[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?

[geeteeohguy]

Originally Posted by 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?

It's the rubber. A few years ago helped a friend restore his '67 GTO. All new rubber ball joint boots, tie rod boots, control arm bushings. Upper poly control arm bushings. Car sat in the shop for 6 months without the engine, waiting for the rebuild. When we went to put the engine in, all the new rubber was lying on the floor in pieces. It had crumbled and rotted and fallen off the car. We ended up washing the 50 year old original rubber in kerosene and re-installing it. HIs poly upper A-arm bushings disintegrated and fell out of the car about a year and 100 miles later. The only good rubber on the car was the body mount bushings, which he had bought in 1978 and had in a zip lock bag.
I ordered a set of premium inner tubes from Coker for my Model T Ford. Figured the 45 year old tubes were not safe. The new $$$ tubes rotted and the valve stems fell off in less than one year and 100 miles of service. I ended up re-installing the 45 year old tubes. They were still going strong when I sold the car. New rubber is crap. I ordered a repro shift boot for my '65 GTO and it rotted and split in two in about 6 months. Am running the original 57 year old boot that has a tiny tear that's been there and not gotten worse since 1982.

[78w72]

Originally Posted by 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.

good to hear my advice worked out for you & they took care of this.

BFG has improved the issue compared to the first 2 sets i bought back in 2010 they replaced, but apparently its still ongoing. the 3rd set they sent me in 2017 are much better but still not how they should be.

some dont have the issue so it must be size related or possibly they have better batches on occasion. but still no reason for it since other brands of RWL tires dont do this. my next set of tires will be M/T radial ST or possibly the firestone indy 500 that are being made again, i have a older set of indy500s that still look like new in the tread/sidewall & the letters are snow white.