M/T Sportsman S/T radials are better than the BFG Radial T/A tires if you're trying to stay with a white letter tire.

M/T radial tires are made by Cooper also.

BF Goodrich isn’t making the 15” T/A’s anymore, that is now done by Coker as I understand it.

What is your evidence or source of info for this statement?

They are still listed on the BF Goodrich web site and can purchase them at any dealer.

I have used BFG for years and just put a new set on. No problems.

I mount and balance a fair amount of tires, used and new. If they have your size available, front line Michelins are the best tires that I come across. They are all I run on my personal stuff. Just remember that the mass marketer's Michelins are not necessarily the same as the front line tires.

We use Michelin Defenders on our cars and trucks. They simply take less weight to balance and are consistently ROUND. So many tires that I come across now are not round. Many are kinda egg shaped. And no amount of weights will take that vibration out of the vehicle.

And if you need a relatively common size, don't forget the late model wrecking yards for good used tires. Typically $150 to $250 a set for 80% to 90% tread tires. And occasionally 100% tread tires from new vehicles that were salvaged which happens more often than you would think.

There may be instances where the road force balancer would be better. I used to have some tires balanced that way. But after balancing several sets myself and then having them road force balanced just to test, I could never tell a difference when driving the vehicle. So, I haven't had any tires road force balanced in years.

Again, there may be a place for it. But it sounds like you are talking about tires with 'issues' that go beyond what is 'normal'. If road force discovered a 'soft spot' in a tire, I would not want to try to 'balance' it out of that. Good used tires are only about $50+/-. I would move on to the next tire. Personally, I have not experienced that myself, unless the out-of-round that I do see frequently is how a soft spot exhibits itself. That is possible. Either way, my opinion is that anything that compromises the roundness of the tire is not going to be 'fixed or covered up' by balancing. Any kind of balancing.

That is just my opinion based on experience. Your mileage may vary.

I did consider buying a 'tire shaver' for a while a few years ago when it seemed that I was seeing a large number of out-of-round tires. But they are expensive and the yards will always take their tires back, so..................

All this actually goes back to the quality of the tires themselves. Which does not necessarily relate to price.

Some marginal tires may be made acceptable with special attention, materials, and machinery.

But good quality tires only need a competent tech using a good machine to achieve success.

Personally, I don't see the value of going though the gymnastics and expense of trying to 'save' marginal tires. Just move on and replace it/them. That would be best in the long run. At least for the customer. If there are balancing issues, there could also be 'other' problems that are less obvious. But who here has seen a tire tech/shop reject a new tire? It rarely, if ever, happens. They just do whatever is necessary to get that/those tires on the vehicle and out of the shop.

Special machinery and materials that try to get acceptable results out of otherwise unacceptable tires really only benefits the tire manufacturers and tire shops. Not the end customer, in my opinion. If more of the marginal tires were rejected rather than 'saved', their manufacturers may be forced to make some 'adjustments'.

There may be special situations and circumstances where extra ordinary machines, techniques, and materials are necessary and desirable. But they should not be necessary for typical applications.