Ruined tires

[Cool Hand Lurker]

The last guy that had my car put something like ArmorAll on the brand new tires to make them "nice." He didn't remember exactly what it was but he got it from Honda and it was intended for motorcycles. Now every few months the tires turn brown like they are oxidizing. I washed it off with dish detergent and even lacquer thinner but it keeps coming back. Any ideas on how to get that junk out of the rubber?

By the way, DON'T USE THAT STUFF !!!!

[Bobster]

I think the oxidation is from sulphur compounds in the rubber. I got new tires from Coker Tire for my 1951 Chevy truck that were brown looking when unwrapped. I used kerosene to clean them and they still look good. BW

[Aerocraft]

I have had the same problem of the tire sidewalls turning brown and I don't use Armoral. I believe that Bobster has it right. I use Stoddard solvent and the tires come clean the brown goes away for a while. Gar Williams

[Dusty]

I use wesley's bleach white on my white wall tires. The WW will yellow even in a short time and I find that a once a month applcation keeps them whiter than white. As soon as you apply it the yellow beeds up and easy easly cleaned off with soap and water.

dusty

[Mike V. Florida]

Bought brand new universal tires. Put them on the car and in a few days they turned brown with NOTHING applied. I don't think the application of the Honda stuff is at fault.

[Cool Hand Lurker]

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Hey, thanks for the input. It sounds like the problem is with the tires. They also are Universals. This is something I did not expect but it must be the chemical makeup of the rubber. I don't recall that ever happening years ago. Maybe the more expensive tires don't have the problem?

Thanks again!

[Louis]

a few mo's ago i bought a set of firestone blackwall's from coker for my A model. after i put them on and washed them they had a some brown spots on them, i try'ed armorall on them using a sponge, still some brown spots, i washed the armorall off with ajax powder and a brush, sprayed them with no-touch foam. to shinney for me. i wiped them with a dry rag to remove the excess, they look great now.
i think it's the new rubber their using today.

[Brentwood Bob]

Try some simple green and a stiff brush, then alot of rinse. Stay away from armor all.

[Mitch//pa]

i wonder if they are using rubber from china

[Marco Tahtaras]

Originally Posted by Mitch//pa

i wonder if they are using rubber from china

Well, that would potentially be problematic. However UGLY brown tires was a major issue with Firestones in the 80's and 90's which I believe were made in New Zealand. I have no idea about the current version.

[Kevin - Illinois]

As Bobster suggested, try kerosene. It worked good on an old set of Universals Dad had on the coupe.

[quickchange]

Universals are made in india as are most new tires now,Not had a problem out here but how about trying black tire dressing like we do here, not shinny , Marco is correct re Firestone back in the 80,s however the ingredients were all inported from overseas, Derek from another wet day in Paridise.

[Special Coupe Frank]

Originally Posted by Mitch//pa

i wonder if they are using rubber from china

Unfortunately, rubber trees don't grow here in the US & A ...


There was a batch of WWW tires with the "brown problem" several years ago, that was the source of much talk on the AACA forum.

I believe it had to do with oils seeping out of the black rubber parts and staining the white-walls.

I think it affected Coker-branded tires too...

I've not had issues with brown spotting, but it's been about five-six years since I bought any WWWs.

I found that the side-walls would gradually develop an even, yellow patina, usually took a week or two to be noticeable.

Westley's Bleche-White is excellent, some guys like mineral spirits & a stiff brush.

I stopped using Armor-All years ago.

[Cool Hand Lurker]

My real problem is that they look like chocolate.... mmmmmmm..... chocolate... mmmm.... gotta go...

[Special Coupe Frank]

Well, don't eat the tires...


How about some pics ?

[Art Bjornestad]

I think that any type of petroleum product is very harmful to rubber.

[Special Coupe Frank]

Originally Posted by Art Bjornestad

I think that any type of petroleum product is very harmful to rubber.

Strictly speaking, yes; rubber and petroleum don't get along.

Coker and Universal both recommend use of only their respective, proprietary WWW tire cleaners; they discourage even Bleche-White.
( Wonder what's different ? )

Frankly, I haven't bothered cleaning the WWWs on my '28, and when I clean the ones on my '41 De Soto ( about twice a year ), I use Bleche-White.

I drive my antiques quite a bit, and tires are usually worn-out long before they are cracked from age / cleaners.

One guy on the AACA Forum is has a gorgeous Mark II Continental and is very particular about his car; mineral spirits is his choice for WWWs...

When I had my first car with WWWs ('48 New Yorker / All-State Guardsmans ), I used SOS or Brillo pads... they worked, but took a lot of elbow grease !

[Bruce Adams]

Those "Chocolate" Tires.
Did you get them in HERSHEY ?

[Keith True]

In the past 5 or 6 years I have had the sidewalls turn brown on new Firestones,Universal,Lester,and Bedfords.The Insa's did not turn brown though.We figured they came out of real rubber country,(Chili) and maybe that was the reason.Just how much real rubber is in a tire now? I have been told a very small percentage of a tire is rubber.The brown washes right off though,but seems to seep for a while.I think being in use,(flexing)and sunlight play a part in bringing it out.I had two sets of tires that sat in a cool place for a year or so,they stayed black.When put into service they oozed this brown waxy stuff.I have had two different brands that were made in Viet Nam.I don't recall those oozing the brown wax.I had a friend that hated Michelins till the day he died.He had crash landed a helicopter in a rubber plantation owned by a frenchman in Viet Nam.He was called out on the carpet,and punished because the U.S.had to pay for the losses his crash had caused.

[Cool Hand Lurker]

Originally Posted by Special Coupe Frank

Well, don't eat the tires...


How about some pics ?

Pics? You want to see a photo of my Model A? It is not a pretty sight. Hey, I saw the post telling how many points the good guys got at French Lick. Fine Points? Hah! My coupe would take a licking at French Lick but it would keep on ticking. Ticking, but also rattling, squeaking, moaning, bouncing, hiccuping, vibrating, and dancing. My Model A is a foreclosed mortgage, a savings account at 2%, two day old bread at the bakery, liver & onions. If you pulled it out of the ditch, somebody would push it back in and cover it with brush. Ask a farmer for directions and he will direct you to the cardboard refrigerator box under the last bridge on the road to nowhere.

A car that looks good at 10’ away? See it from 100’ away and mine still looks like a junkyard dog with bad hips. Body panels are sandblast swollen, splash guards shortened 3”, running boards raised 3” and fender bottoms cut off and bent up to meet the running boards. Plus chocolate tires and a cat sleeping on the roof.

A photo? Naw…. take a look at Marco’s roadster and just use your imagination a little. Umm…. a lot.

But thanks for asking, Frank.

Well, maybe it looks OK at 20 feet....... maybe 15 points?

[Fred K-OR]

With all this bad mouthing of "her", better look out Lucker "she" will quit on you right when you want to depend on "her". (sorry ladies, just a bad comment)

I had a tire that I purchased second hand that was white wall and when I bought new WW',s I found it looked yellow. So I used some of the stuff (Wesley's) mentioned above and it did a good job to turn it back white again. I had to do it a couple of times.