Tires Cleaning

nfld150 · #1 05-08-2005, 06:09 PM

OK, I have been reading all these posts about detailing and see how you guys keep your trucks clean. One question I have is concerning tires with Raised White Letters. This one thing that really bugs me. How do you guys keep your RWL so clean and the side wall so black. Everytime I clean mine I get the lettering clean, then try and get the sidewalls clean, just to mess up the lettering again. I then re-clean the lettering and have to do the sidewall again and the circle continues. Can some one get me out of this tire cleaning hell. I use spray nine on the lettering and Meg's Endurance on the side wall. Nothing worse then a perfectly detailed truck with dirty lettering, this is driving me insane.........help....

EnglishAdam · #2 05-08-2005, 06:29 PM

Scrub your tyres as normal with your regular wheel brush then you need to scrub the White Letter part with a wire brush.
Then just rinse with clean water.
On my old truck, I used to use a shoe cleaning brush that my wife had bought for suede shoes.
You can get small wire brushes with brass bristles at Autozone and the like. They are made for cleaning sparkplugs but are perfect for RWL on tyres.
Afterwards, just dress with your fave tyre stuff.

nfld150 · #3 05-08-2005, 07:11 PM

That's great, but, I still have the issue of getting my tire dressing on the sidewall without getting the RWL dirty again.

EnglishAdam · #4 05-08-2005, 08:15 PM

I don't quite understand. Are you saying the tyre dressing is making the RWL look dirty immediately?

**Rockpick** · #5 05-08-2005, 09:19 PM

What type of applicator are you utilizing to apply the Endurance? Could the applicator be dirty?

My technique with Endurance typically involves doing exactly what you're doing with a Eagle One Tire Swipe. After application and a few hours of dry time, I'll go back over the RWLs with a shop rag to remove the excess on the letters.

So far, I've found that this works out best for me.

RP

FordTruckMan82 · #6 05-08-2005, 11:17 PM

Get a spray bottle, dilute an all purpose cleaner, such as Simple Green, with water. You don't want the Simple Green to be any stronger then 50/50, some people even go 1/10.

Get a good Tire Brush, spray the tire with the solution and scrub it with the brush. Hose off the tire, following up closely with a towel to dry it off. Apply your tire shine with whatever method you may choose. RockPick and I both use Eagle Tires Wipes, you find them in any auto store and they work wonders. Once you have applied however many coats you care to use on your tires, get a towel and spray it with your diluted All Purpose Cleaner. Take the towel, using the dampened section, run it along the RWL and it they will be good as new.

- Chris

twistedfinn · #7 05-09-2005, 05:03 AM

I use Eagle One brand A to Z wheel and tire cleaner. Spray it on a dry tire, let sit a minute, then use a stiff bristle brush from a bucket of warm soapy water, scrub as needed.

After the tires are dry, I use Stoner brand More Shine Less Time for tires. Looks great and doesn't attract dirt like that Endurance stuff from Meg's. No "slinging" either!

Good Luck...

SuperLB51 · #8 05-09-2005, 07:17 PM

I use this stuff called Westley's bright white...its a amazing product gets those white letter spotless...just spray it on the tire ( not much is needed) and scrub the tire well and let it soak for about 30 secs and scrub it agian...really focusing on the white letters yet doing the entire tire...then follow up with some ArmorAll tire foam and you'll have some clean,deep, dark wheels!!

nfld150 · #9 05-09-2005, 08:29 PM

Thanks Guys, some great tips. I'm going to try them out next detailing.