Ok...how about *Shaved* BFG Radial T/As?

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MRGTX

MRGTX

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Is there any benefit to doing this in terms of all-around performance on the street?

Has anyone tried it?

The vast majority of us never drive in the rain, we end up throwing tires out due to age rather than mileage related wear...and frankly, these old tech all season radials are a far cry from modern performance tires. If shaving helped traction at all, it would likely be worth the investment.

Thoughts?
 
What, are they like "shaved" to get them round again after years of cupping from a misaligned fronf end? How deep are the treads after words?
 
They suck for traction new, shaved or bald and; are only rated to 115mph.
 
pishta said:
What, are they like "shaved" to get them round again after years of cupping from a misaligned fronf end? How deep are the treads after words?
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From what I hear from a friend who races Spec Miata (and I assume this applies to tire shaving in general), once a tire has been on the ground, most shops won't shave them as the sand and grit ruins the blades. So this is only for brand new tires.

Typically, folks will shave them right down to 2/32 (so that they're technically still DOT legal...at least for a little while).

As for why- Shaving the tire removes tread depth which reduces "squirming" of the tread blocks and improves overall performance at the cost of longevity and wet weather traction, of course. Shaving also lightens up the tire out at the circumference which is really important.


jbc426 said:
They suck for traction new, shaved or bald and; are only rated to 115mph.
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Well, they were pretty good for their day, no? Unfortunately, their day was 20+ years ago.

As for the max speed rating...weren't these originally designed as a spec tire for Trans Am? If so, 115 would absolutely not cut it.
 
By the time you buy the BFG's and pay to have them shaved, cutting tire life in half you could have purchased a quality tire.
 
MRGTX said:
From what I hear from a friend who races Spec Miata (and I assume this applies to tire shaving in general), once a tire has been on the ground, most shops won't shave them as the sand and grit ruins the blades. So this is only for brand new tires.



As for the max speed rating...weren't these originally designed as a spec tire for Trans Am? If so, 115 would absolutely not cut it.
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No but BF Goodrich entered a Pontiac Trans-Am in SCCA Trans-Am Series with street radial TA. That was for marketing only as street tire are no match for racing slicks.
 
diymirage said:
then just keep it in second gear :burnout:
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On my '70 E-Body when I was running a 4 speed and 3.54's, the car would smoke the 275/60-15's BFG's and drift sideways on the freeway in 3rd gear when floored at 70 mph up through the redline at over 100 mph. They did hook in 4th at that speed though. They are that bad.
 
As for a "Driver" there fine.
As for a actual "Performance or Muscle car" they lack.
 
MRGTX said:
Like what?
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nitto 555r perhaps.

I assume your looking at 14 or 15" wheel diameter tires? if so then the side wall of the tire will have more flex then any tread ever did. even if you had the BFG tire shaved or any sort of modification to make it a better tire it will still handle like a shopping cart. if you want performance handling in a tire then your going to have to step up to the 17" or better rim diameter. thats why all the new cars have them. they are better in every measurable way.
 
rumblefish360 said:
As for a "Driver" there fine.
As for a actual "Performance or Muscle car" they lack.
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bingo...hard, non sticky, "Cruiser" tires that are great for any street car, and are happy to about 14.00 quarter mile times. I had a set on my dart way way back when it had a 318, and it would chirp the tires AT THE TRACK on the 1-2 shift....if thats any indication of how much grip they have. It ran low 14's at the time.
 
The process is called tire truing. I did it for years. We used to true every single tire we sold in the early 80s. Some were ridiculously out of round.

Then tire manufacturers changed the way tires are produced and made truing machines pretty much obsolete. I see zero benefit to removing tread, unless the tire is out of round.

The tread is made out of the same rubber compound all the way through. It is not like you are going to uncover a secret new layer of different rubber that gets traction better. You will simply be wasting tire.

My advice is get some different tires.
 
I raced a roundy round car many years ago and we had to run street tires on them. We would shave them almost bald to get them to work.
 
RustyRatRod said:
The process is called tire truing. I did it for years. We used to true every single tire we sold in the early 80s. Some were ridiculously out of round.

Then tire manufacturers changed the way tires are produced and made truing machines pretty much obsolete. I see zero benefit to removing tread, unless the tire is out of round.

The tread is made out of the same rubber compound all the way through. It is not like you are going to uncover a secret new layer of different rubber that gets traction better. You will simply be wasting tire.

My advice is get some different tires.
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What he said. And is there anyone here who actually believes that just because they use the same mold pattern, that they use / have access to the same 20 something year old rubber formulation?
 
I got stuck burning rubber on a grade in the rain at a light by my house sooo many times I bought the Nitto 555r 's , have never been stuck again , the old TA's where a garbage compound back in the day as well we just liked burning em up back then , you want a shaved pair for the back I got some that are shaved the good way -ground off on asphalt sitting in the garage . The Nitto's are speed rated to 135 and have a wet rating that is real , I have driven through the Rockies in the the pouring rain with no loss of traction or hydroplaning problems .
 
Probably about the worst tires out there at this point...short of cheap stuff like touring hankooks and the Chinese tires.

For ACTUAL performance in a street tire, you need to go up to probably a 17" wheel at this point. Something like a Continental ExtremeContact DW, Bridgestone Potenza RE-71R, etc would totally blow your mind.

I even had 225-60-15 BFG G-force sports that are no longer made...those were WAY better than radial T/A's, but my upsize to the 275-35-18 ExtremeContact DW...holy crap. It's basically the difference between driving on ice and hooking.
 
jbc426 said:
They suck for traction new, shaved or bald
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I had TA's on my Duster back when I had a 400 HP 340 (12 second car), and I had no traction problems at all -of course, I also had those traction bars that don't help Mopars (lol)
 
There are still great 15 inch tires out there. The 325-50/15 Nittos I have on the back of my '70 E-Body are Y - speed rated. (186 mph) and I'm picking up a set of V rated (149 mph) 245-60/15's for the front end on Monday. They have larger and smaller sizes in 15" for those too.

The ride quality difference between 15" wheels and 17 or 18" wheels is significant. Short sidewalls have their pluses, but ride quality isn't one of them. I've yet to see an older muscle car with 17's or 18's that looks right.
 
jbc426 said:
The ride quality difference between 15" wheels and 17 or 18" wheels is significant. Short sidewalls have their pluses, but ride quality isn't one of them. I've yet to see an older muscle car with 17's or 18's that looks right.
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That depends a lot on what your spring rate is. If you have a stiff suspension like mine with 1.06" T-bars, it'll actually ride better with 18's than 15's (I ran with both this summer), and my lowered 04 Colorado which also has quite stiff springs in it...I use 17's in the summer and 15's in the winter. Rides better with the 17's. Somehow on both vehicles the 15's are bouncy enough to make roads feel really harsh. If you have really soft suspension like the stock stuff, it will be like you say.
 
What do you want from the tire?
If it's street driving you shouldn't be driving quicker than 115mph or doing anything stupid anyway :).
You can get vintage DOT road race tires from Avon, Michelin, Hoosier etc, however they are big $$$ and wear quicker than you can imagine, are terrible when cold and downright dangerous in the wet.
I run a 205/60 Yokohama semi-slick on the track and drive with them on the road.
 
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