I wasn't sure whether to put this in Interior/Exterior or here, but since it may have something to do with tire dressing I figured this was the place.

I've got a set of BF Goodrich G-Force Sports on my MCS right now, and I'm pretty strict about keeping them looking nice and black with spray tire dressing. Recently, I saw a photo of a MINI whose owner chose to hand-paint the lettering on his sidewalls- it looked absolutely fantastic, and I immediately chose to mimic that look.

Went online and found "Ranger Tire Paint"... supposedly, their paint is specifically formulated to stick to tire rubber under driving stress. They do numerous colors, including white for refurbishing whitewall tires. I ordered a pint of the white and had it shipped to my door.

Fast forward a week, and I've got my lovely girlfriend sitting in the garage painting out the letters. They look AWESOME... until we get the wheels back on the car. Five miles later, and the paint has cracked, peeled, or straight up fallen off! So much for "special formula"- I read the back of the can, and it said this:

"DO NOT use with tire dressing, blackener, or silicone-based shiners, as these will almost guarantee complete adhesion failure."

Aha... so, my question to you is this: is there a way for me to remove the tire dressing that's on the tire? I know rubber is porous, so over time I'm sure some of it has worked its way into the rubber itself- can I extract it? I'm trying to find a way to completely deep-clean the tire surface for better paint adhesion, then I'll reapply the dressing once the paint has dried.

Any ideas are appreciated!

 

Have you tried a good dish detergent / soap to remove all oily residues?

- Erik

 

as I began to read your post I could predict the outcome - tire gel means no sticky

you say you used it a lot so my guess is nothing is gonna help

BUT if you REALLY want to try more aggressive ideas I'd say you need to remove the outer layer of the lettering rubber . . grind off the 'slimey' stuff you've created. Sand paper - fairly abrasive I'd probably try 200 grit. Then treat with alc' for a good cleaning and try again. I'd probably try on ONE LETTER first.

Way back I had what amounted to a somewhat soft crayon for this same purpose. Gave my 66 Mustang h.s. car white letter tires I could not otherwize afford.
http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Gasket-9312.../dp/B000BWAPPC

I had to reapply every few weeks but I do note that this is an oil based product . . .

 

solvent of some type should clean off the rubber.

 

When doing upholstery, Armor All is the enemy of glue. The only thing that adequately removes it is Acetone. I have a worn tire on some spare wheels that I can try acetone on. I will go outside, put on tire dressing and wait a while, then try to clean it and get back to you with results. No need for you to mess up good tires. My Magnum R/T did a number on these tires LOL

 

OK, let the tire dressing sit on the tire for two hours and it soaked in decently well. I wet a paper towel with Acetone and cleaned the area. It took all the dressing off as well as cleaning the tire a bit, worked well. Did an adhesion test with blue painters tape, which doesn't stick to anything plastic or rubber very well, and it stuck decently to the tire. Kinda surprised me how well the acetone worked. Seems it's worth a try.

 

Yes, I have. I did a Dawn mixture and sprayed it into the tire surface, let it sit for about three minutes, then reapplied and scrubbed vigorously. I could tell it hadn't done the job because the tire was still nice and black- that being said, it DID clean the tire quite nicely, even if it didn't pull out the dressing. Got rid of a lot of road grit, dirt, etc.

 

AHA! This may be a good trick! I'll give it a shot this weekend and report back.

As for the tire crayon, I grabbed one of those last summer and gave it a shot. I found the coverage and "whiteness" to be less than satisfying, plus I ran up against the same issue I'm having with the paint. As you'd rub the grease crayon onto the lettering, it would interact with the oily tire dressing and smudge all over the place.

I'm definitely going to go with the sandpaper approach. I'll include photos with my next post so you guys can see what I'm on about.

Thanks for your advice!!

 

I used a yellow paint stick, it lasts a while but the heat and flexing of the tire makes it crumble after a while.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...n-be-cool.html

 

THAT looks very nice, my friend. A paint stick, eh? I was able to find one of those at the local parts shop, but it had the consistency of nail polish and just kind of dribbled out of the tip. Still... those are some great results you've got there.

It looks like I've got two options for the time being: A) Wait until I have to replace my current tires, then apply several coats of paint BEFORE tire dressing, and B) Continually reapply the tire paint to the tires I've got now before & during car shows, rallies, etc. to keep them looking good.

Thanks for all your advice, guys!