Stay away from BFG Commercial T/A Tires

[Endricken]

In years past and sometimes recently these tires were recommended.
I now believe that's bad advice!
I ended up with 4 eventually. My 2411 BFG Commercial T/A Tire was recalled two years ago (Aug 2012).
My two 0909 BFG Commercial T/A 235/85R16 tires failed within a month of each other in Nov 2012 with one having a non catastrophic sidewall delamination (Tire held) air, and its mate blowing its tread completely in Dec 2012 (one hour after checking tire pressure). Filed a claim with BFG, not their fault...
BTW, I always check air pressure when departing.

My remaining/last 3209 BFG Commercial T/A tire failed this week (total tread delamination). I was going to replace it in August, but it beat me to the punch. It was fully aired up 2 hours before failing.
Wow, 3 tire failures (two premature, one at almost 5 years) and one Recall - "Mothers, don't let your children do what I have done..." 🙂

I sure hope the replacement Michelin LTX MS 2 tires hold up better and last more than 3-4 years...

[JIMNLIN]

Charlie D. wrote:
Jim-My beef is that BFG does not warranty their tires for trailer service. Complete loss of tread on one tire and broken belts on another. I posted on my failures and there are several posts with BFG Commercial tires now failing. Yes, considering the number of BFG tires that members on here have there is probably a small number in the scheme of things but I am now forced to spend $800+ plus on new tires and that does not include the new BFG tire I had to buy as a spare to get home.

Both sets of my BFG Commerial on my RV and equipment trailers came with a full replacement warranty within a specified time frame and the usual workmanship/ materials replacement policy.

Edit;
I keep the Firestone Transforce LT E 3042 lbs on my 16k tri axle GN stock trailer with a full written warranty from Firestone through my Firestone dealer.

Liability/replacement/recommendations/and warranty issue has been hashed and rehashed over and over and repeated repeatedly and beaten to death ..... like CapriRacer says;

"It totally matters what question you ask and how you ask it.

Using the example above, if I ask: "Is the Vanco2 a suitable replacement for an ST tire, the response would be "No!"" - because the Vanco's are C type tires, not ST type tires and without any additional information, it is not assumed that the question-asker has enough expertise to know that he has to be careful about load carrying capacity and inflation pressure.

But if the question-asker says that he has a trailer with X amount of load on the tires and states that the Y sized Vanco's have more than enough load carrying capacity at the rated inflation, then it is obvious the question-asker has looked at everything pertinent and would get a positive response."

Any LT tire maker will/has give us the same answer in the scenario above.

[Francesca_Knowl]

Charlie D. wrote:
Jim-My beef is that BFG does not warranty their tires for trailer service.

Unless things have changed in the year and a half since this RV.net thread was closed, neither does Michelin UNLESS certain conditions are met. Most important being labeled load carrying capacity as it compares to OEM tires.

I base this assertion on "LostinAZ"'s report on his very exhaustive efforts to answer the "sure they might install them, but will they WARRANT them?" question, below quoted in its entirety.

LostinAZ wrote:

Posted: 11/26/12 10:42am Link | Print | Notify Moderator
I just received a call from the Discounbt Tire store manager on Power Road in Mesa, AZ. He has talked to Michelin HQ and his tire chains management. Michelin will NOT warranty tire being put on a RV that had a higher rated tire previosly installed by the OEM RV builder and that what is noted on the certificate on the side of the RV. The Tires originally installed by the OEM Montana in 2006 were ST235/80 R16E's which are rated at 3520lbs at 80 PSI. The Michelin ribs 235/85 R16's are rated at 3,000 lbs. Discount Tire will not sell, install or warranty a tire with a lower rated weight capacity for an RV. He tried to sell me some newer version Carlisle ST tires that they would warranty and install but I haven't heard good things about Carlisle ST tires either. So we now have it from a major West Coast tire store and directly from Michelin.

In summary, Firestone stores won't install or warranty LT Transforce HT's and Disouunt Tire won't install or warranty LT Michelin Ribs on a 5th wheel that originally started out with a ST235/80 R16E's at 80PSI.

Ok, so now I need to rethink this and see if there truly are other acceptable alternatives or go to an independant tire dealer for either the Firestone or Michelin tires w/o any warranty.

This information has been expressed on this thread by others but I wanted to get it straight from the horses mouth. I now have. Hopefully this has clarified this issue for others as well. I know that if I recommend any tires for this weight RV to others I will also inform them that if these two tires are selected for this application the manufacturers warranty will not apply because it is considered a "misapplication".

[Charlie_D_]

Jim-My beef is that BFG does not warranty their tires for trailer service. Complete loss of tread on one tire and broken belts on another. I posted on my failures and there are several posts with BFG Commercial tires now failing. Yes, considering the number of BFG tires that members on here have there is probably a small number in the scheme of things but I am now forced to spend $800+ plus on new tires and that does not include the new BFG tire I had to buy as a spare to get home.

[JIMNLIN]

Me Again wrote:

Arcamper wrote:
I will go out and tell my 09 BFG TA's they are no good. Seems unfair since they have been flawless and we run them hard and fast. My trailer is not as heavy so maybe that's why they have worked so well.

Lighter weight seems to be key factor. Pushed near their weight limit and the problems start. Chris

Not so.
The 3042 LT E has been a std on fully loaded 3/4 ton 6000-6084 RAWR trucks and 6000 lb trailer axles for over 50 years.

BFG had a hiccup and now you have a agenda.

[Endricken]

My BFG problems began long before I added a second AC, storage under Fridge and Stove, and DW loaded half her wardrobe (and 2 seasons worth of clothes for both of us for our current trip), Kitchenaid Mixer, Cello that I'm sure has led to our almost maxxed out current weight. Which will be reduced when we get home.

[FastEagle]

Endricken wrote:
Actual Weight update - still shame on BFG Commercial T/As!

each tire remains unknown.

FastEagle

[Me_Again]

Arcamper wrote:
I will go out and tell my 09 BFG TA's they are no good. Seems unfair since they have been flawless and we run them hard and fast. My trailer is not as heavy so maybe that's why they have worked so well.

Lighter weight seems to be key factor. Pushed near their weight limit and the problems start. Chris

[Arcamper]

I will go out and tell my 09 BFG TA's they are no good. Seems unfair since they have been flawless and we run them hard and fast. My trailer is not as heavy so maybe that's why they have worked so well.

[washley1]

I have an 09 Big Sky, with a just a little more weight than yours. I switched to Goodyear G614's and have never had a problem since. Pricey, but well worth it.

[JIMNLIN]

I've had more issues with Goodyear Wrangler tires on my equipment trailers but I didn't go around whinning about my bad luck. The Wranglers came OEM on RV trailers in the late '90 and early '00 era and in a 2-3 year period they developed separation issues. Goodyear to their credit fixed their issues. The LT E Wrabgler is now a very good tire for heavy trailers.
BFG will step up and fix their issue if they already haven't. Same with Michelin and their surface checking issues.

In the mean time the BFG Commercial are still one of the most if not the most popular LT E tire on the road for trailers of all types.

[Me_Again]

Endricken wrote:
Lucky you Hayhauler!
My only BFG tire that was in the recall (all should have been!)was replaced with a Michelin LTX/MS2 tire. Now I have 3 of them, mostly because I can't easily find XPS Ribs when one of the BFG's blowout when I'm on the road. Plan to migrate to Ribs ($$$) as needed.

Or get R250's for less money. Just say no to poly carcass! Chris

[Endricken]

Lucky you Hayhauler!
My only BFG tire that was in the recall (all should have been!)was replaced with a Michelin LTX/MS2 tire. Now I have 3 of them, mostly because I can't easily find XPS Ribs when one of the BFG's blowout when I'm on the road. Plan to migrate to Ribs ($$$) as needed.

[Hvyhauler]

My BFG Comm TA's were flawless for over a year... a major improvement over ST's.The trailer felt stable and didn't bounce around like it did on the several different brands of failed ST's in the past.

MY BFG's were in the recall and were replaced with Michelin XPS Ribs LT 235/85R 16/E. My trailer was too long to maneuver in the tire companies parking lot so I pulled all 4 BFG's off and took them
back loose for the swap out at no cost to me. I registered the new XPS Ribs (4) for warranty purposes on the Michelin site.

Hvyhauler
2006 Dodge 3500 DRW 4X4 QC LWB CTG
2007 Mountaineer 36 foot 3 slides 5ver
2000 Lance 1130
2 Camping Collies ( always ready to go )

[Endricken]

Actual Weight update - still shame on BFG Commercial T/As!

Visited a working CAT Scale on Saturday.
Per calculations:
Trailer is 13,900 versus 14,180 GVWR (or effectively "maxxed" out, but NOT overweight)
Axles: 5590 (vs 8k Axles)
Tires: 2795 (vs 3042 rating)- albeit actual individual weights on each tire remains unknown.