Tire Question: What is this stuff?

[Daniel S.]

A week ago I replaced the very thin OEM Michelin tires with a set of Goodyear Wrangler AT/S - 265/70/17's. When I got home I scrubbed the last bit of blueing off the white lettering and they looked great. Today I took it to the local brushless car wash selecting the service with tire and wheel cleaner. When I got home I was surprised to see the lettering was a dull grayish color with a strange kind of dirty film on them. I grabbed a bucket of soapy water. and a scrub brush and cleaned off most of it but some of the film remained.

At first I thought it was the wheel cleaner, but I'm wondering, is it actually disk brake dust? And what does everyone here use to keep the lettering bright?

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[kah.mun.rah]

The best solution is to keep the while letters on the inside where they belong.

 

[Sparty]

The best solution is to keep the while letters on the inside where they belong.

Beat me to it.

Unless you got a retro build going on, white letters are on the inside nowadays

 

[Daniel S.]

Raised white letters rule!

On the outside I say!

 

[X35]

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/BC_800002222

 

[ArcadeTracks]

Unless you got a retro build going on, white letters are on the inside nowadays

It's still rock and roll to me ...

 

[kah.mun.rah]

Raised white letters rule!

On the outside I say!

They will look great with chrome tube bumpers. As far as cleaning the white letters, on my old 65 I would use SOS steel wool pads. Between the steel wool and the soap that is in them, it whitens them right up. They do fall apart though so plan on using 2-3 to do all 4 tires.

 

[BXFXJeep]

They will look great with chrome tube bumpers. As far as cleaning the white letters, on my old 65 I would use SOS steel wool pads. Between the steel wool and the soap that is in them, it whitens them right up. They do fall apart though so plan on using 2-3 to do all 4 tires.

Long gone are the YJ days when chrome was a factory upgrade, the Laredo chrome grill was a big selling point.

 

[zouch]

white letters get thrashed in the rocks (and on curbs, if you park like my wife).

not only would i not want to spend the time trying to keep them clean, they'd be chewed off in what i call normal use. what i'd end up with would be big (off-)white patches on the sidewalls where the white letters used to be.

if i were to want to try to keep white letters on my vehicle looking good, i'd use one of the many cleaners available, and do them myself; i'd never use anything at the Car Wash.

 

[Twisted10]

is it 1987 again?

 

[embedded rock]

Cleans the white letters AND black-wall tires look fresh again.

 

[ASSFROW]

The film is from the tire shine stuff they spray on them at the car wash.

 

[dabolay]

A week ago I replaced the very thin OEM Michelin tires with a set of Goodyear Wrangler AT/S - 265/70/17's. When I got home I scrubbed the last bit of blueing off the white lettering and they looked great. Today I took it to the local brushless car wash selecting the service with tire and wheel cleaner. When I got home I was surprised to see the lettering was a dull grayish color with a strange kind of dirty film on them. I grabbed a bucket of soapy water. and a scrub brush and cleaned off most of it but some of the film remained.

At first I thought it was the wheel cleaner, but I'm wondering, is it actually disk brake dust? And what does everyone here use to keep the lettering bright?

There are a number of wheel and tire cleaners on the market. Chemical Guys, AMMO NYC, and Adams come to mind. Adams gets a lot of positive comments for effective cleaning, brake dust removal, blooming, and safety for different finishes.

Check out Adams. I've used Chemical Guys and will be purchasing the Adams products to try soon.

Consider as well, if you don't already own cleaning tools... Chemical Guys has a really good tire brush and other brushes as well for detail cleaning of wheels.

 

[GATORB8]

I used Chemical Guys Premium Blue and a standard bristle brush on our white letter KO2s.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003Y9A0OK?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_10

If they are bad, use the green brillo side of a kitchen sponge instead of the brush. Same cleaner.

 

[Daniel S.]

Here they are in all their white outline glory!

After work today I stopped at Walmart and bought a bottle of the Black Magic Bleche-Wite. That did the trick. After a good scrubbing the gunk was removed. Assfrow you were right. The gunk was the crap the car wash sprayed on the wheels. There was a green puddle under each tire after rinsing!

Thanks everybody. I know the white outline lettering is not for everyone, but I sure appreciate all of the responses.

Daniel

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