Tires for the 2002 Berger...

[WILMASBOYL78]

This month is the 17th birthday for Karen's baby...13,000 miles during those 17 years. I have been debating about replacing the tires just because of their age.

We just got the car out of winter storage...I looked closely at all the tires...there is no checking or dry rot cracks. The car has always been stored in a climate controlled environment. But, they are 17 years old :dunno:

So, do we swap them out or keep driving??...let me know your thoughts.

Thanks, wilma

[danachevroletfor1967]

Just based on my own opinion and stories I have read on here, as I'm sure you have too, of tires separating tread from carcass while driving even with no obvious signs of wear, etc. I would say replace them. I just replaced last month the tires on my '78 Z28 which were 16 years old with only 19,000 miles on them and no signs of cracking, etc. It is garaged all the time so the tires don't get exposed to a lot of UV rays. I just didn't want to take the chance with 16 year old tires. The guy at the tire store who I know well said that with the way I keep my cars garaged, other of course than when driving them, he would recommend replacing the tires every 10 years.
Hope this helps as I know it is a hard decision as to when to replace tires.

[olredalert]

----Just a suggestion, Tom, but how about buying aftermarket wheels and really good tires and saving the originals for a possible new owner down the road......Bill S

[WILMASBOYL78]

----Just a suggestion, Tom, but how about buying aftermarket wheels and really good tires and saving the originals for a possible new owner down the road......Bill S

Interesting idea...

We sort of did that this winter with her Audi Q7. Bought some Continental snows mounted on aftermarket wheels and left the factory supplied alloys/run flats as is.

Of course, the tire part will be easy...choosing a new wheel style will be a 'process' :smirk:

Any suggestions of a wheel/tire combo that would work well on this car???

Thanks for the great idea :worship:

-wilma

[Crush]

I have this situation with a few cars I simply took the old tires off save them and put new tires on the existing rooms. It’s a bit of a pain to save all the tires but to the extent that the new owner may want them someday it’s kind a cool

[olredalert]

----Wheels for newer Camaros is difficult for me as I am so nostalgia oriented. Newer American mags are kind of overdone though, IMO. Be more interesting if you found a wheel that's a bit out of the ordinary,,, yet not wildly priced. Search may be part of the fun. I know it is with me......Bill S

[camarojoe]

Use 'em.

[WILMASBOYL78]

We have decided to replace the tires and keep the factory wheels. Karen likes the look of the SS wheels on the car. So, we did some tire shopping and came up with 3 choices;

TIRE OPTIONS: 275/40R17

BFG G-FORCE SPORT COMP 2 ----- $135.49 EACH

NITTO NT555 G2 -------- $147.00 EACH

CONTINENTAL EXTREME CONTACT SPORT --- $183.00 EACH

The car has factory BFG tires now...Karen likes the Continentals on her Audi...I said the BFG's would be fine. So, let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,

-wilma

[olredalert]

----Just me, but I like Conti's! I believe those ECS tires are what I just put on my Merc E63 wagon (19's not 17's)…….Bill S

[WILMASBOYL78]

Thanks for the feedback...we decided to keep the factory look and ordered the BFG's...that should keep things good for another 10 years :burnout:

[camarojoe]

You wanna sell those original tires? Are they Comp T/A’s by chance? Let me know.

[WILMASBOYL78]

You wanna sell those original tires? Are they Comp T/A’s by chance? Let me know.

The factory tires are G-Force T/A's...we will keep them as part of the history of the Berger...

[Locker537]

Wilma,

I highly recommend buying new tires based on age and am happy to see you made that decision!

I purchased BFG G-FORCE SPORT COMP 2 for my 1998 F-body roughly a year ago and have been very happy with them. They replaced ~15 year old rubber and it was night and day difference in terms of performance and ride quality. Wish I did it sooner!

The tires they replaced passed a visual inspection; no evidence of dry rot, cracks, or any discoloration. However, they were HARD.

Do it! You won't be disappointed.

[WILMASBOYL78]

Thanks for the feedback...I shared it with Karen.

It is the right thing to do...:scholar:

-wilma

[napa68]

We have decided to replace the tires and keep the factory wheels. Karen likes the look of the SS wheels on the car. So, we did some tire shopping and came up with 3 choices;

TIRE OPTIONS: 275/40R17

BFG G-FORCE SPORT COMP 2 ----- $135.49 EACH

NITTO NT555 G2 -------- $147.00 EACH

CONTINENTAL EXTREME CONTACT SPORT --- $183.00 EACH

The car has factory BFG tires now...Karen likes the Continentals on her Audi...I said the BFG's would be fine. So, let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,

-wilma

When I had car #76 (the second time) I replaced them with the BFG G Force's. What a difference in the ride and handling of the car. At the time, I believe the car had 10,000 miles. I saved the originals. I feared tearing a fender off when driving at highway speed or "spirited" driving.

BTW, check the alignment. Mine drove fine, but was waaaaaay off.

Hope that helps!
Tim

[Spooky]

We have always run Nitto 555's after the goodyears prematurely wore out on Carrie's NBM Z28.

Still going to run the Fikse's, right?

[Zman1969]

Firestone is making a Indy 500 tire that I like and reasonable too