I'm seeing quite a few post on the internet about the letters turning brown. The posts are a couple of years old, so does anyone know if the issue has been rectified by the manufacturer on the newer tires?
BF Goodrich radial T/A white letters
- Thread starter Baines
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AJ/FormS
68 Formua-S fastback clone 367/A833/GVod/3.55s
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I have not seen BFGs with brown letters.
In fact;
the 235s on the front of my Barracuda are about 20 years old, and NOT brown. and
the 295s on the back are pretty old too, and not brown either.
The car is always parked outside, but usually in the shade.
But, hey, I live in Canada up near the 50th parallel, lol. Our air is fresh, and clean, and right now, cold, lol.
In fact;
the 235s on the front of my Barracuda are about 20 years old, and NOT brown. and
the 295s on the back are pretty old too, and not brown either.
The car is always parked outside, but usually in the shade.
But, hey, I live in Canada up near the 50th parallel, lol. Our air is fresh, and clean, and right now, cold, lol.
I’ve got a set that were brown since new. The car sat for a year and when I went to clean them up realized they weren’t going to. Pretty unhappy, but figured I was stuck. That was 5-6 years ago. They don’t have a thousand miles on them.
Wesley’s tire (bleach) white tire cleaner.
Old stuff works good.
Most manufacturers are no longer offering white letters or white out lined tires any longer.
What turns them brown… not keeping them clean I guess. Not sure if an owner thing or company thing. I’ve yet to see white walls, white lettering turn brown. My 9 year old cooper cobras are still white on my Demon. Cracked, but letters are still white. Enough armor all and you don’t even see the cracks. LOL!
Old stuff works good.
Most manufacturers are no longer offering white letters or white out lined tires any longer.
What turns them brown… not keeping them clean I guess. Not sure if an owner thing or company thing. I’ve yet to see white walls, white lettering turn brown. My 9 year old cooper cobras are still white on my Demon. Cracked, but letters are still white. Enough armor all and you don’t even see the cracks. LOL!
Always had luck cleaning white lettering with a soapy Brillo Pad.
Try this. It worked awesome on my BFG A/T tires in the mid 80’s.
junkyardhero
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There was a thread about this, do a search. Considering the lack of white letter tires, grab them while you can. Use a white paint pen to cover/color over the brown.....
This applies to the newer BFG's. I have them on my Avatar car. Purchased them about 3 years ago. Some discoloring (patina 
), but I can't see it from where I'm sitting.
), but I can't see it from where I'm sitting.
Just put "brown letters" in the FABO search box. You'll have so many hits! I've had so many BFGs with the letters turning brown, I'm afraid to take the blue off of these 2 year old ones. Yet the older ones on my 70 Dart are just fine, but too old to safely drive on.
65 Dart fronts, 2 years old.65 Dart rears. 9 years old.
Have a bottle, didn’t work. Also tried Comet and an aggressive scrub brush. I noticed the brown color when I picked up the car from tire store but just figured they forgot to clean them. The letters were just stained from the factory, I guess.
My exact experience scrubbing them.
Just went downstairs and took this photo. I’ve worked on these letters quite a bit.
Been turning brown since the '70's... only way to make the cheap **** white is a tire letter marker.
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They have in the past. The last pair of 255/60 15's didn't like the first pair I had. I contacted BFG and they didn't really admit to the problem but they said the tires could be warrantied. I had bought them from Summit and they didn't want to handle the issue. Neither did the local BFG dealer because I didn't buy them from them.
And for the fellas that say all you need is some tire cleaner don't have a clue about the defect so don't listen.
Geez, there are some days I wish we had our red X's back.
The TA letters I cleaned with a scotchbrite pad on a die grinder. The word Radial I didn't. The 255/60's on the rear turned brown, the 215/70's on the front never did.
IT IS A DEFECT IN THE TIRE FELLAS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IT IS A DEFECT IN THE TIRE FELLAS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Meanwhile I can clean 34 year old Goodyears with a simple wipe of Naptha. Won't even touch a BFG as they aren't made from white rubber to start with.
According to BFG's website. UV will makev
them white again!
There is something on their rubber compound the yellows. Cleaning the yellow only makes thevproblem worse. The uv oxidizes the material in the rubber leaving a white residue behind.
Ill see if i can find a link to that part on their web site
Tire FAQ - Got tire questions? Get answers now. | BFGoodrich Tires
them white again!
There is something on their rubber compound the yellows. Cleaning the yellow only makes thevproblem worse. The uv oxidizes the material in the rubber leaving a white residue behind.
Ill see if i can find a link to that part on their web site
Tire FAQ - Got tire questions? Get answers now. | BFGoodrich Tires
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33IMP
Well-Known Member
Radial T/A's are lousy tires..
You want/need white letters? Buy Cooper Cobras, or the M/T version, (same tire, better name on the side). Or Mastercraft.
Or Milestar.
Just my opinion.
My Hoosiers and Mickeys have the painted-on letters. They turn brown from burnouts.
The Coopers on my pickup have outline white letters, but I put them on the inside, so I don't know,or care, what they look like.
You want/need white letters? Buy Cooper Cobras, or the M/T version, (same tire, better name on the side). Or Mastercraft.
Or Milestar.
Just my opinion.
My Hoosiers and Mickeys have the painted-on letters. They turn brown from burnouts.
The Coopers on my pickup have outline white letters, but I put them on the inside, so I don't know,or care, what they look like.
Woodys_Cuda
Ontario, Canada
I have a tire mix like yours Mike, wider for the back. Same issue, fronts are fine, rear are brown. It's a p*ss off! Can't find anything that says the issue has been corrected by Goodrich.
I like my BFG TA's. 
This is the first time I’ve had a problem with this type of tire, and I’ve been buying them a while. How long?
Attached pictures are of my ‘71 T-top in my parent’s front yard in Phoenix. Fall of ‘74, I think. Sorry about the poor quality. I didn’t want to take the pictures out of the frame. That was the set of tires that taught me how to clean white letter BFG’s.
Attached pictures are of my ‘71 T-top in my parent’s front yard in Phoenix. Fall of ‘74, I think. Sorry about the poor quality. I didn’t want to take the pictures out of the frame. That was the set of tires that taught me how to clean white letter BFG’s.
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