After reading yet another thread warning us about aging tires I am ow preparing to order a set. My ultimate goal is to bring the car back to factory specs which should include a set of tires with the white line. I have seen a fully restored 69 FB with a set of white line radials that would be a great set for my car. Problem is that I love the look and performance of the BF Goodrich Radial T/A's I have now. Raised letters on a Firebird are awesome! lol

Plan is to sell my motorcycle and all of the gear where the proceeds will go to body work and a BC/CC paint job and tires.

Picture of the car with the factory tires still on it. Picture taken in the early to mid 70's

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii138/Firebird69/FirebirdDecaturblockedresized_zpsba91ca9e.jpg

Picture with the BF Goodrich Radials

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii138/Firebird69/20140131_142535_zps6f76534e.jpg

Vote for which set would be the best

Tires single choice
	Factory (look) Radial White Line Tires
	BF Goodrich Radial T/A's
Votes accepted starting: 10/23/14 07:19 PM You must vote before you can view the results of this poll.

In my opinion, nothing beats a nice set of redlines! So I didn't vote.

Red Lines were not factory installed on this model the white lines were.

But neither was the BF Goodrich raised letters but they are in for a vote. I don't care for white lines but looks like your only choice then.

Just a thought, but Diamondback Tire can take a set of BFG T/A's, smooth off the raised white letters and polish the sidewalls. Looks like it's cheaper than their redlines.

I like raised letters on Muscle cars ....and in this case "Pony cars"......original or not , it was what many installed when they replaced the tires

BFG's...$700
Coopers...$400

Which Coopers? I have looked at that brand a few times but keep reading bad reports and reviews of separations and other bad news.

Tire Rack quote to my door for BFG's $567.56

Discount Tire has them for a little less and I'll bet I won't have to pay the shipping charges.

Coker Tire shows the Firestone E70-14 factory tire that looks to be correct for this car. They are pricey.

Firestone Wide Oval Pin White Stripe - E70-14 for $832 plus shipping

http://www.cokertire.com/popular-tire-ap...te-stripe.html#

Which ones do you people think will perform the best? I think the lettering kind of matches the lettering on the car as well. Neill

Yes, but it was an available option?

I was having a tire vibration issue when turning corners. Couldn't figure it out until I realized that the set of BFG Radial T/As that were on the car were purchased in 1998 making them 16 years old and hard as rocks. They were 225/60R-15 and since I was going to replace all 4, I thought about going up to 235 or 245 and even thought about changing to redlines but decided I liked the look of the 225s and the white letters so I replaced them with the same.

I know that raised white letter tires were not available on first gens but I'm willing to bet that after the first set was burned off, the replacement tires in most cases were raised whites.

How does everyone feel about the new style rally 2's with 17 tires? Thinking about putting red line just above bead.

You would be correct.

I've been told that they were.

Yes, redlines were available for all three years as options and parts of packages.

If you aren't real concerned about "bone stock" appearance, they look great, They have a deffinate Pontiac look with a modern stance. I've seen them on a lot of Pontiacs from the '60s and they always look good.

Only reason I made switch is with 15" rims your stuck to only a few specific tires. I would have kept them if you could get good grippers

Yep that's true. I too have looked at 15" Rally 2's. The wheels are not that bad on price and the options for tires explodes over what we have available in 14's. I have thought about picking up a set of 15's and putting on some beater tires just for fun. I like the look of 15's on a FirstGen as they fill the wheel well nicely.

Marc, I would opt for the BFG RWL's. The radials ride SO much nicer than any of the bias plys. The alternative is the redline or white line radial, but if you're going radial anyway, I think the BFG RWL's are a great choice and value.

Just a sidenote, raised white letters were indeed available on 1st Gens. They were used on some 1969 Camaros and 1969 Trans Am's. But for a regular Firebird, you only had a choice of either red or white stripe, or blackwall for base.

I have 14x7 Rally II's with BFG RWL's, and I also have a set of 15x7 Rally II's with Firestone Wide Oval red lines.

I like how the 15x7's fill the wheelwell too, but the bias ply ride is awful. To keep a stock look, I modified a set of 15x8 trim rings, which have the same dish as a 14x7 Firebird Rally II trim ring. I switch back and forth occasionally.

Cobra GT's

I went back and forth on this issue when I had my 14 rally's. I suppose it's not really relevant to this thread...but I require a bit more out of my street tires than others might. With me it's more of a safety factor and not as much an originality thing. I decided to give up my 14s while I could still get a good price for them(they were practically new) and opted for some 17s with the best tire I could get for the money I was willing to spend.I loved the Firestone Wide Oval Indy 500 tires I had on my rally's but realize4d that the days of a decent 14" or 15" tire are gone. BFG TAs are rock hard compound these days(the G-force sports are pretty good tires) and you are taking your life in your hands running them,IMO. Same with Cooper or Dunlop GT.
Not that anybody cares, just my $.02.