[1beautifuldaughter]

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.

[unruhjonny]

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.

[Stuart]

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?

[Firedup6975]

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.

[1beautifuldaughter]

Originally Posted by Firedup6975

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.

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

[Firedup6975]

Originally Posted by 1beautifuldaughter

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.

[1beautifuldaughter]

Originally Posted by Stuart

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?

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.

[necdb3]

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

[gto4evr]

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.

[Firedup6975]

Originally Posted by gto4evr

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.

[GT182]

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.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by gto4evr

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?

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

[gto4evr]

Originally Posted by Stuart

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

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.

[brut4s]

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.

[Greg Reid]

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.

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

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.

These recent posts verify what I was trying to say wayyyy back then. It's IN the tires. You can't wash it off. Not for long anway.

@David... I'm glad you're getting good service out of your Coopers. I must have gotten into a bad batch. I wound up putting mine on my truck and I couldn't wait to get enough wear on them to get at least some value out of them. Even after going through 7 to get 4 'good' ones, they still vibrated to the point that I couldn't stand to drive over 70mph. The worst tires I've ever had.

[stags]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

These recent posts verify what I was trying to say wayyyy back then. It's IN the tires. You can't wash it off. Not for long anway.

@David... I'm glad you're getting good service out of your Coopers. I must have gotten into a bad batch. I wound up putting mine on my truck and I couldn't wait to get enough wear on them to get at least some value out of them. Even after going through 7 to get 4 'good' ones, they still vibrated to the point that I couldn't stand to drive over 70mph. The worst tires I've ever had.

A very good friend of mine who was with Continental tire for 20+ years told me that when he saw my BFG's. It's something in the compound leaching through. Clean it off if you can but it will likely come back.
I reversed mine and guess what - the outer edges still get brown over time. A little tire dressing makes it go away long enough for me to deal with it.
The car is Mayfair Maize and I've come to like the look of blackwalls with just a little sheen on Rally II's sans trim rings.

[Riverbird455]

FWIW I wanted to post an update on my experience.

Purchased 4 new BFG TAs in May 2020. P235 and P245 60R15s. I noticed that the raised white letters were not very bright that summer, and worsened by the following summer. Researched best methods to clean via interweb, and discovered many threads about this well known problem.

Car was in storage over the winter, so I called Michelin last spring, and was given a case number. Followed through with local authorized tire shop, and after a couple weeks I got the OK. They covered everything, including mointing, balancing.

Mine were 2 years old, 650 miles.

Guys at the shop showed how I could sand clean, but they used a neumatic circular grinder on the old tires that were off the car and said only do that 2 or 3 times max. Finally got them on in August, look good now,.. we will see what they look like next spring when the car comes out of storage. They also recommended SOS pads to clean.

[Formulabruce]

Originally Posted by Riverbird455

Purchased 4 new BFG TAs in May 2020. P235 and P245 60R15s. I noticed that the raised white letters were not very bright that summer, and worsened by the following summer. Researched best methods to clean via interweb, and discovered many threads about this well known problem.

Car was in storage over the winter, so I called Michelin last spring, and was given a case number.

MICHELIN ?? HUH?
I had no idea they would handle warranty on their step child.
Its amazing in a way, Michelin ( the good ones ) are made in the USA, but a French Company. BFG is , or was an American company, and tires are NOT made here..
Too bad Michelin wouldn't make a high performance tire in sizes for 70's cars..

[F ROCK]

I confess that I dont know much about tires but when I was a kid in the late 60's early 70's, tires came wrapped in paper, or colorful foil. That was to protect them from something.
Also, New tires were/ are coated with something blue. I'm pretty sure that was to protect them (from the air?) while in storage.

My Jeeps sit outside. Both have brown sidewalls. The whole sidewall on both jeeps.
My 4wd pickup also sits outside; with BFG RWL "All Terrain TA's" on there... Not brown at all.

I've had Cooper Cobras' on the GTO for a year now. One tire showed a small brown spot within the first two months. I've been spraying them w/ armor all, the original one, not the tire stuff. It claims to have UV protection. I havnt noticed any new discoloring, but I'm not leaving the car sit in the sun as much these days. I used to let the car sit outside all day. My last set of tires, Mastercraft, turned brown too; the whole tire, not just the letters.

Quick story: I installed a new A/C unit and line set in my home last summer.
The Armorflex insulation on the line set in my basement is like new, soft and nice. The part that goes outside is dried up, porus, and splitting already. Looks like a twenty year old line set. The rubber is cheap or is it the sun? or both?