Tires, Help me decide

[442MUCH]

The 442 is booked for paint. Unfortunately there is such a demand that my car can't get in until July 2. Then it will take until July 30th until it's ready. We're running into a labour shortage.

Anyway, the 442 has been running the same tires for 14 years. My Uniroyals are good tires but this style is only available in the USA now. So, I have a choice of some new tires to look at.

What would you go with and why, and what size tires are you running? I didn't go with BF Goodrich Radial T/A because everyone here and his dog is running with those tires and I want something different.

In a survey I found results were as follows for the performance tires:

1. Firehawk Indy 500
2. Yokohama AVID T4
3. BFGoodrich Radial T/A
4. Dunlop GT Qualifier T
5. Goodyear Eagle GT II

My 14 year old Uniroyals (not really an option at this point)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v417/vttedrm/DSC_2512.jpg

Firehawk Indy 500
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v417/vttedrm/fs_indy_500_rwl_ci3_l.jpg

Goodyear Eagle GTII
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v417/vttedrm/gy_eagle_gtii_ci3_l.jpg

Goodyear Eagle 1 Nascar (Same as on my Vette) not included in the survey
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v417/vttedrm/gy_eagle1_nascar_rwl_ci3_l.jpg

The tires are also in order of cheapest to most expensive. Let me know what you think. I'm looking at 235 70R 15 for size which is the same as the original G70 15 that came on the car originally

[Salon Sally]

I Was Basically In The Same Dilema As You Are In As "everybody Running B.f Goodrich ". So I Decided To Go With The Dunlop Route. I Am Running Dunlop Qualifier G/t On My 1976 Cutlass Salon. Fronts Are 235/70/15,and Backs Are 275/60/15. This Combo Gives Me The Stance,ride Quality,and Traction That I Was Looking For.goodyears Are Over-priced,and I Have Not Gotten Over 30000 Miles Out Of Any Good Year Tire Anytime.i Had Good Year Eagle S/t On My Cutlass,eagle G/a On My 2004 Monte Carlo(which I Replaced Those @27000 Miles With Uniroyal Tiger-paws),and Good Year Wrangler R/t On My 2002 G.m.c. Sierra(replaced @ 29000 Miles,replaced With Uniroyal).but To Be Honest Go With Dunlop,or Uniroyal If You Can Find Them.

[damaged442]

I've been running BFGs on my 77 since 94 (obviously not the same set). I liked them so much, I put them on my 442, replacing the Kelly Chargers that she wore when I bought her. I never looked at it from the perspective that "everyone runs BFGs". That's actually the first I've heard of it. You guys are going to give me a complex now, and I'm going to have to seek psychological help. See what you've done? I hope you're happy.

So anyway. I went with the BFGs because I liked the way they looked with SSIII wheels. I wanted raised white letters. They handle well, they wear well, and for those that like smoky burnouts, they do that VERY well. I can't say anything negative about the other brands you mentioned, as I have no experience with those tires on my cars, but the BFGs have done OK by me.

I've had Eagle GAs on my Impala, they were garbage, and didn't get 30K on them. Replaced them with BFG Traction T/A. So far, so good. On my TrailBlazer, had Continental ContiTrac, also garbage. I got rid of the vehicle with 28K and it needed tires. I've got GoodYear Forteras on the new TrailBlazer, and they're OK, but more expensive to replace.

Bottom line is, it's your car. It's an awesome car regardless of the tires. You could put fat whitewalls on it and it would still kick ass. (not recommended :D) If it were my car, I'd go with the BFG Radial T/A, then visit the psych ward!

[Hurstolds1973]

Bottom line is, it's your car. It's an awesome car regardless of the tires. You could put fat whitewalls on it and it would still kick ass. (not recommended :D) If it were my car, I'd go with the BFG Radial T/A, then visit the psych ward![/QUOTE]

Is that where all the guys that "only have 350's" go Bert?:D
j/k

[zodiacblue442]

Ken, I've got Goodyear Eagle GT II's on my 442. They are P235 70R15's. Decent tires. Good traction and handling on dry pavement and pretty good on wet pavement. Kind of expensive though (almost $100 each on sale and that was 8 years ago.) :eek: The thing I don't like about the Goodyears is the white letters on my tires (even the spare) have a brownish tint to them, about halfway of the height of the letters. From what I have been told, the shield in the sidewall of the tires is not large enough and the carbon black is bleeding into the white rubber causing a brownish appearance. They just look like "old tires" with dirty white letters. I can clean the white rubber like crazy and they look better but they will brown out again. When the tires were new, I talked to the Goodyear store manager about the problem. He was going to warranty the tires and give me another set, but couldn't guarantee the next set wouldn't be any better. I was kind of concerned with the new paint on my SSII's so I just kept the set I bought. I only put around 1,000 miles a year on the 442 so the tires will be dry rotted before I wear out the tread. I bought the Goodyear's because I was hung up with their huge presence in NASCAR.

If I had it to do over again, I would have bought BF Goodrich Radial T/A's. My brother had a set on his `77 442. Those tires were great and he didn't baby the car if you know what I mean. :D They lasted 55K easily and the white letters were just as bright white as the day he bought 'em.

Something else to consider - my Supreme has white letter Dunlop Road Hugger GT's on it. They look nice and seem to be a good tire as far as handling, etc. The white rubber is nice and bright white too.

I gotta go with Bert on this one though... for the money I don't think you can beat a set of BFG Radial T/A's. There's a reason why they are so popular.

[58thndy]

I think you ought to put a set of Vogues on it. Nothin' like a little mustard and mayonnaise to pimp out a nice ride...:D

http://www.voguetyre.com/products/tires/full.cfm?Page=1&ProductID=0000000008

Up front, I'm not terribly brand loyal on tires. I tend to stay away from Goodyears due to horrible luck with them over 36 years driving, but right now I'm running: Uniroyals on the Toronado; Firestones on the Pace Car and the K-Car; Goodrich on the wagon; Regul Questa (M-U-G mid-brand and a damn good tire for the money) on the 98; Cooper Mastercraft on the green Starfire (due to size issues, few tiremakers make big 14" whitewalls any more); and LeMans (Firestone group mid-brand made by Dayton) AT for the Ford 4WD.

I've had no tire problems with any of them. I am a bit anal about alignment and rotation though.

You won't go totally wrong with any tire you've mentioned. They're all good tires, but they have their quirks.

As noted by others you'll get very poor mileage life out of Goodyears.

Every Dunlop I ever used, the white rubber became very "grainy" after a couple years and had to be scrubbed frequently to keep the white "run-off" cleaned off the sidewalls. This WAS when the cars had to live outdoors full-time.

Firestones seem to show sidewall dry-rot quicker than most.

BFG seem to have the overall least quirks of any mainstream performance tire. Like Gary said, there's a reason they're so popular.

I've had great luck with them, Firehawks, Kelly Chargers and Cooper Cobras though those tend toward wearing out about as quick as a Goodyear.

BTW- Kelly Chargers aren't really an off-brand. Kelly-Springfield has been around FOREVER, and my dad and his brothers used to swear by K-S, Dayton and Seiberling tires. One uncle drove Ninety-Eights from 1952 till he died, and when OE tires wore out, every one of those Ninety-Eights got a set of Seiberlings as long as he could get them. He was retired USAF and they drove them all over the US and Canada on those Seiberlings and never had a tire failure. I think they were made in Baltimore, and Firestone and independent tire dealers sold them here. The Seiberling name,like many others, got absorbed into one of the tiremaker mergers.

Back to them pimpadelic Vogues- my dad put a set of white/gold stripe K-S on his 66 Ninety Eight LS sometime around 1969 and he thought he was the sh*t. Tropic Mist, black VT, turbine wheelcovers and those tires. They proved themselves on vacation that year- drove that car to St. Louis to see the Gateway Arch and got caught in I-55 traffic in rush hour. 80+ mph in 6 lanes of traffic, and Mama had a death grip on the grab handle over her door.

[442MUCH]

Thanks folks. As for BFG they are very good looking tires (Bert). It's just that I've never owned a set and it seems like everyone HERE (in Canada) has them. I have always chosen from a list of American tires like Goodyear, Firestone, General, BF Goodrich, Uniroyal etc. Yokohama, Bridgestone, Michelin, Dunlop, Toyo, Perelli, etc. are foreign (Canadians don't consider Americans foreign).

I like American tires on American cars. Although the foreign tires mentioned are very good, I will go with 235 70 15 "American" tires (even if some of the "American" brands are now owned by the Japanese & French now-a-days).

Sally - I'd like to see any pictures of the 235 70 up front with the 275 60 at the rear? I'd like to see what they look like on the car.

Just found out that the Goodyear Nascar does not come in my size, only the GTII.

Gary - I use SOS pads to clean the Raised white letters. The Uniroyal in the picture above was bought in 1994 and still has good tread. The spare has never been used.

My options:

Firehawk Indy 500 (in the running)
Goodyear Eagle GTII (in the running)
BF Goodrich (in the running to save Bert and on the recommendations by Gary and 58thindy)

Uniroyal Tiger Paw GTS (USA only) - off the list (suppose I could drive 6 hours to Sweetgrass, MT. - NOT)
Goodyear Eagle 1 Nascar (not in my size)

Thanks for all you input. Keep the suggestions coming in. Price will play a role, (possibly). I'll let you know when I get them.

[Salon Sally]

:)i Will Get You Some Pictures This Weekend Of The Dunlops On My Salon.i Was Able To Pick Up These 4 Tires For Less Than $400.00 From Sams & Tirerack.com.

[gabes455olds]

I personally like the bfg's. You're right though, everyone here in toronto has them on there classic cars. The good thing is that there aren't any 77 cutlass' so I do stand out with mine. As far as size goes I have 255/60/15 on the front and 275/60/15 in the back. These cars look good with fat tires:D

[zodiacblue442]

Ken, Here is a pic of my `74 Supreme with the Dunlop Road Hugger G/T's on it. Also, there's a close up of the right front wheel and tire. Both are older pics (before my digital camera days) so the quality isn't as good but you should still get the idea! :p

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/zodiacblue442/74Supreme_side_resize.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/zodiacblue442/74Supreme_tire.jpg

[ragz442]

I've got BFG Radial TA's on the Supreme, 2456015 all around, I have the blackwall out though. They have been very good tires. The 77-442 has 2356015's up front and 2756015's in the rear, they're new tires, but mis-matched brands [ft. to rr]. The wheels are 8" cheapo American Racing.

Whatever you decide, your car's going to look great, good luck with the paint job.

[mdkingsley]

I have Cooper Cobra 245/60/15 front, 265/60/15 rear you can look at the v8 garage for a view of them. I would have liked the Dunlop tire but my buddy owns a tire store and got me a good deal on these. I was kind of in a hurry with a set amount to spend and wanted the very dryrotted Goodyears off so I could drive it.

[mrblackwell17]

Ken,
My 76 came with BFG's as original equipment, so that is what I always used as replacements. Always bought 4, as the spare was original and never on the ground. I know the tread didn't match, but I really didn't care as it was just a very nice driver/cruise-in car.

You will see them everywhere and everyone has them on their car, but they do look good. I never had any problems with them on wear, ride, or lasting long.

That's my $.02.....original equipment on my car.

I'll try and find a picture to show them, if not, you may be able to make them out in my pic in the vBGarage.

Scott

[Firethorne77]

And the final choice should be..............

Firestone Indy 500.

I spent much time and deliberation over this very issue a year or so ago.

Had them special ordered from a local dealer.

This tire handles the best, road noise is nominal and wet traction( lord forbid I see a spot of rain on my car now..) is superb.

If you want the 442 to look good, go with the specs you wish for the tire size/ratio to give the proper stance etc.

All I have to say is I can carve corner's in my Supreme ...(oddly enough..equiped with a factory ordered 442 suspension package on the build sheet)...that I would have never dared t0o with the old Eagle ST's. The car just sticks with the Firestone Indy 500's.

I could car less about the car breaking traction to do a burn out, I want it smooth and to handle, just as Oldsmobile wanted it to do.

What ever the choice you make, its a good one, because your tires are way to old to be on the car at 14 years.
Many in the tire industry state that the rubber begins to break down after 4 years and dry rot by 6 years. Who thought tires had a shelf life???