White letter protection

[Kira]

I had my new General Grabber HT tires mounted black side out yesterday.
The WOL they came with were on the inside, obviously.

Is there a coating I can paint on to preserve the whiteness for future display?
I'm not going to lose any sleep over this as only a new owner would remount these tires.
...just wondering if there is anything aside from the old factory blue wipe which is water soluble

 

[IndyFan]

I had my new General Grabber HT tires mounted black side out yesterday.
The WOL they came with were on the inside, obviously.

Is there a coating I can paint on to preserve the whiteness for future display?
I'm not going to lose any sleep over this as only a new owner would remount these tires.
...just wondering if there is anything aside from the old factory blue wipe which is water soluble

I had a set of BFG AT's once with white letters on a Jeep and they were rubbed, scraped, and gouged on rocks all the time, but they held up. I used Wesley's Bleach White tire cleaner on them and it cleaned them up bright white every time. I think they still make that stuff and I believe I have seen it at Walmart, but I am not 100%. I used it years ago.

It is not a preservative or protector. Just a deep cleaner.

 

[4wd]

I had a set of BFG AT's once with white letters on a Jeep and they were rubbed, scraped, and gouged on rocks all the time, but they held up. I used Wesley's Bleach White tire cleaner on them and it cleaned them up bright white every time. I think they still make that stuff and I believe I have seen it at Walmart, but I am not 100%. I used it years ago.

It is not a preservative or protector. Just a deep cleaner.

WOL? that’s when I hung up my polyester leisure suit & white shoes!

 

[IndyFan]

I had my new General Grabber HT tires mounted black side out yesterday.
The WOL they came with were on the inside, obviously.

Is there a coating I can paint on to preserve the whiteness for future display?
I'm not going to lose any sleep over this as only a new owner would remount these tires.
...just wondering if there is anything aside from the old factory blue wipe which is water soluble

Found it! Wesley's is no longer the owner. Black Magic must've bought them out. But I think it is the same product. The bottle is exactly the same and the labeling is almost identical.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Black-Ma...1?classType=VARIANT&athbdg=L1600&from=/search

 

[IndyFan]

WOL? that’s when I hung up my polyester leisure suit & white shoes!

LOL, seems like Indycar, Nascar, F1, and IMSA all need to get rid of the leisure suits, too, huh?

LOL, I have not had white letters tires in years. But I do have red letters on my 2018 Jeep's General Grabber X3 mud tires. Unfortunately, they are some kind of vulcanized stickers and have not kept their luster, although they have held up well to the rocks. Anyway, when they were brighter and more visible, they got a ton of compliments.

Here's a shot when they were fairly new. I'd buy them again if they had them in an AT tread pattern. I think they look pretty cool. The red keeps them from being old school, I guess. Maybe?

 

[4wd]

LOL, seems like Indycar, Nascar, F1, and IMSA all need to get rid of the leisure suits, too, huh?

LOL

Maybe the day decals come off …

 

[4wd]

LOL, seems like Indycar, Nascar, F1, and IMSA all need to get rid of the leisure suits, too, huh?

LOL, I have not had white letters tires in years. But I do have red letters on my 2018 Jeep's General Grabber X3 mud tires. Unfortunately, they are some kind of vulcanized stickers and have not kept their luster, although they have held up well to the rocks. Anyway, when they were brighter and more visible, they got a ton of compliments.

Here's a shot when they were fairly new. I'd buy them again if they had them in an AT tread pattern. I think they look pretty cool. The red keeps them from being old school, I guess. Maybe?

View attachment 308043

I’m familiar - had grabbers on a 2018 Z71 …

 

[IndyFan]

Maybe the day decals come off …

View attachment 308041

I've never been big on the yellow. LOL. My decals haven't come off, but they are certainly darker and with rock scuffs that can't be removed. They slowly are transforming to black walls.

The white letters on the BFG's were molded in, so they kept their color and could be cleaned with a very aggressive cleaner like Bleach White. Not sure how they make them now.

 

[4wd]

LOL, seems like Indycar, Nascar, F1, and IMSA all need to get rid of the leisure suits, too, huh?

LOL, I have not had white letters tires in years. But I do have red letters on my 2018 Jeep's General Grabber X3 mud tires. Unfortunately, they are some kind of vulcanized stickers and have not kept their luster, although they have held up well to the rocks. Anyway, when they were brighter and more visible, they got a ton of compliments.

Here's a shot when they were fairly new. I'd buy them again if they had them in an AT tread pattern. I think they look pretty cool. The red keeps them from being old school, I guess. Maybe?

View attachment 308043

BTW, I have the same wheels - wonder if they were not playing Pentastar with those rims (not the motor, corporate icon) …

 

[4wd]

I've never been big on the yellow. LOL. My decals haven't come off, but they are certainly darker and with rock scuffs that can't be removed. They slowly are transforming to black walls.

The white letters on the BFG's were molded in, so they kept their color and could be cleaned with a very aggressive cleaner like Bleach White. Not sure how they make them now.

I’m good with lubes - but a terrible detailer - I just chase rain clouds!

 

[Kira]

Found it!

Thanks for looking.
I was thinking more of a swipe of 'silicone-like rubber' which would shield the whitework.

Also, is there any significance to Goodyear using yellow lettering on some tires?

 

[ecotourist]

The whitewalls on classic Whitewall tires could be brightened with a bit of very fine (wet) steel wool. Wet Brillo pads or wet Scotch pads worked well. Whitening the white was a standard part of washing whitewall tires.

I don't know if that would work on modern whitewalls or white letters but it would be worth a try.

 

[Tdbo]

I have had numerous sets of those types of tires.
There is really no need to protect the lettering.
It'll easily last as long as the tire will.
They clean up nicely with a Brillo pad.

 

[AZjeff]

Wesley's is not the same product it was. No white letters here but bitd it worked great to make tires black again. Not anymore.

 

[Arc]

I had my new General Grabber HT tires mounted black side out yesterday.
The WOL they came with were on the inside, obviously.

Is there a coating I can paint on to preserve the whiteness for future display?
I'm not going to lose any sleep over this as only a new owner would remount these tires.
...just wondering if there is anything aside from the old factory blue wipe which is water soluble

A white paint pen works good if you want to spend a ton of time covering each letter. I couldn't resist last summer and painted all the raised letters on my riding mower tires.

 

[CapriRacer]

The whitewalls on classic Whitewall tires could be brightened with a bit of very fine (wet) steel wool. Wet Brillo pads or wet Scotch pads worked well. Whitening the white was a standard part of washing whitewall tires.

I don't know if that would work on modern whitewalls or white letters but it would be worth a try.

Steel wool slightly abraded the surface exposing fresh rubber, so - Yes!! - that still works. Rubber chemistry has progressed a lot over the years, but the fundamentals still apply.