering blackwall. 215 Michelin’s up front and 255 Nankang out back. The Nankang’s are less than $100 each and I’ve yet to read even a lukewarm review.
But I gotta get the blackwall thing ok’d in my minds eye.

As mentioned, the rear tires are always worse then the fronts, I’m only guessing, but maybe it’s from the exhaust, I always have that same oily stuff on the bottoms of my quarters. Brake dust? Who knows, but personally I like the look of white raised letter tires on my classics, so I just deal with it clean them the best I can.

I guess they still make them.
https://www.prinzallerlei.com/produc...19702253289545

I'd say neither. My friends car hasn't moved since we put the tires back on it in November, so no exhaust or brake dust near it.

He's scrubbed with all the suggestions with no results and the next step is a the white grease pencil. He's pretty pissed after going through the hassle and money of changing out the new tires for more new tires to fix a problem that shouldn't have been there that then didn't fix the problem. I'm disappointed as I've been doing BFG TA's for 20 years and I'm due for some new ones. Not going to chance it with this obviously unsolved problem so it's time to start considering other brands. I'm not a fan of the black wall look so it's not an option for me.

When I restored my 69, I was after the factory look, and got White raised letter Firestone Wide Ovals. I loved the look and so did the judges who always commented on them. Problem was....they were bias plys. And we’re horrible to keep the. At on the road. When we decided it was time to replace them, they still did not make them in belted version, and I wound up with the Goodyear’s. The ride was amazing, but they are non stop maintenance keeping them looking good, plus every other muscle car has them now too.

I use Oxiclean and a toothbrush to bring back the white.

This one.....
http://www.oxiclean.com/en/allproduc...ax-force-spray

I think thats what I will be doing too, Saw one yesterday and they are a very nice looking tire, Only thing I noticed is the tread comes down the side a bit making it look like a off road jeep tire a little. But unlike the T/A that part of the tire didn't make as much ground contact and get all dirty and ugly looking, they have a more square shoulder, look much nicer than the T/a, I just hope I don't find out that this is an industry problem and they all start doing the same crap. I wonder if this is the reason the Pro-Track tires do not come in white letters anymore,

Toothpaste with peroxide in it. ;) that’s what I used at the AMEs Nationals. The

I have had to use a gasket grinder to renew the white.

I have a 3 month old set of Radial TA's on one of my cars now. No problem with the white letters at this point. I'm also running a set of 4 year old Radial TA's, and no problem with them either. From the posts I've read about the problem, it seems there was a chemistry problem for a period of time 8-10 years ago, prior to when I bought my latest tires. I also had a couple of other sets from over 12 years ago, and had no problem. So, luckily I missed the period when defective ones were made.

As was suggested by 78w72 in that other thread, if I had that problem with tires with a date code less than 6 years old, I'd see if I could get replacements from BFG.

When I bought my latest tires, I asked the tire guy to get me some tires that were not more than a year old, since I wanted fresh tires, not ones that have been sitting around for a couple years or more. So, the date codes are from about Sept 18, which was fine. Nothing really to do with the letters, but just a suggestion when buying tires to ask for fresh ones.

nobody here has yet admitted they tried denture cleaner :)

I have RWL "in" on my year or so old 14's. Left blue on. I need to go scrub & check.

Had the same problem with my Radial T/As. Tried everything without success. On another forum someone suggested using Goo Gone adhesive remover. For whatever reason it seems to remove whatever substance leaches out of the tires. It's super easy and worked great.

I did say toothpaste with peroxide.

Or just get another brand, and sell the Goodyear’s to a friend who don’t care about how clean they look. :D I’m getting white raised letter Uniroyal. TIGER PAWS for my 78 TA. Had my Mercury at the Ford Dealer for inspection last week, and asked if they can get any brand, he said yes just needs the size, and they’re buy 3 get 1 free. :) Coker Tire don’t have them, but a place called Oasis Tires does so I’ll price both. I’m guessing the freight on them will be costly, so probably let my Ford garage get em for me.

MaryAnn, not to upset the apple cart but Uniroyals were the worst tire I ever owned. They came on my 79 Formula from the factory and didn't last much over 19,000 miles. And no I didn't burn the rubber off them, they were just plain ol crap. Just a heads up and hopefully the reproductions will be better.

Gary I had them on my 75 TA, and I haven’t put 19,000 miles on my 69 since it was done in 1994 not even 10,000. My cars only go to car events. ;) the Tiger Paws ran perfect for me.

brown bfg letters
 

I bought a pair for the rear last fall and they are impossible to keep white as well.

Bought a fresh set of T/A's last year or so ago........ Horrible as far as the letters...... turn brown so fast.....

If you have a set of BF Goodrich "brown letter" tires, you are not S.O.L.!

This is a known issue and is being completely warrantied by BFG. If you bought tires from an authorized dealer, call BFG (1-877-788-8899) and they will open a claim with you. You will be instructed to take the tires to an authorized dealer for inspection. BFG will replace the tires and cover the cost of remounting.

If you bought your tires through Coker tire, like I did, you need to contact Coker directly. They sent me new tires, return labels for the old tires and reimbursed me for the cost of the dismount/remount. You can have the old tires dismounted and returned, then return to have the replacement tires mounted. I chose to purchase the second set, so I could have them mounted when the old tires where removed (one trip to the tires store). When they received the old tires back, they refunded my second purchase price and the mounting charge.

A bit of an inconvenience, but they are covering the entire cost and you're not out the $$ spent on the tires......

Jay is there a time limit from BFG on replacement. I have to check where I got mine from. I think it was Tire Rack, but have to check with my parts store.

Both BFG and Coker told me it was a manufacturing defect and never mentioned a time limit, or checked tread width. Don't ask, don't tell.......

Emailed BFG right away after reading they might be covering this.....

Here is their timely response...

Troy, be persistent. I got the runaround as well but waited a few weeks and tried again then got a list of authorized dealers to go to. If your seller is still around you should be able to get replacements.

Now for the bad part (for me): unfortunately I bought mine through a friend's shop and his distributor was no longer selling BFG's. When I went to the dealers BFG supplied they were reluctant to handle it since I hadn't bought from them. They claimed BFG "reimbursement" wouldn't cover their costs. One offered to do the swap if I would pay the difference but I was fed up by that time and just turned them around to blackwall.

Truth is, I left the trim rings off the Rally II's and now really like the look. Car is a Mayfair Maize vert and the plain wheels/blackwalls have a more aggressive vibe.

As for cleaning them, I had managed to get them "close" to white a few times but it didn't last. Like I told the BFG rep, the tires these replaced, which were on the car for 14 years and driven hard (too long I know) are still in my garage and the RWL's look better than this set ever will.

Good luck, Mark O.

Same for me. I just didn't want the hassle of spending more time at the tire shop. Once I kicked the white letter habit, I never looked back. I prefer the blackwalls now.

I also Emailed them weeks ago and never got a response.

I since tried tire cleaners again like bleach white, Purple Power, Etc. and then I thought of my old red neck friend gasoline. I put a little on a rag and it wiped off that tacky film that nothing else would touch with ease and turned the side wall a like new black rubber look, I wiped it 2-3 times until nothing else was coming off onto the rags , Then I tried it on the white letters and it turned them almost pure white without much effort. I then cleaned everything with soap and water. I have not driven the car yet to know if it will come back but have a good feeling about it, I am sure I may take some flack for this action but tough times call for tough measures, Of course you wont want to do it over and over, but I think it may hopefully only need to be done a couple of times . And of course you need to be safe and careful about it. I will drive my car when the weather permits and see what happens.
Disclaimer: Do not try this at home, I am a trained red neck professional.

Yeah...... they got back to me also on my 2nd email...... Nope.... NADA...... Zilch....... They want NOTHING to do with the issue.....

Will try the gasoline "redneck" thing........ Cant hurt I guess....

Let me know how it works out for you, If you are battling the same issue I think you will be pleasantly surprised . Still though I have not driven the car and warmed the tires up.

Just saw this today the White is actually running off the tires. :mad:

So can we say gas will fix this issue? I tried lacquer thinner which did seem to work,. but only with a lot of scrubbing

Hmmm...seems to be some different experiences here. I just got off the phone with my friend. He called BFG today, he said they issued a claim number immediately and apologized for the problem about 50 times throughout the course of the phone call. Hope it all runs just as smooth once he brings them in and the actual tire replacement happens.

a final follow up: My friend brought the tires down to the place, the guy acknowledged the brown letters and ordered in the replacements. They came in Friday and are all mounted with the new ones. It was a smooth as silk experience for him. White letters on the new tires glow in the dark they're so nice. A thanks again to Jays55 from him on the warranty info.

I've got this problem.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...5&d=1557043261