PastorZ

Just got some really sweet tires, but they didnt have them with raised white letters. Thats what I asked for, but when I got back to the tire dealership they were black and informed me they couldnt find any in my size. One of the asst managers suggested using a white rubber compound marker to whiten them in. I tried it but didnt like the results. Any suggestions as to what to use?

Thanks,
Pastor Z

"Pray Hard & Drive Fast"

lww

Almost nobody makes raised white letter tires anymore.

Your best bet is to join the 1990's and go with black walls...

Seriously, there's almost no way to make them white that will last longer than the first carwash or rain.

Any particular reason you want the raised white letters? I think they went out of style a couple months ago...

icice9

i think "big O" still sells raised white lettered tires.. but then again i not a fan of that tire brand....

lww

Wait... Did I just hear the voice of the mystical Ice? It's been rumored you had moved to a higher plane of existance... Full time jobs suck don't they?!

icice9

lol ive always had full time job but this new ones been taking up a lot of my time... oh well more work = a lil more money... sorry i couldnt make it to the Z meet this past weekend i had prior engagements that day.. but let me know when another one comes up...

PastorZ

I just got a set of Firestone Firehawk Indy 500's and a good number of them come in raised white lettering, just not in the size of tire I have.

Reasoning behind it, going for the old school look in the exterior restoration of my 82 ZXT Coupe. Back in the late 70's early 80's if you had a muscle or show car, you had raised white lettering. Guess I'm trying to recapture my long departed youth or something...lol

Thanks,

Pastor Z

"Pray hard & Drive Fast"

Dorifto

I liked the Firehawks that were on my Zed when I got her - they break away real smoothly, and wear forever before they explode [yup, you guessed it, hardcore drift action here]. What size are your tires? I ask because the tires I had were 195-70/14, and they had white lettering.

I've recently installed 215-60/14 RoadHugger Radial GTs with raised white lettering, and couldn't be more happy with them. The added sidewall bulge from the extra width really adds the musclecar look. If I remember correctly, Cooper's Cobra GT line of tires has raised, white letters as well.

I'm not sure what one would use to paint the letters, but I would assume it's a heavy-duty paint of some type. I would say a spray paint of sorts, but that would be a pain taping around your letters. Perhaps an enamel model paint, like Testors? I would imagine that would work quite well, and it should hold up to the elements for a bit longer than the ol' shoe polish trick. This sounds a bit weird, but what about outdoor latex paint? Should be durable enough, and it's a rubber of some sort as is.

Just some thoughts, hope they help.

-Dave-O

Bleach

Since he has a stock Turbo car he should have 15" wheels. 205/60/15 is the factory tire size.

RodMoyes

What ever tire store you were dealing with just flat out sucked. Being the Owner/Operator of a Big O Tire store for a long, long time, I think I might have some insight here. (By the way... what was up with that ICE? ). I wouldn't reccomend the Big O brand in your case, but you should have a ton of choices available. They just didn't want to get them for you. BF Goodrich Radial T/A, Dunlop Qualifier GT, Remington XT-120, Road Hugger, FireHawk, Cooper Cobra, Goodyear Eagle GTII are all available white letters just off the top of my head. I don'ty know what size you are running for sure, but it always pays to research a little before you buy. If they told you at the time of purchase that your new tires had white letters, and then installed black letter tires without informing you first... TAKE THEM TO TASK. I don't care if you've already put 150 miles on them, Get a hold of the owner or manager, tell them you were "Switched out" without your consent, and tell them to credit you your original purchase toward the tires you wanted in the first place. If you push hard enough, THEY WILL DO IT. Trust me, I know this. Good luck.

Rod.

icice9

oops.. my bad... sorry bout that Rod.. back in the days.. (late 80's) i use to roll on big O's and they wore out pretty quick.. but that was way back then.. im sure they make a better tire now...

RodMoyes

I don't run Big O's on my own cars... mainly because they don't have one that suits my needs. Any tire that carries the Big O brand name is made by one of three companies. Michelin, Goodyear, and Cooper all contract to build Big O brand Tires. Back in the old day's General was the main builder and they were pretty sorry indeed. Big O also now has exclusive contracts with Falken. The ZE-502 which was a staple in the Falken line-up is now available only through Big O. Also, in the near future... They will be building product under the Big O brand name as well. A Big O tire is like a GEO was back a few years ago. GEO Tracker=Suzuki Sidekick, GEO Prizm=Toyota Corolla, GEO Storm=Isuzu Impulse and so on. A lot of the products are actually really good. Some... not so good. It's all about what works for you. I run Falken GRB FK-451's on my Z. They are AWESOME. Better traction than YOKO ES-100's any day of the week. Tires are a very subjective thing. What works great for one guy may be horrible for the next guy. It Depends a lot on what, how, and where you drive. Truth is, It's hard to buy a bad tire these day's. Technology has made the newer generation of tires excellent across the board compared to just a few years ago. My only advice is to stick with brands you know, but don't just buy it because it say's Michelin, or Goodyear on it. Do your homework. Tires aren't chep. They are your car's ambassador to the road... and as such, they are the most important feature on your car.

Rod.

PastorZ

Thanks for the suggestions guys! Esp Rod and Dave-O. My problem is that I bought them at a Firestone Dealership, so they dont have a real large selection to choose from. They have offered to trade them in, but they dont really have any other high performance tires that I'd care to put on my Z. I could get my money back, but they have really given me a sweet deal on the tires since. So I guess I'll call around to some paint stores or body and paint shops and see what I can come with. If I find something that works, I'll post it.

"Pray Hard & Drive Fast"

Pastor Z

RodMoyes

No problem PastorZ. I still think they're giving you the run around though. Even a Company owned Firestone store will sell you pretty much any tire you want, except for a Goodyear. It's a cut throat market, and all the dealers sell as many different brands as they can. Those guys just don't want to order you something. If they're in a large metro area like OKC, there are warehouses nearby that they can order from and have product pretty quick. Still, if you're ok with it... that's all that matters. As far as painting them goes, I think that's gonna be an uphill battle. The tire has too much oil in it for paint to stick well 1st of all, and 2nd... evrytime the tire rolls... the sidewall flexation will knock off what ever you try and put on it. A tire that has white walls or white letters is made with a white layer of rubber underneath the last black outer facade layer. They grind off the black layer in areas to reveal the white underneath and Voila! You have white letters. This is why you sometimes see tires that have white streaks all around them from people kissing curbs and rubbing off more of the black layer.



Rod.