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I bought my 1986 Corvette in May 2020 with 12k miles and as of last Friday I had 12.9k miles on it. It had about 500 miles on the BF Goodrich 255/50 r16 when I bought it, so they now have 1400 to 1500 miles on them.
Last Friday I went into Discount Tire to fix a leak in my right rear tire. While there they said that I might want to think about replacing the tires since the date codes were in 2014. I told them I might be interested in purchasing new ones if they could find me a set of 255/50's since BF Goodrich no longer makes them. They were able to find one set of Toyo Proxes in North Carolina and I told them they could ship them this way. I've yet to pay for them. They should be here by this Friday. With mounting and balancing the new Toyo's will be about $1,100. The reason why my right rear tire was losing pressure was because the metal valve stem that was on it was leaking and so they replaced it with a rubber one.
Long story short, the next morning I drove my Corvette to a "Garage Day" event at one of our club member's houses almost an hour away. Drove fine the way there and the way back. I had mentioned that I just had ordered new tires, (there were 25 other Corvette's there including a 9k mile '84 btw). Anyways most people who see my car instantly envy how pristine and clean it is. The guys that were there wondered why I was replacing my tires because there was hardly any tread wear and the rubber looked fine with no cracking. The guy with the 9k mile 84 said he finally replaced his tires after 20 years about a month ago, other members said they have gone way longer than 9 years on their tires.
My question, would it be wise to replace them with the Toyo Proxes? Or would it be okay to drive on my current tires till they show signs of aging and lack of performance? All the guides online and Discount Tire is saying I should replace them. Fellow members say I should be fine for a while.
I'd say that when the tire gets to be somewhat more than 10 years old - they are due for replacement. Mileage is irrelevant with older rubber - the rubber compound just starts to deteriorate, and the tire starts to lose its structural strength.
I've seem pics of very old tires failing at relatively low speeds, and doing significant damage to the vehicle when they go.
I agree with the others. Would not take the chance. I did see a thread on here a while ago that BFG was making 255 16’s again. Not sure if that’s true or someone was confused about purchasing new BFGs that were in fact older.
I was on the fence about this with my '86 because the tries were so new they still have the little rubber "antennae" on them, but were ten years old. It was explained to me that although they look fine the rubber is becoming much less flexible. The potential aftermath of any blowout made this decision for me. Without the outside knowledge I would've kept mine. Recently I heard someone say that Goodyear of BF Goodrich did a short run on these sizes but can't find that information at the moment. Good luck. I eventually just went with 18s and kept the old wheel in case they made another run of these tires. Good luck.
Just had the Toyo Proxes r888r's put on last night. Little disappointed. First off the one technician didn't tighten down the plastic lug nut caps on the right side, so when backing in the driveway one of the caps fell off and was immediately ran over by an suv passing by. Dented it but I was able to get it back on. I have Cars and Coffee this morning so hopefully no one notices the dent in the cap. Secondly, these tires are incredibly loud! They have a wawa sound when driving, I never turn my ac on and prefer to drive with the windows down, so the sound becomes an annoying WAWA sound the faster you go.
Luckily I was able to take my other car back to the shop since they were still wrapping up the few remaining cars after closing an hour prior. They will reimburse me for new caps and the service expert says on a low mileage car that isn't driven much it would be better to go with the BFG's 245's instead. They are ordering a set of 245's at no extra cost to me which should be in next week and said I could drive on the Toyo's till then. The manager said that I wouldn't be able to notice much of a difference from my old 255's. Is that true? Maybe aesthically but performance wise I'm reading it changes the speed being shown on the speedometer.
Just want to make sure I'm choosing the right option. I love the stock rims but it almost sounds like I need to get a different wheel/tite combo for correct fit?
I have to say, getting the tires you really want is nearly impossible for these C4’s, especially the earlier cars with 16” wheels. I hate that tire manufacturers don’t have a full line for these sizes but I guess they will only make what makes money. It’s a little better with the 17’s but it’s not like you can really go out choose anything you want. I love and appreciate the stock wheels on these cars.
With that said, if I were you, I’d go on BF Goodrich’s website and look at the overall width dimensions for the 245 section width tires you have on order. Some manufacturers are a tad wider or skinnier than others and the 245 may be closer than you think to the original 255 width in both overall and tread section width. If it’s within a half inch, you probably won’t notice much and the performance difference will be about nothing. 245 tires with today’s tire compounds are going to offer way better performance than an old 255 gatorback. Hopefully some other early C4 owners can offer up their recent experiences.
If you REALLY wanted to keep the stock rim look and have a better selection, you could hunt for some Z51 wheels. They are 9.5 width and can accommodate 275’s. I would bet there are more options in that width but obviously that doesn’t help you with the right now situation. True ZR1 OEM (36 mm offset) dimension A molds and sawblades will go right on your 86 with perfect fitment so that upgrade is always an option for you too.
If you REALLY wanted to keep the stock rim look and have a better selection, you could hunt for some Z51 wheels. They are 9.5 width and can accommodate 275’s. I would bet there are more options in that width but obviously that doesn’t help you with the right now situation. True ZR1 OEM (36 mm offset) dimension A molds and sawblades will go right on your 86 with perfect fitment so that upgrade is always an option for you too.
I have Z51 on my car so all my wheels are 9.5 inches wide. So would it be a better option for 245's or 275's? Dropping to 245's looks like id be dropping 20 lbs per tire whereas increasing to 275's would increase my weight, correct? I love the 94-95 ZR-1 A Molds but didn't really want to have 2 sets of wheels. So the 11.5 wide rear wouldn't stick out?
I'd say that when the tire gets to be somewhat more than 10 years old - they are due for replacement. Mileage is irrelevant with older rubber - the rubber compound just starts to deteriorate, and the tire starts to lose its structural strength.
I've seem pics of very old tires failing at relatively low speeds, and doing significant damage to the vehicle when they go.
58Vetteboy, this answer is exactly why I replaced and i was in the same boat. If I had even a low speed failure I would be forever regretting it due to the likely much more extensive damage that would be sustained.
I have Z51 on my car so all my wheels are 9.5 inches wide. So would it be a better option for 245's or 275's? Dropping to 245's looks like id be dropping 20 lbs per tire whereas increasing to 275's would increase my weight, correct? I love the 94-95 ZR-1 A Molds but didn't really want to have 2 sets of wheels. So the 11.5 wide rear wouldn't stick out?
I think a 245 on a 9.5” wide rim is going to be a stretch and will have that look. Matter of fact BF Goodrich lists the acceptable rim width range as 7-8.5, so you should tell the shop you have a Z51 with 9.5 wide rims. If they say it’s ok…I guess. I’m having some real trouble finding any 255 or 275 width tires but I’m going to keep looking.
The 84-87 cars can fit a ZR1 spec (OEM or aftermarket 36mm offset) 17x11 rim with 315’s on the rear due to the hubs being a good half inch or more inside the fender edge than an 88-96 car. 88-96 need a 50 mm offset rim. It will stick out further than your stock rims and tires but IMO is a really nice muscular look. The tread should be within the fender lip with the sidewall a bit proud. Same look as an 88-96 car with 50mm offset 17x11 wheels and 315’s. The front 9.5” wide A molds will have a 56 mm offset so you may have to run a spacer in the front since your stock 9.5” wheels have a 38mm offset. Otherwise they will be too far inboard which will look too tucked and might actually rub somewhere on the inside. I’m guessing a half inch spacer would do the trick. Don’t be turned off by running spacers, many do this all the time on street cars and many race with them with no issues. adapter style spacers are generally easier as they bolt to your original studs and have their own studs on the outside. Pass through spacers use just the existing studs but your stock studs may have to be replaced with longer ones to have enough thread for the lug nuts after passing through the spacer and the wheel flange. This is a definite option and there are countless guys on here that have done this. Some available tires would be the Nitto 555, other Nittos, and the Mickey Thompson street comp which is a really good tire that has a very similar look to continental pro contacts. I have Nittos on my car and had the common flat spot issue that they have. Raising the tire pressure 3 PSI above GM spec completely alleviated that issue. The Nittos do nothing extremely well but do perform well overall. some say they underperform for the price, but are definitely not overly expensive. The best part is that they 100% do ride nice, there is no noise, and they perform plenty well enough for cruising and spirited street driving.
My opinion is that you definitely make the shop aware of your 9.5 rims as they may be under the impression they are base 8.5” rims and the 245’s will work. If they are aware and say the 245’s will work then go ahead and see if you like them.
This is my dad’s 96 with 50mm offset A molds on it. The look would be very similar or identical to you putting 36 mm offset A molds on your car. He has 315/35-17 Nitto 555 G2’s mounted on the 17x11 50 mm A molds.
I think I’d jump on that. Pilot sport is a good tire. Correct size too
Those look great, but 2 dilemmas. 1. The current tires I bought at Discount Tire. Even if I decide to take these Toyo's back and forego the BFG's that still leaves me without a tire for the present, they discarded the BFG's I did have. I can keep the Toyo's for 30 days before I need to return them, but don't think these Michelins would be produced by then. 2. Even with the discount, these are still $700 more than these Toyo's (and probably close to another $200 to $300 to mount and balance them), really don't want to spend that type of money on a set of tires that I'm going to have to replace in 6 or 7 years. (Would rather put an extra $1000 towards a second Corvette with a little higher mileage that I won't be too afraid to drive more often).
Now if Discount Tire could somehow get a set of these or I could just live with the Toyo's. After driving today about a 45-mile round trip, they weren't terribly annoying. I could get use to the wawa noise if their only other option is the 245's.
Last edited by 58VetteBoy; 06-17-2023 at 10:01 PM.
Yeah, I still have the BFG 255s that I bought a few years ago on my car that now have less than 400 miles on them, so I don’t need tires at this time. They were a lot cheaper (Around $600 from Walmart). It would be cool to have that T-Shirt, though.
06-13-2023, 06:05 PM
Should I replace my tires or not
Like others say, they might look good, but there not, why take chance driving and have them blowout and you might get hurt loosing control.
