I bought my 73 BB with road huggers on it. Do they still make these? Everyone is running BF's I would like something different, any thoughts?

 

Not everyone uses BFG's.



You couldn't pay me to run Firestone tires ever since this fateful day when the LF blew sending me into an electric pole.

 

Yes, get the Firestones- many like them.

The original 70s Firestones had problems. A Firestone on the 77 separated internally about 80 on the way up to cruise speed. Put the spare on & went to a tire store.

 

That's what I'm wearing

 

Put a new set of Firehawk Indy 500 255/60R15s on my 78 last Fall. Took it on a 2500 mile trip last month with spirited mountain driving, loooong stretches of Interstate at over 100 degrees F, and a cloudburst on the Interstate in Kansas. The tires were GREAT in all situations. Quiet, too.

 

Firestone has had serious issues a couple of times for the same reason. back in the 70's at least a dozen state troopers nationwide were involved in serious accidents and several were killed riding on Firestone tires. then a few years ago there was the Ford explorer issue. they claimed it was underinflation, how come no other brand had an issue? it isn't worth the gamble to me.

 

my firestones have lasted verry well .i think they may be a little noisy.but the tire has done well.

 

I put them on my 65 442. I prefer the look of a thin white wall vs. raised white letter. Ride quality is fine, I just don't like the look.

 

Had these formula tires back in 78 when this pic was taken. Ckeck out the "boats" accross the street Loved the look of those.



Fast forward to 2003, firehawks.



Currently same Firehawks

 

Firehawk work OK for me.

I had Road Huggers before and they were OK to.

 

I put a set on my Mustang two years ago and I love them. Took it up to the top of Palomar Mountain a couple weeks ago and they felt great, very progressive feel and the rears stuck like glue despite my best efforts to break them loose.
For those who don't know Firestone has not been an American company since 1988 when Bridgestone bought them out. As for the Ford Explorer issue that became something of a political blame game more than anything else. Remember how FoMoCo wouldn't take any buyout/bailout money from Obama? The same company wouldn't play ball when the Clintons tried to hold them up for millions in "campaign contributions", and, like Microsoft, found themselves in court. Explorers were equipped from factory with Firestones and MANY of them were driven by women who never checked their tire pressures. I know, my own wife had one (she also managed to roll our Isuzu Rodeo one rainy Sunday morning) and I plugged lots of leaky tires over the 12 years that we owned it.
There are probably a lot of brand-loyalty issues at play here but right now for the money and considering the dwindling number of 15" tires that are available out there I think the Firestones are a decent deal.

 

I went old school with stock 225/70 and they had to be ordered in. I am happy with them for now. I remember liking the features of the tire.

 

Those are the shoes our '81 has on it. Work great and are quiet.

 

My 76 has bfg ta rwl new because that was what had been on it and fit well and gripped well but I would not hesitate to use the Firestone. Last two SUV Trailblazers in a row got Bridgestone tires (same outfit) and they are terrific.

Lance P.

 

I've got them on the front of my '73, and have no complaints.

The issue with the Explorer thing, as Car and Driver showed in their tests, is that people didn't know how to handle the blow out. Yes, some tires were failing, but the trucks were rolling over because people were either jamming on their brakes or overcorrecting the pull leading to the rollovers. When properly handled(which wasn't very hard)C&D's test rig had zero tendancy to roll when a tire suddenly lost pressure.

 

Well said. Firestones are now Bridgestones!

The Explorer issue is why all new cars are required to have some sort of tire pressure monitoring system. Corvettes (C6) give a direct readout of the actual tire pressure of each tire. Some less sophisticated systems just give a warning when a low pressure exists in a tire.

Here in the wonderful nanny state of Cali, ANYTIME you take a car or light truck in for service, the business is required to check tire pressure, adjust it if necessary, and include the info on the customer's invoice. Politicians really suck!

FoMoCo did not take Obama bailout money because they had gone into hock (loans against their factories) a few years back so they had plenty of cash available. And they have been making some pretty good vehicles.

 

i put a set of Firestone's on my 1980 4/speed...replaced my bf goodrich with them.
love em...smooth riding, handle well...very pleased with my choice.

 

Aren't most major tire companies making pretty high quality tires nowadays? Everybody has their fav's but I've had Michelins and Bridgestones on other cars and BFG TA's on the Vette and am well pleased with all of them nowadays.

L.p.

 

The question I have is: Are the BFG Radial T/As we can buy today the same as the ones made in the 70s? Back then BFG advertised in Motor Trend April 1971...
Can a street tire hold its own against racing tires? NO ONE THOUGHT SO UNTIL WE RACED THE NEW BFG RADIAL T/A.

The Radial T/As we buy today are speed rated S which is 112mph, surely not a racing tire!


Pete

 

Pete...the S rated tire is so low on their rating and hence their liability scale it has little to do with the actual test where they test to destruction and more to do with marketing and legal. I'd be surprised if the tires today aren't better than the tires of 1970 with much more understanding of the interplay of materials, layers, design on radials now than then. I've posted threads about the tire speed rating which is pretty meaninless as the warranties are for legal speeds only. It's just another way to not expose the company to liability and to market even better designed tires at much higher prices via the speed rating system. I ran 6-7 year old good tread BFG TA's May 5 at VIR's road track with 17 turns and three straights....put an extra 3-4#'s of air to keep the sidewalls of my size against the rim and they did fine. I'd encourage everyone to go see the speed rating tire test on youtube and you'll be much more confident of your tires. Not to say that incorrect inflation and use won't screw any tire up but compared to the old bias ply nylon and poly tires this is an entirely different world and one they should know far better now than the 70's from an engineering point of view.

I don't know what tread pattern changes have been and my only real concern with any of these brands is with the wide, 255+, tires we run if they can wick water away fast enough if you get caught in the rain with a rear end posi corvette.

Lance