What kind of tire is on your ebody?

[4Cruizn]

So I looked through this section for awhile looking at threads and saw a ton of what size tire but none for what kind of tire?   I am thinking about buying some new tires for the hardtop and wondered what kind does everyone use?  I really have no preference . . . .   

[Got JOB]

BF Goodrich T/A radials on all three E bodies. I have a set of Mastercraft Avenger G/T on my wagon. They were cheaper and the ride is just as good. The sidewall tread just looks better on the T/As.

[Chryco Psycho]

Nitto 555 DOT radial street drag tires , very sticky & great life assuming the burnouts are minimal
this should take you to the page , best pricing I have found so far
http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/tires/nitto/product/byName.do?tmn=NT+555R+Drag+Radial&typ=Passenger%2FPerformance

[Katfish]

The Z II & III are great for the price

http://www.sumitomotire.com/cars/

[Strawdawg]

What size of wheel and is this for handling, just cruising, a strip tire on the rear?

[4Cruizn]

What size of wheel and is this for handling, just cruising, a strip tire on the rear?

Well I would say handling and just cruising.   

[MizzouRT]

 

BF Goodrich T/A radials on all three E bodies. I have a set of Mastercraft Avenger G/T on my wagon. They were cheaper and the ride is just as good. The sidewall tread just looks better on the T/As.

Other tires are stickier, but it is hard to beat the BFG T/As for period correct looks in a radial tire.  The only thing that looks better to my eye are the Goodyear Polyglas but that would be show car only, not for driving.

[Chryco Psycho]

The Dot Drag radials are a decent all round tire ,
I refuse the run BFGARBAGE atfer all the poor quality problems & outright failures I have seen !

[dodj]

I'm using Nitto NT05.  255's up front and 315's in the rear. Good handling tire.
I agree with CP on the BFG's. But I also wonder, the BFG's that have failed may have been on a hobby car a very long time? Still looked good but they were 12 years old? Aged out?

[MizzouRT]

I'm using Nitto NT05.  255's up front and 315's in the rear. Good handling tire.
I agree with CP on the BFG's. But I also wonder, the BFG's that have failed may have been on a hobby car a very long time? Still looked good but they were 12 years old? Aged out?

I also wonder if Chryco knows how old the tires that failed were?  I always value his opinion, so his experience with BFG's having problems was alarming enough to send me doing some research.  I could not find any reports of unusual or high failure rates.  I also could not find any recall notices for any BFG T/As, which should be out there if they are having a high fail rate due to a manufacturing flaw.  Is anyone aware of any recalls at all?

Looking for anecdotal reports of failure, I checked the consumer ratings at:

1010tire.com (3.4 of 5 stars from 85 reviews)
Tirebuyer.com (4.4 of 5 stars from 44 reviews)
TireRack.com (7.1 of 10 stars from 915 reviews)

Again, I could not find any evidence of unusually high failure rates.  So I was unable to find any widely reported problem. 

I did find a law firm suing Cooper tires for tread separations.  They contend that all steel belted radial tires regardless of manufacturer are  prone to tread separation.

"Passenger and light truck tire tread separations are an unfortunate by-product of steel-belted radial tire technology
Due to the difficulty in obtaining adhesion of steel to rubber there is a potential for tread separation of all steel-belted radial tires. This is true especially at high speeds in hot weather. Industry records verify that tread belt separations are the most common mode of failure of steel belted radial tires. Separations result from both design and manufacturing defects. Recent examples of this have included the Firestone ATX and Wilderness tires on Ford Explorers, Continental General tires on Lincoln Navigators, the Firestone Steeltex tires on Excursions, and the Goodyear Load Range E tires on 15-passenger vans
There are some alarming similarities between all of the recalled tires in both the failure mode and the causes for failure. It is noteworthy that tread separation problems often first surface in the warmer regions of this country and around the world. We also see the inherent design defects in many steel-belted radial tires exacerbated by underinflation which on some occasions is recommended by the vehicle manufacturer. It is important to note that all manufacturers have suffered steel belted radial tire tread belt separations since the 1970s. Tread belt separations are not limited to Firestone, Goodyear or General tires. There has been extensive tread belt separation litigation involving Cooper tires, Uniroyal-Goodrich tires, as well as other manufacturers."

Here is link to entire article by the firm suing Cooper.

http://www.tirefailures.com/coopertire/tirefailures.html

[ChallengerHK]

I don't recall any stories of failure myself, but I do recall stories of bad manufacturing, and I know Neil has talked about this. I definitely recall tires being out of round,  and I think I recall tread a mention of treads that were not parallel to the plane of travel.

[shadango]

Firestone Indy 500,  235 60 15 front and 265 60 15 on rear

Plenty sticky for street driving, look great and reasonable price. 

15 inch tires are getting tough to find.

[Chryco Psycho]

I have seen numerous BFG with up to 3/8" step in the tread where the belts over lap on brand new tires , 1 customer asked why the front fenders were dancing at 70 MPH even though the the tires tire were balanced twice so we jacked up the car & spun the tire , it was nowhere near round , they had a tire grinder at the tire shop & trimmed up to about 1/4 off the tread to make the tire round which is not the way I would solve the issue , I would have demanded a new tire !!
 It is true that any tire will fail , underinflation is critical , excess heat build up will distroy any tire in short order , excessive speed will create a similar situation with heat build up .
Personally I have found the BFG to be very hard , poor in wet weather & a very poor tire overall but 15" tire choice has become very limited , Tire technology has come a long way & is rapidly advancing so I look for newer designs instead of the 30 year old designs . We all have our biases & preferences etc , I avoid BFG .
 I was at one car show where BFG had a tire machine there & were offering a deep discount to put a set of BFG tires on your car just to get the exposure / advertising , virtually no one took them up on the deal !

[SBDave]

Toyo R888 in 255/50R16 all the way around

[cudazappa]

Falken Azenis RT615 275/40 17s.  Still spin on the first to second shift.  My 235/60 15 BFG T/As I can break them loose on a 30mph roll in second gear (mild 360/904 combo). Got a stupid good deal on the bfg's because normally I use firehawks in 15" sizes.