Restore that old, nasty spare tire
 

So I decided it was finally time to restore my spare tire- something that has been on my list for a year. What I assume was the factory finish was flaking off pretty bad.

I wanted something stronger than just paint that was not expensive. I used Bed Armor Aerosol by Duplicolor.

The stuff is decent- but you have to know how to apply it- which is also why I did my spare tire- something that is not seen and if I messed it up (which I did, kinda) it doesn’t really matter. Anything would have looked better then the flaky paint.

It is rubberized- even when it dries, but is still hard. Hard to explain, sorry. It is pretty durable but I don’t think it has fully cured yet. Will probably get better. Should be more then suitable on parts of the undercarriage.

Fist I power washed the tire. Here’s how that came out:
Attachment 26357

Then I gave it a light sanding with 40 or 80 grit (can’t remember, sorry, but both should be fine). Picked up the particles with my shop vac and wiped it down with Duplicolor wax and grease remover and masked the tire off. This is what it looked like:
Attachment 26358

Then I sprayed my first coat. This is where I messed up. I sprayed to close and maybe a little too slow. The trick with this product is to spray far away (for texture mainly) and to use quick flicking motions. If you spray to close you will get air bubbles and runs. I would recommend that if you use this product do a test on a piece of old newspaper to figure out the rhythm. This is what it looked like:
Attachment 26359

After about a half hour it still wasn’t drying so I wiped off what I could and re-sprayed. Put my shop vac on blower to speed up drying time because it was still wet from the first coat. Much better:
Attachment 26360

Here it is pretty dry:
Attachment 26361

Here is what the texture looks like:
Attachment 26362
Attachment 26363

Final- still drying:
Attachment 26364

Then just finish up with some tire shine on the tire. Will try to post pics of it dry and tire shine before I put it back up under the bed.

Any questions please ask. I think it turned out good for my first time. No, it’s not perfect, but it’s just my spare tire. Would have looked better if I hadn’t of messed up so much on the first coat. I love the texture of the product when its done right- I am sure brand doesn’t really matter.


Will keep you up to date about how it holds up.

Any comments or opinions welcome. Finally got pics working- I think? let me know (never posted pics before)

I think I may spray the back of the rim too. thoughts?

I might also try my center caps that are chipped. thoughts?

i think it looks pretty nice.

Be careful if that spare tire is really from the 98 model year, it's a dry-rot accident waiting to happen if ever put into use.

Thank you. Just washed it again and it held up fine. would look better if I didn't mess up the first coat. seems durable, not Line-x but better then paint IMO. Put a bit of dirt on it before I washed it and it cleaned up surprisingly easy.

Do you meant the tire itself? Its not that old- It was on one of the four main tires (when I bought the truck 7 years ago) but wore a bit uneven due to alignment. when I bought new tires I had the shop replace the really really old tire with this tire (6years ago). Shouldn't be too bad I think. Last time I had to used it to limp home (2 years ago) and it was fine. Going to replace it when funds allow. Thanks for the concern though.

any other comments or questions welcome.

SIDE NOTE: was experimenting and this stuff is terrible on wood- it just absorbed it and looked like plain paint. Used an untreated piece of plywood.
Maybe it was the can- was pretty empty???

And here I thought I was the only one OCD enough to paint their spare ... :devil::devil:

I painted mine back to stock ... silver on the front, black on the back. Picked up a new tire (the spare off a friends 3/4 ton Chevy ... please don't tell anyone :devil: ) while I was at it.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/me...6895-spare.jpg

That looks awesome- like brand new :)

I have yet to shine mine up and put it back under the bed. maybe some point over this weekend.....

I did mine as well. Front and back of the spare with POR 15. Yeah, I know, I should have cleaned the tire too haha.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/me...66-photo-2.jpg

I did the same thing on mine. Got all new tires put on and still had orig spare on truck from when I bought it new. Realized the safety issue with that and needed it replaced. Got a new reasonable tire for that and after I brought it home decided to paint it as rim looked a little rough. Sanded it down, primed and then painted it all silver this time. Wife thought I was crazy because as she stated " Nobody ever sees it" ..LOL
Attachment 22531

Oh you mean your spare WHEEL...haha I saw you talking about painting your tire and thought it was a joke. Turns out you were referring to the wheel...sorry figured I would put the correct words in here in case someone needs help painting their rim or rims. wheels

That bedliner likes tire shine too!