I bought my last set of Radial T/A tires many years ago for my last Buick project. They were fine, and to clean them I used the typical Belch White and sometimes an SOS pad or Simple Green for real grime. Never had any real issues other than a slight yellowing at the edges of a couple of letters...not really noticeable. Over on the Corvette Forum, there is a huge discussion regarding NEWER tires with white walls, letters, etc. Evidently, the consensus is that manufacturers have changed the process or chemicals or something, and these white areas are turning yellow quickly and are not able to be cleaned with any of the typical cleaning processes. Evidently, in discussion with tire vendors, there are changes and the general response is "too bad" when it comes to keeping the white clean. Wondering if guys here found this to be true with their tire purchases over the last few years? I wanted white on my car, but ended up with the gold as it came that way, and Corvette guys say the knock-offs look best ("right") with the golds. Not a big fan, but they look OK and seem to be holding their color so far--about 6 months with little driving yet. Cheers, Richard
Seems to be a Michelin/ BF Goodrich tire issue. I am buying Mickey Thompson tires made by Cooper for this very reason. Cooper tires do not seem to have this issue. Since appearance is important issue to classic car owners, a class action may be the remedy of last resort. I may be able to assist with that if no one else steps up. There is going be a limitations of actions issue for older tires that varies by state. In other words, some owners of older tires are going to be left out if no voluntary action can be agreed upon.
I think the critical issue is that owners seem to be saying that TAs are not going back to white after cleaning.
My Coker brand redwalls have remained bright red. My Diamondback redwalls have deterioated to a blah,muddy red. No amount of scrubbing(3m greenpad,steel wool/sospad,bleche white,lacquer thinner) restores them.
The white letters are NOT staying white. U clean them (using as a last resort) toluene and in no time they go brown.. I have my tire guy working on this problem with his supplier.
I have not encountered this yet. I have several sets of Coopers, one Uniroyal Tiger Paw and 1 set of Primewells with RWL. I used to like the Dayton Daytona’s but they must not be around anymore.
Guys, any luck with getting people to replace your BF Goodrich Radial T/A tires? If so, are the nest sets any better? gstewart, I saw you were getting new ones sent to you. Any update?
My bfgs are doing this bad. It'll be the last set I ever own. Per the recommendation of another member, I used a scotch Brite disc on a right angle die grinder. It works, but they brown back up pretty quick. I need to just go set the line lock and waste them so I have to replace them with some Cooper's. The Cobras on my white car have not discolored since purchased in 2017 and are an all around better performing tire.
Dry works fine, 100 and up whatever feels best for you, just a light scuff and you’ll see immediately, and it lasts for a few months. what you guys are seeing is the Black dye bleeding into the White, rubber is naturally White.
"Tire Dressings" will also attract brake dust and road grime, and it creates a yellow shellac on top of the letters. So I don't use it anymore. I clean the tires and leave them now.
I have been waiting over a year for my dealer to replace two BFG T/A tires with the problem. No sandpaper does not work, nor does lacquer thinner or Toluene, nor does sos. It may clean them initially, but in about 3 days the blackness returns to the white. I have not cleaned my tires since last September. The rears are dirty but the fronts are really bad/discoloured. BFG refuses to admit a manufacturing problem When these tires were Manufactured in New Brunswick, Canada, (Michelin) there was no problem.
Sale from Coker... https://r2.dotdigital-pages.com/p/5...mail&utm_content=HDC_Deal_of_the_Week_6_27_20
Just picked up a replacement pair of BFG Radial T/A tires, today. My tireman is wheeling and dealing with me such that I will pay him a small fee (?$). As I stated earlier, since almost a year ago. With the covid-19 & a supplier going out of business it has taken a long time. These new tires cleaned up easily in removing the blue letter coating. I also cleaned the pair I purchased last October for the rear. I think this new pair will be okay.
