BF Goodrich Radial TA

[Danr55]

Anyone know where I can buy a couple of 295 50 15 Radial TA's? I can't find any in Phoenix.

[CobraEd]

Tire Rack.com ???

[mr bruce]

BFGs are obsolete, try these: http://www.kellytires.com/kellytires...5&sidewall=RWL

[Bob In Ct]

The BFGs shake, try Yokos if you can find them.

Bob

[1985 CCX]

Dan,

My opinion: Don't waste your hard earned dough on those tires. I have gone Goodyear and what a difference. Try "Cobra tires" at Kraus Racing or even Hoosiers from Summit. Hoosiers are DOT legal....

Never had the BFG's at a point where they didn't shake, break loose, or just plane grab. I have heard Yoko's are great for street as well. At the least go Eagle II's direct from Summit.

My 0.02

[PNJSNAK]

Summit Racing

[jwd]

Originally Posted by PNJSNAK

Summit Racing

Agree. They have them in stock. I wonder, if they are such a crappy tire, why do the majority of Cobras have them? I have them on mine and they are great. No balance problems at all. I do have a traction problem but maybe it's more of a high horsepower-light car problem.

[WildBill3]

we have the big Yoko 295 50s Avids on the sons car they are nice

[Danr55]

Guys, I have to go along with JWD's question. If they are crap, why do so many folks run them? I've got them on my car and the perform well for me. Besides, there is some nostalgia associated with Cobras and BFGs.. Not for everyone, but for me anyway.

Thanks for all the help and advice. I'll check with summit tomorrow.

[ItBites]

Dan,

The reason so many folks have them is because they are cheap, readily available, and they fit 15" rims. Many folks also like to brag how they can break loose the tires in third... Unfortunately, while sounding great when bench racing, breaking loose is not conducive to winning in actual racing.

Listen: Good tires will provide the biggest actual performance improvement for the dollar over ANY other mod you can make to your car. This is true for acceleration, cornering, and braking. They will not increase bench-racing perfomance as much as more HP, better shocks, or bigger brakes. But, if you are into the actual performance of any sports car, improved tires are the best spent money.

I can tell you from experience that BFGs are dangerous if you drive near the limits. Good tires are cheaper in the long run and offer better performance in the short run. I have not run BFGs since 1992 on any high-power car.

[jwd]

I guess the Goodyear F1 Supercar tires on my Corvette are junk cause I can bake them like a BFG T/A's when I turn off the traction control.

[SantaFe66]

I suppose if you don't drive on the street like you race on the track, the BFG T/A's are fine. Mine don't shake after being balanced properly and I'm quite happy with them. Even driving fast on twisty roads, they are predictable.

I suspect most of the criticism of BFG T/A's has to do with using them on a track and I would agree, they aren't the best for that. For one thing, they don't pick up rocks and fling them into your fender wells and ding your rear leading edge like the softer compound tires do.

Paul

[tcrist]

Is there still places that can shave the tires round then balance them. That might work to fix the vibrations.

Terry

[Chaplin]

I had BFG T/As on another car that is much heavier and not as much HP as the Cobra and had the same problems that everyone is complaining about. A lot of vibration and not a lot of traction- I think part of the problem is they seemed to be a very hard compound. When it came time to get tires for the Cobra, I went with the Dunlops and they have been great. If I were buying now I would also check out the Yokos and Avids. Of course the billboard Goodyears look great too!

[SantaFe66]

Out of the total of 13 responses so far to this thread, 4 people don't have a problem with them. That's not everyone complaining. It seems it might be that problem tires weren't balanced properly (some shops can't do that to save their souls) or they are driven beyond the limits (not hard to do with these cars). It doesn't mean the BFG T/A's aren't fine for some folks.

I had to take mine back twice to have them balanced properly and the owner ended up doing it. They were fine after that. I've had the same problem with tires on many other cars so the Cobra experience with BFG's is no different.

The price is usually very good for new ones and you can find slightly used sets from people that don't like them for really reasonable prices. I've bought new and used and been happy with both. No shaking.

[WildBill3]

breaking loose the tires at 90+ and having to catch the car isnt safe on anybrand of hard tires but to get rid of that dot Hoosers were installed ok so now ther is no life in the tires for the street.A medium soft 160 to 200 treadwear is more in order for the street Bfg KD,or KDWs come to mind .most of the companies have a softer compound for more spirited drivers ,and racers alike we ran well last year in competetion on some harder tires from Falkin but white knuckles every time we compete isnt my thing now on the street we just cant use full throttle with these tires ,anyone running alot of HP is in the same boat.Bfgs are fine fore the street as are many others just becarefull with that right foot.The deal is how much are you willing to pay for traction ? what will they be used for?how long do you need them to last?

[BFBurk]

Great discussion! I've had the same BFGoodrich radial T/A's on my car since it was built in 1989.

They always seem to shake at high speed and high speed balancing seems to work but does not seem to eliminate the problem. I did have one left front rim that had a wobble 12 years ago and I chucked it up in the lathe and took a 20 to 30 thousandth cut where the rim contacts the spindle and trued up the wheel. I replaced that tire and it was much better. All the other rims were fine.

I still have the same tires(minus the one that was on the out of true rim) and they wear like iron. The tires must have a very hard rubber compound.

I think low profile tires are hard to keep balanced and need rebalanced yearly or at least once every couple of years. When I need new tires, I will keep what was discussed here in mind.

[MFE III]

I've got BFG KDW's on my daily driver (Porsche 996) and I like them very much. Very predictable at the limits and no high speed shake. I'm planning on running KD's on my Cobra.
Matt

[xlr8or]

The reason people carry the BFG's and people still run them is they are one of the few that still come in a 295/50/15 and they are cheap. In a lightweight high HP car they are just worthless because there isn't enough weight on them to make them grip and don't get them wet.

[clayfoushee]

I had two sets of BFG Radial TAs, and couldn't get rid of the shakes even after Hunter 9700 Road Force Balancing and everything else. I threw them away, and switched to the Yokos discussed here..........problem gone!