What's with Radial TA's?

[GM-26]

My car drives surprisingly well with bias ply tires. F60's up front and L60's out back.

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[Canuck]

Its all about availability of sizes. If Goodyear had the sizes and style I would buy them.

[camarojoe]

Here's the memo on Radial T/A's: They suck.

[njsteve]

The radial T/A tire has been in existance since the musclecar era began (since 1970 I think). A good analogy would be if Goodyear still made the Polyglas GT today as a commercially available tire. That is the main reason it is used: an unbroken pedigree of the same model line. It is also a radial and for those of us that drive the cars frequently, they seem to make the cars handle better.

Though I've had them on my car for 21 years (various versions of the T/A that is), I will probably be getting a pair of Mickey Thompson L60x15s soon for the rear to match the NOS F7815s I have in the garage, for the front. I always loved that old vintage "Fat and Skinny" look and I'm looking forward to reliving my youth again by remembering how badly these things actually rode way back when.

[68l30]

About the only thing they do well is.... hold air...

My Camaro would ride the same with Wide-Treds, tractor tires or TA's........You just look like a bobblehead going down our crappy roads....

Steve

[StealthBird]

BFG Radial T/A'sere cheap in the late 70's-late 80's, and they wore like iron. When the public rediscovered Musclecars around 1983-1985, most Musclecars that were featured in magazines and books were wearing BFG Radial T/A's. There weren't too many alternatives back then for a white-lettered radial tire similar to the old 60's-70's style lettering. Goodyear stopped producing bias-ply small white letters, and went to those giant blocky white outline versions, very popular in the day. Their "high performance" radials were Wingfoots, with a thin white stripe, or those giant blocky white outline (or blackwall) Eagles. Firestone had their S/S Radial white letter tires, but that lettering was HUGE, and detracted from the car in my opinion.

The only alternative was the BFG Radial T/A, and they were very good tires. They rode great, wore like steel, but were slippery in a straight line. I think around 1983 or so, due to public demand, Goodyear began making Eagle ST radials, with small white letters and that "eagle head" logo.

By the way, Coker is now selling the old BFG Radial T/A, and yes, they're still cheap! Time for a resto mod, of a 60's Musclecar, the way it looked in the 80's.....

Would that be a retro-resto-mod?

http://store.coker.com/catalog/BFGoo...p-1-c-449.html

[GTO_DON]

Has anybody ever seen T/A Radials in G-60 and L-60 sizes? I have an nos set!! Ive never seen another set like them.

[WILMASBOYL78]

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Has anybody ever seen T/A Radials in G-60 and L-60 sizes? I have an nos set!! Ive never seen another set like them.

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Firestone, BF Goodrich and Goodyear combined don't have as many damn tires as you do....what you got a 50,000 sq.ft warehouse....???


wilma

[Steve Shauger]

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Has anybody ever seen T/A Radials in G-60 and L-60 sizes? I have an nos set!! Ive never seen another set like them.

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I bought a set of Cragars with L-60-15 for my 69 Z28, from K&G speed in Havertown, PA. Chris Gaines (sp) set me up in 1976. They were the first design tread.

[musclecarjohn]

I've always run them over the years,mainly because they looked better then the others.That was important to me.