I shopped around for tires and wheels for my E and settled on Enkei RS6 rims with some new BFG G-force TA/KDWS rubber. Got a price off a couple of websites then went to see my local Discount Tire. They matched the price to within $10 so I went with them. Got everything balanced and fitted but their RoadForce balancer was out of order so they just did a regular balance. After a week or so I wasn't happy - a shudder in the steering at about 65-75mph. I took it back and they re-did the balancing for free. Took it out again and the shudder was still there, but much less pronounced. Took it back again this afternoon and their RoadForce balancer was working again, so they put the wheels on there. 3 of the 4 BFG tires were bad. They had heavy spots so heavy and off-balance that the machine basically said "unsafe - new tire required". They're getting 4 new tires for me to fit next week.

So this leads to a couple of questions or comments.

1. If I'd got these off an internet dealer, this would have been a royal pain in the ass to get fixed - I'd have to send the whole lot back to them to get it sorted. In my case, that would have happened twice now, which would have been a real problem if I'd sold the old wheels on to someone else. A lot of you are probably thinking "but the internet dealer would have made sure everything was balanced before it was shipped". Yeah, but what if they did it using the regular wheel balancer? Or it was a friday job? You don't have someone to talk to face-to-face and believe me, when you're on the phone, they know they can say pretty much anything because you've got no way to complain in person.

2. Are BFG's really that crap? I did a lot of research on these forums before buying and didn't see anyone mention any sort of manufacturing defects in theirs, but to get a batch of 4 tires with 3 defective means BFG must have some pretty appalling QA.

3. Anyone got any recommendations in case the new BFGs are as bad as the ones they're taking off? Yokohama? Michelin? I like the grip with the BFGs but my confidence in them as a tire manufacturer has been severely dented now.

Consider this a cautionary tale if you're considering buying wheels and tires off the internet. At least buying local you've got some comeback.

I have been using Radial Tire in Silver Spring, MD for over 20 years now. They have always beat Tire Rack's prices and if I was dumb enough to use one of their recommended places to mount and balance the tires it Would end up costing me $75 to $200 more. Plus they can balance the tires on the car if you car is sensitive.

BFG's are notorious for their poor quality control. back in the early 90's when their R-1s were popular and I was using 3-4 sets a year for driver schools I would have have to go through 30-40 R-1's before I found acceptable track tires.

Fred

I have used Discount Tire's internet site (discounttiredirect.com) with good results. The local Discount Tire will match the internet price, which is significantly less! They do charge $6 more to mount and balance though.

I have had excellent results with the Yokohama Geolandar HT on both my E and the Dodge Dakota.

I have had a bias against BFG since childhood, and don't really know their current state. However, to this day, I would not voluntarily mount them on any car I drive!

I have never really had any issues and liked the BFGs I have had on my previous vehicles. I have never had as high as the G-gforce KDWS, but I have had The AT KOs and The Touring TA HR4s and they both worked very well. I could never bring myself to spend the kind of money for tires the G-force KDWSs go for.

I have never really had any issues and liked the BFGs I have had on my previous vehicles. I have never had as high as the G-gforce KDWS, but I have had The AT KOs and The Touring TA HR4s and they both worked very well. I could never bring myself to spend the kind of money for tires the G-force KDWSs go for.

The KDWSs are $79 a tyre. They're cheap compared to the rubber I have on my Subaru which is nearly 180 bux a pop. They were also the cheapest of all the options I looked at for the E. I'm beginning to believe there's a reason they were so cheap.
I'll let you know what happens with the new tyres - they're going on on monday.

I've always gone through America's Tire/Discount Tire for all my aftermarket wheel and tire needs. The most I use the net for, is researching wheels and tires but I always go back to the store for the final sell...and always go back to the same tire companies that I've used in the past. With the exception of a set of Rage tires for my Prelude, I've always used Pirelli, Yokohama, and Nitto. You pay more for these brands but I have yet to have a bad tire.

Update : Discount Tire changed the three bad tyres out and RoadForced all 4 wheels again. Took my E out on the freeway and she's rock solid now, which is excellent.

Next snafu - they dinged one of my rims, so they're replacing that next.

Eesh.

It ought not to be this difficult to get tyres and wheels :twisted:

I am a fan of Discount Tire. I am glad that it is working out for you, if slowly...

I had a situation like yours with discounttire.com. I ordered 4 new tires for my focus and one was totally out of round. The guy at the tire shop called me and told me about it and left the old tire on. I called discount tire and told them about it they sent me a return label, and sent me out a new tire once they received the out of round one, in total it took about a week. I guess it wasn't all that much of a pita to deal with. However i dont know what negative effects it had on the new tires if any. The one problem i did have was they did not believe me over the phone they had to inspect the tire before they actually sent out a new one. Even with that experience i do prefer to get tires online, i have ordered from tirerack many times with out any problems what so ever. I feel like i can just go online and get exactly what tire i want and not have to deal with a sales person or rep.

I had a situation like yours with discounttire.com. I ordered 4 new tires for my focus and one was totally out of round. The guy at the tire shop called me and told me about it and left the old tire on. I called discount tire and told them about it they sent me a return label, and sent me out a new tire once they received the out of round one, in total it took about a week. I guess it wasn't all that much of a pita to deal with. However i dont know what negative effects it had on the new tires if any. The one problem i did have was they did not believe me over the phone they had to inspect the tire before they actually sent out a new one. Even with that experience i do prefer to get tires online, i have ordered from tirerack many times with out any problems what so ever. I feel like i can just go online and get exactly what tire i want and not have to deal with a sales person or rep.

For most things I'd tend to agree with you. But when my local DT matched the price almost exactly, it means I had virtually zero wait time (took them 3 days to get the wheels and tyres) and it meant I had someone to go and stand in front of when it went wrong. For general accessories and stuff, I always go internet but for a big purchase like this, I'm glad I asked around locally first.

Well - the latest in this sorry saga. I just got back from my fifth visit to the tire place. Out of 8 BFG tyres so far, 6 of them have been bad. I've had it with these pieces of sh*t. Tomorrow they're taking them off and replacing them with Yokohama YK520s - 235/55 R18s.
I'm penning a letter of complaint to BFG Corporate - not that I suppose they'll read it - about how crappy their tyres are. I have never had this sort of problem swapping tires before.
So : my recommendation - DON'T BUY BFG G-Force TA/KDWS tires. They're not worth the damn trouble.

We've been running Yohohamas on the Jeep and Civic for years and will put on the E next year (we run Bridgestone Blizzaks on all vehicles in the winter). I think you'll be very happy with them.

As an aside, we have bought all of our tires from TireRack.com and had them mounted up by TireRack recommended shops, never any issues.

The thing that irritates me the most is that I've sworn by Yokohama tires for years - since 1992 in fact. I went on various recommendations from this forum for the BFGs, and I was impressed with their handling. It's just their manufacturing and QA that seems to be astoundingly bad. I think I'm going to end up a Yokohama boy for life - never had any issues with them before. I'm hoping tomorrow will be the end of this.

Oh and I feel I should give a massive credit to Discount Tire - their guys have been really patient with this whole issue. It's embarrassing to keep going back now because I'm starting to know their techs by name....

Just got back with my Yokohama YK520s. Much quieter ride. Better grip. And best of all - they balanced perfectly first time !

Hopefully the end of your problems, good luck and enjoy!

I've only ordered one set of tires off the web. A set of Dunlop Sport SP A-2s for my old Camry. Bought them from Tire Rack. Two of the tires needed to be rebalanced every 5K. Those same two tires showed very uneven wear within 7.5K. Tire Rack said they never have a problem with the Dunlop A-2s, so it had to be my wheels or the car. I finally gave up on the Dunlops with about 12K on them and purchased a set of Coopers locally. No balance issues, no wear issues, same rims, same car.

I will never buy tires off the web again.

I've only ordered one set of tires off the web. A set of Dunlop Sport SP A-2s for my old Camry. Bought them from Tire Rack. Two of the tires needed to be rebalanced every 5K. Those same two tires showed very uneven wear within 7.5K. Tire Rack said they never have a problem with the Dunlop A-2s, so it had to be my wheels or the car. I finally gave up on the Dunlops with about 12K on them and purchased a set of Coopers locally. No balance issues, no wear issues, same rims, same car.

I will never buy tires off the web again.

In reality, you're comparing Apples to Oranges there. Maybe it was the A-2? I could see you blaming bad tires from TireRack if you had bought a set of A-2s from a store in town and they worked out fine.

I've never been that impressed with Dunlops, I had some SP Sports on my Mustang and they didn't last very long.

Well I got a response back from Michelin today - turns out they own BFGoodrich and regard them as their "bargain basement" brand. Their response was essentially "tough".
I won't be buying from Michelin then either after that quality piece of customer relations.

Have never heard of BFG's being made so poorly. The guy who ripped the R1's is crazy! I raced those for years without a single issue.

As for purchasing tires off the Internet... never had a problem after several dozen full sets of tires from various online vendors. Not a single issue. Not saying it can't or won't happen... but so far so good.

Michelin purchased BFG years ago, it isn't a secret. BFG was moved down market when this happened since they wanted to sell more of the main brand.

I'm currently looking for new tires in ealry September, and I am now leaning towards the Yoko Geolandar H/T-S G051. I live in Maryland and we don't get an ambundance of snow (I'm originally from Southern Ontario, so it seems like we get no snow for me in MD). That being said, how do the Yoko Geolandar H/T-S G051 tires handle in mild-moderate winter weather? Also, are they durable? I see them for $99 a pop for NTB, which looks like a good deal to me.

Thanks in advance for you info.

You'll like the Geolandars, especially over the stock Goodyears! Durability and traction are good. I've had mine for 26000 miles.

You'll like the Geolandars, especially over the stock Goodyears! Durability and traction are good. I've had mine for 26000 miles.

I'll probably go with the Geolanders this Summer or Fall. My E came with the Goodyears and they're already showing even wear after only 2000 miles - more like what you'd expect after 10,000. I'd get better performance from retreaded snow tires.

Just a note. I recently talked to a rep at Americas Tire and he said they have no problem matching online vendor pricing. I went to my local store and sure enough got a set of BFG AT KOs at tirerack pricing.

I've always had great results with BFGs. they last forever and really work well. Its too bad that you had the problems you did.

Over the last fifteen years I have bought tires and wheels from Tire Rack, Discount Tire Direct, Mach III and Edge Racing and have had no problems. When I have ordered wheels w/tires they show up looking like the tires were built on the wheels: no marks of any kind on the rims.

Goodyear tires bought locally have always been disappointing.

(I have never bought BFG or Dunlop tires.:))

no more Edgeracing Gary... and no more ghetto flik wheels either, they died together.

no more Edgeracing Gary... and no more ghetto flik wheels either, they died together.

Yes, I know. Sort of like a comet- burned bright and now they're gone.

(It was a good place to get Falken Azenis.)