BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDWS

[alec2538]

Two quick questions:

1. Can these tires really be THIS BAD?? I just installed a set, OE size. They came with the car when I bought it. Good lord I've ruined things! I'm coming off a set of Champiro WinterPro tires and I'm strongly considering re-installing them. That's how bad they are. The rear end is jittery, the ride is terrible, and they barely grip at all! The winter's on a 90 degree today had better traction.

2. Conundrum: the front BFG's are practically new, 8/32's or so. I really hate throwing them out regardless of how terrible they are. I've read many a thread on tires but I'll ask specifically about rears. Does someone have good experience with a cost-effective rear tire, whether in the stock size or one size up, that will be acceptable for every day driving? I don't race, I don't drag, and I don't track. Just regular commuting is all the car ever sees.

Thanks for everyone's opinion!

[MOTOWN]

Two quick questions:

1. Can these tires really be THIS BAD?? I just installed a set, OE size. They came with the car when I bought it. Good lord I've ruined things! I'm coming off a set of Champiro WinterPro tires and I'm strongly considering re-installing them. That's how bad they are. The rear end is jittery, the ride is terrible, and they barely grip at all! The winter's on a 90 degree today had better traction.

2. Conundrum: the front BFG's are practically new, 8/32's or so. I really hate throwing them out regardless of how terrible they are. I've read many a thread on tires but I'll ask specifically about rears. Does someone have good experience with a cost-effective rear tire, whether in the stock size or one size up, that will be acceptable for every day driving? I don't race, I don't drag, and I don't track. Just regular commuting is all the car ever sees.

Thanks for everyone's opinion!

To answer your question Hell yes! they are terrible! get a set of NITTOs , and never look back!

[alec2538]

Good it's not just me.

Nitto's seem to be the best overall tire I've read about on here. Are the 555's the general concensus?

[MOTOWN]

Good it's not just me.

Nitto's seem to be the best overall tire I've read about on here. Are the 555's the general concensus?

That would be my choice , i have 20s with Toyos , and couldn't get Nittos in the size i wanted , otherwise i would have went with the Nittos.

[1Marauder]

yes,. OR the Nitto Motivos... I went +1 size overall. LOVE THEM. Little softer sidewall when pushed hard --great crusing tire.

[jsignorelli]

The BFG's are terrible. You'll spend time thinking of other words for "BFG" when trying to drive your car at speed (over 75 MPH).
I installed the NITTO and love them.

[fastblackmerc]

Try Hankooks............... just sayin'

[Fastbob]

I like my Firestones.....

[JAYSILVER04]

Cooper Zeon RS3A
Stock size all the way around. On my second set and love them.

[Pat]

^^^what he said.

[ctrlraven]

Do you have a tune for the car? Sway bar and rear control arm upgrades? If so you could go with a lower profile setup that gives great handling, 255/45-18 on the front and 265/50-18 on the rear. I ran a General Tire and Nitto Tire with that tire combo setup and loved the sharp handling. Though with the lower/stiffer sidewall it took bumps a little rougher but the trade off was worth it in my book.

[LG88]

I'm the opposite I like the bf goodrich because the factory look, then again I hardly drive my car. Had all bf goodrich on my previous marauders and never had an issue.

[fastblackmerc]

I'm the opposite I like the bf goodrich because the factory look, then again I hardly drive my car. Had all bf goodrich on my previous marauders and never had an issue.

The new BFG's are very different than the OEM BFG's that were originally spec'd for the MM.

[fastblackmerc]

Do you have a tune for the car? Sway bar and rear control arm upgrades? If so you could go with a lower profile setup that gives great handling, 255/45-18 on the front and 265/50-18 on the rear. I ran a General Tire and Nitto Tire with that tire combo setup and loved the sharp handling. Though with the lower/stiffer sidewall it took bumps a little rougher but the trade off was worth it in my book.

I'm running 255/45-18 on the front and 295/45-18 on the rear (widened wheels). All Hankooks.

[88LTDCV351]

I'm the opposite I like the bf goodrich because the factory look, then again I hardly drive my car. Had all bf goodrich on my previous marauders and never had an issue.

I felt the original tires were fine. Haven't tried them on snow though. They are no longer being made.

[alec2538]

Do you have a tune for the car? Sway bar and rear control arm upgrades? If so you could go with a lower profile setup that gives great handling, 255/45-18 on the front and 265/50-18 on the rear. I ran a General Tire and Nitto Tire with that tire combo setup and loved the sharp handling. Though with the lower/stiffer sidewall it took bumps a little rougher but the trade off was worth it in my book.

The only suspention modification is that the rear airbags have been replaced with springs. Everything is OE right down to the shocks (that are tired).

I appreciate all the advice, I'm going to get a list together and then do some research before pulling the trigger. I'm going to try to run these tires through this summer since it's only a few months, then save over the winter for a fresh set next spring.

[Shornaday]

I just put a new set of BFG's on mine. MM has 41,000 and not my DD. The only reason I replaced the old set was because of the age, about 10 years old, however looked brand new. The new ones seem to give a better ride than the old ones IMHO, but I have not put a lot of miles on them either.

[Bluerauder]

The new BFG's are very different than the OEM BFG's that were originally spec'd for the MM.

^^^^ This is true. The BFGs that came on the Camaro are NOT the same tires that came on the Marauder and have a very thin sidewall and roll/flex too much in the turns or quick maneuvers. They are a Radial T/A and NOT a performance tire. Here is a review of that tire >>>>> http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=55895&highlight=bald


I'm the opposite I like the bf goodrich because the factory look, then again I hardly drive my car. Had all bf goodrich on my previous marauders and never had an issue.

I like the OEM BFGs too for sidewall stiffness and handling. Never a problem with wet or dry traction. With the exception of tire wear (especially on the rear 245s), I have never had a problem with the original BFGs. I am on my 3rd set of front 235s (about 36K average) and 5th set of rear 245s (about 22K average). I tried the 255/18 Goodyear Eagle RS-D3s on the rear but only got 15K out of those and the back end jumped out with the Goodyears about 5 times as much as the BFGs in the rain.



I felt the original tires were fine. Haven't tried them on snow though. They are no longer being made.

So do I ^^^^^ and I lay on the MM and throw it around quite a bit on the turns and twisties. I think the preference for other brands of performance tires has more to do with particular driving styles and habits than anything else.

The OEM BFGs are terrible in snow or ice. After one full revolution, the tread on the BFGs would choke up with snow and you were left with little to no traction at all. Like running Slicks in the rain. Driving with them in the snow was not a fun experience on those days where I got caught at work or somewhere and had no other choice.

[tbone]

The only thing wrong with the BFG's is the way the rears wear, and that they generally wear too quickly. They do not cause the issues you described.

[Bluerauder]

The only thing wrong with the BFG's is the way the rears wear, and that they generally wear too quickly. They do not cause the issues you described.

I suspect that he is running the BFG T/A Radials and not the OEM BFG T/A g-Force KDWS ..... or he may have the 245/18 T/A Radial on the rear and the 235/18 KDWS up front which likely would cause major handling problems due to the mismatch.

[lifespeed]

The original BFG KDWS were the best handling tire for this car, followed by Firestone Wide Oval. Great turn-in response and lateral G control.

Apparently a moot point now if they're out of production.

[tbone]

I vehemently defended the BFG's until I installed Nitto Motivos on my car.......

[lifespeed]

I vehemently defended the BFG's until I installed Nitto Motivos on my car.......

I thought about trying those but read many comments about "floppy sidewalls". Everybody has a different opinion I suppose.

My next set of tires are going to be 20" if I can get all the supporting parts lined up quick enough. We'll see how that goes. :rolleyes:

[TP Derrick D]

Anyone experience the roaring or whining sound from the BFG KDWS? I thought it may be the 4:10's at one time, I even had my driveshaft balanced based on some comments here a few weeks ago. No luck, still the same. Just read a post saying they are a problem over 75mph where I live a lot. I just put 2 new ones on rear about 3 months ago but that roaring/whining drives me crazy so if its coming from the tires I'll just pull out the plastic and go to Discount Tire for some Nitto 555's.

[alec2538]

I suspect that he is running the BFG T/A Radials and not the OEM BFG T/A g-Force KDWS ..... or he may have the 245/18 T/A Radial on the rear and the 235/18 KDWS up front which likely would cause major handling problems due to the mismatch.

Incorrect. I just went out to the garage to double check. All 4 tires are BFG g-Force KDWS.

HOWEVER: I feel stupid. I make my living as a mechanic, and I should know better than this. I failed to check the DOT numbers on the tires before I installed them. Boy was I surprised:

Front's: 3208, so they're old but excessively so, and they were obviously stored well.

Rear's: 1602! They're the original rear tires! No wonder they feel terrible they're 13 years old! I can't believe they don't have so much as a HINT of rot on them. I'm still going to try and get this summer out of them, but they will NOT be going back on the car. I can't believe someone still had them... for gods sake the car has 177k miles on it these tires can't even have been mounted in at least 10 years.

[tbone]

I thought about trying those but read many comments about "floppy sidewalls". Everybody has a different opinion I suppose.

My next set of tires are going to be 20" if I can get all the supporting parts lined up quick enough. We'll see how that goes. :rolleyes:

There's no "floppy sidewall" on the Motivos.

[EMAS]

Incorrect. I just went out to the garage to double check. All 4 tires are BFG g-Force KDWS.

HOWEVER: I feel stupid. I make my living as a mechanic, and I should know better than this. I failed to check the DOT numbers on the tires before I installed them. Boy was I surprised:

Front's: 3208, so they're old but excessively so, and they were obviously stored well.

Rear's: 1602! They're the original rear tires! No wonder they feel terrible they're 13 years old! I can't believe they don't have so much as a HINT of rot on them. I'm still going to try and get this summer out of them, but they will NOT be going back on the car. I can't believe someone still had them... for gods sake the car has 177k miles on it these tires can't even have been mounted in at least 10 years.

I was going to ask the age of the tires. At 13 years I'm sure they suck in the wet and aren't very good in the dry either.

[larryo340]

Cooper Zeon RS3A
Stock size all the way around. On my second set and love them.


^^^what he said.

^^^^ ditto to that

Great in the rain, quiet, handle well, and wear great. I got 40k plus out of the rears and even more out of the fronts.

[sflrainmaker01]

Incorrect. I just went out to the garage to double check. All 4 tires are BFG g-Force KDWS.

HOWEVER: I feel stupid. I make my living as a mechanic, and I should know better than this. I failed to check the DOT numbers on the tires before I installed them. Boy was I surprised:

Front's: 3208, so they're old but excessively so, and they were obviously stored well.

Rear's: 1602! They're the original rear tires! No wonder they feel terrible they're 13 years old! I can't believe they don't have so much as a HINT of rot on them. I'm still going to try and get this summer out of them, but they will NOT be going back on the car. I can't believe someone still had them... for gods sake the car has 177k miles on it these tires can't even have been mounted in at least 10 years.

If the tires are that old and the car has that many miles on it, then chances are the rear tires are used. No way one could get 177k out of them.

As far as traction & driveability, I recently replaced my stock spec BFG's with a set of Nitto 555's. Traction is MUCH better and the ride is nice. FYI.

I still have the stock spec BFG's in the front. They still have a lot of tread left. When they're done, I'm getting some 255 45 18 Nitto 555's in the front.