• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Raised White Letters

Medic

Active Member
Local time
12:48 PM
Joined
Mar 13, 2018
Messages
30
Reaction score
34
Location
Bossier City, La.
Looking for some tips or tricks to make my raised white letter tires white again. The tires only have about 4000 miles on them. I think the dull finish tire dressing I use is turning the letters brown. Any home remedies, hazardous materials, or recipes to make them look like new? Show season is here!
 
Let me guess.

BFG radial TAs ?

If so, Im under the impression good luck. The newer ones turn brown and dont come back to white
 
Me too, BFG TA's on my GTX. I think it's called "Purple Cleaner" by Parts Master, not sure on that but it works better than most stuff i've tried. Funny, It must be a bfg thing, I've always had trouble keeping them letters white but no problems with the Goodyear Eagles on the Coronet.
 
I have the BF G's also, same issue. Last year I started using Orange Wipes, the hand towels, and they seem to work good, with a lot of effort. I also remember using SOS, or Brillo Pads years back, and they worked great. The BFG's must use a porous compound on the white letters, to keep fouling so easily. Glad ALL my builds ahead, will be Blackwalls Out only...
 
Put a little gas on a rag and wipe them.
 
I switched to the the Mickey Thompson Sportsman ST's. The white letters stay white.
 
I have the BF G's also, same issue. Last year I started using Orange Wipes, the hand towels, and they seem to work good, with a lot of effort. I also remember using SOS, or Brillo Pads years back, and they worked great. The BFG's must use a porous compound on the white letters, to keep fouling so easily. Glad ALL my builds ahead, will be Blackwalls Out only...
Hey VANDAN, nice hotrod van in you avatar! kinda looking for one of those, getting hard to find.
 
I have always used spray 9 on my tires and white letters with no "dressing" . I found long ago that the dressings make the tires and white letters turn brown over time. I like the look of a clean, new tire and the dressing give the tire too much of a glossy painted look. Just spray the wet tire with 9 and hose it off, no scrubbing, it will look new,,,,Ed
 
My Cooper Cobras experience the same mysterious transformation. I use 'Purple Power', diluted 50/50 with water and a tire brush. Brings them back with not too much effort. Purple Power is biodegradable and sold at various big box stores (Autozone, etc) by the gallon. If you don't dilute it, it WILL remove a top layer of skin, with prolonged exposure.
 
I use Spray 9 on the whites.

I do the same but BFG has an issue and they know it.....only tires that won't stay white in my fleet are the wide *** BFG tires and they know it is a problem! Pisses ya off when 4 years later you buy more tires and they still haven't fixed the problem. I am going redline radial next time so no more bullshit with the white letters. :D:D

:thumbsup:
 
Acetone and a fine wire brush. It will clean them but the brown discoloration will come back.

You probably have 255/60-15's. They seem to be the the most common size effected.

These tires are defective and BFG knows it. They have replaced tires under warranty because of it.
 
My father used to use Wesley's Bleach White. But not sure they make that anymore.
 
My father used to use Wesley's Bleach White. But not sure they make that anymore.
They do and it worked well before they changed the formula. The issue with the BFG letters turning brown isn't just because they are dirty which is what whitewall tire cleaner will clean. They were manufactured incorrectly and regular cleaner won't help the issue.
 
They do and it worked well before they changed the formula. The issue with the BFG letters turning brown isn't just because they are dirty which is what whitewall tire cleaner will clean. They were manufactured incorrectly and regular cleaner won't help the issue.
Glad to know. My T/As are getting a bit grimy. Thanks for the heads up.
 
My front tires have been perfect from day 1. My 255/60-15 rears started yellowing within a few months. No dealers in town wanted to handle the warranty because I didn't buy the tires from them. Lesson learned.
 
Looking for some tips or tricks to make my raised white letter tires white again. The tires only have about 4000 miles on them. I think the dull finish tire dressing I use is turning the letters brown. Any home remedies, hazardous materials, or recipes to make them look like new? Show season is here!
This is a well-known problem on just about all newer whitewalls. If you have some old ones, they may "white-up" with cleaning. You should check out the Corvette Forum for pages of responses and photos. Some people have gotten refunds and others, free tires, but most get blown away from the tire makers. (I got dismissed from UniRoyal, and it was too much hassle to argue with them, which is what they want.) You can clean them and they may look better for a while, but the brown will come back. The bottom line is that the chemicals in the tire leach through to the surface. You usually don't notice it on black walls, but sometime you do see brown areas. Obviously this leaching is worse on white side walls or white letters. In order to prevent this, a barrier needs to be put below the white to prevent the leaching. To my knowledge, all manufacturers have eliminated this barrier. For a show car I have, i ordered a set of WSW tires from Diamond Back Tires. They still put the barrier between the black and the white. It works. My WSW is white as white can be.
 
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top