Gary M

i was told by a salesman today that the BFG 245-60-15 TA is being discontinued. Selling out remaining stock so verify if he is correct and get em while you can if you need any.

olds 307 and 403

No doubt more of 14" sizes will disappear. I know P235/60R14's seem to be on and off available. I only had to wait a couple of days for my BFG 205/70R14's.

oldcutlass

While I agree the selection of 14" tires is shrinking annually. The OP is talking about 15" tires. P245-60-15's are still listed on the BFG site?

Gary M

They are listed on the site but says unavailable online at this time. Tire Rack rep told me they were discontinued. I will call BFG to verify and post on here.

Gary M

Just called BFG and they said that size is still available but will have a different tread pattern.

oldcutlass

Did they provide or direct you to a picture. That tread pattern has been around since the 70's.

joe_padavano

BFG changes the tread pattern and sidewall letters on the T/A family about every decade or so. Obviously the "discontinued" statement applies to the old version. I've found Tire Rack to be inconsistent in their ability to carry the full range of available tires in a given line. Obviously asking the manufacturer directly is the most reliable information.

FYI, I now get my tires from More Than Tires in Carlisle, PA. Usually I pick them up at Spring and Fall Carlisle to save shipping, but they will also ship. Prices are as good or better than Tire Rack, service is better (it's a local store, not a huge national company) and they have repeatedly been able to get me tires that no one else can find. Talk to Bob when you call.

Gary M

I did see the new pattern and did not like it. He said the old style is the KO and the new is KO2. I bought 3 old style 245's and 2 old style 255's. 245-60-15 for the front and the spare.
255-60-15 for the rear. 800.00 delivered from TireRack and I will mount them at a local shop.

joe_padavano

The KO and KO2 designations apply to their off-road tires, not their street tires. I use the Mud Terrain KO2 tires on my truck.

Fun71

Yeah, anyone remember when they were bought (by Michelin was it?) and the whole tire construction changed? Changed for the better as I remember.


Really? That is the same designation as the BFG All Terrain TA truck tires. Several years ago they went from KO to KO2 and the Mud Terrains went from KM to KM2. Seems very odd that a street tire would have a KO designation.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...rrain+T%2FA+KO
("KO" for Key benefit On- and Off-road)

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...rain+T%2FA+KM2
(KM for Key feature: Mud traction)

oldcutlass

I can't remember any other tread or letter style for BFG T/A's.

Fun71

In 1989 BFG was bought by Michelin and the tire tread pattern changed, along with some internal construction changes.

At some point, I can't remember if it was related to the 1989 changes or if it was some other time, the sidewalls changed and weren't as "slick" as they were previously. The new design was much harder to keep looking glossy after using tire dressing.

Here's an ad from 1971 where you can see the original tread design. Much different than what it is today:





Here's a 1979 ad showing the "new" Radial TA :





This 1978 ad gives a good look at the tread design.



Here's a 1983 ad. Tread looks similar to the one above but the sidewall is different



Here's the current Radial TA. Note the outer edge tread pattern is different than shown in the 1978-1983 ads:

Fun71

I just stumbled upon this picture on the internet. I don't know what years this sidewall style was used.

Gary M

salesmen

oldcutlass

Outside of the original early 70's tread and lettering design, the following years didn't change to present day. I enlarged all the advertisements and they all look the same as the ones on my car now.

Fun71

The center tread blocks are the same but the shoulder tread is different. That change was made when Michelin bought BFG / Uniroyal and transferred production.

Gary M

My conversation with BFG was this week and he said the size will be available but tread is changing. He also mentioned the KO KO2 thing too. Time will tell if the tire changes or not and if the KO stuff was a misunderstanding.

Yellowstatue

The BFG's with the dots after the 'B' and the 'F' are mid '70's. The treads also looked like rectangular blocks.

anthonyP

Thanks Ken for the information and pictures. I had forgotten about the changes.

The last photo has lettering like my now unusable BF Goodrich Belted T/A tires. The tread on the Belted and Radial T/A tires were similar and many thought my tires were radials until they reread the lettering. It would be nice if BF Goodrich went back to the belted look and smaller lettering on their radials.

I think Coker is producing a radial that looks like a belted bias ply, but it only comes in a white or red wall.

Fun71

Wow, Belted TAs bring back memories. I had a set on my car back in around 1980. I think they lasted 11,000 miles. I drove hard back then. I guess I still do. If you still have a set I would think they'd be severely dry rotted by now.

anthonyP

Unfortunately, the Belted T/A's are dry rotted and unusable. They did track and take turns well when they were still usable.

joe_padavano

Now that we've ascertained that BFG ISN'T discontinuing that size, I'll steer this thread somewhat off-topic by pointing out that I've always been amazed at the benefits that BFG got (and continues to get) from their original T/A advertising in the early 1970s. They took their street tires, shaved the thread, and ran them in Trans Am races. Those of us over a certain age were so impressed by that stunt, that now, 45 years later, BFG T/As are still the defacto tire for musclecars. Talk about return on advertising investment. This ranks right up there with "Rocket V8" as one of the longest-lasting, successful advertising programs.

Gary M

It wasn't clarified that the tread not the size was changing till I directly contacted BFG. Tire rack only had that size as discontinued. Pays to go straight to the main supplier for the correct info. I've had BFG' s on many different cars I've owned. The past ads posted in this thread are very interesting.

88 Cutty Classic

Goodyear is stupid not making a tire for the muscle car crowd thats affordable. BFGs are on everything. not that BFGs are that affordable anymore but better than $300+ for Eagle Gts from Kelsey.

joe_padavano

All tires have gone up significantly in price over the last ten years, but surprisingly, I just ordered two BFG Mud Terrain tires for my truck and they are slightly less expensive than the ones I bought a year ago.

oldcutlass

Although there are a few other choices, BFG wins on price. MT's are getting more reasonably priced though.