Has anyone ever done this or even know anything about this? I think I might try it... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkcm3rh60p0 What do you think? Garrett
A lot of guys use a DA instead of an angle grinder, its not as likely to gouge the tire. A couple of years ago there were a lot of posts on the subject and I'm sure a tech post or two. Ya might look in the tech section or do a search. But I guess its doable.
Looks fairly easy. I'd say you wan't to start with two tires from the same manufacturer, so the band of white rubber is th same width.
That YouTube video is actually from here - http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124144&highlight=White+walls I hate to be the one to say it, but here's another new guy not fully utilizing the search feature that Ryan has busted his ass so much to keep up and running. Bugman made this into a GREAT tech-week feature from not too long ago that is now in the Tech Archives. This was the first one of two that came up in a search of 'white walls' in the 'search this forum' feature in the Tech Archive. Incidentally, with that grinding disc with the holes in it, it's gotta be a whole lot easier, pun intended! Vance
Sorry Ryan for the repost and hassle and all other HAMBers. I found it over you tube and thought id put it on here because it was a cool video/tech. But next time I will make sure to fully search whatever I post. Also im sure that your 5 "What did you get done this weekend' thread?"'s helped Ryan... Anyways, Thanks for the Bash, Garrett
Well, at least I admitted to looking for the thread and then admitted to not looking deep enough. Besides, the excitement of my accomplishment was obviously clouding my judgment. I think the others kinda picked up on that. Regarding the white walls... I had a set of tires that i had planned on doing that to but ended up trading off with the wheels they were on for a set of new Vintique Wheels. In the back of my mind, I still wish I'd at least tried that on one to see how it worked on at least one of those tires just so I knew. That's gonna bug me until I get the chance to either see someone else do it or try it myself. Vance Vance
I wasn't trying to get him down. The search is there for a reason and that is to help people find things to help save time and frustration. Problem is people forget that it's there or get lazy and don't use it. I'm guilty of that myself as he pointed out. Squirrel is usually the one correcting me, so I just PM him directly now. Saves us both time. Vance
Hey...I resemble that video... The set that I made in the video have around 5,000 miles on them so far, including Back to the 50's and the Hunnert Car Pileup. This is my third set, the last two sets I just plain wore out, and I haven't had any sidewall related issues. The ony real issue is getting the edge smooth, but that comes with practice. I don't care that much because for the $10 the tires cost me I'm not gonna complain, my car is a true driver, not a show car(drove it all last winter even, salt be damned ), you cant see it when you're moving, and replacing them every 2 years gets very expensive with "real" whitewalls.
i just made one this weekend. gonna take some practice to get it to look right. i used an angle grinder, but i cant find the disks with holes in it. mine came out all gouged. like i said though....i gotta practice more.
I did the 4 on my T & it was more work then i thought, but it was worth it. Also i'd like to point out that "1bad41" did ask if anyone did it or anything like that, he was showing us a cool website with a video, good for him.Hes trying to help us all out, so he goofed up, we'll give him a mulligan on this one!!lololol. JimV
Hold the grinder as flat as possible without hitting the hub on the tire, and try lighter cuts. You want to try to keep the edge of teh grinding disc out of the tire because it will dig in fast. I have also taken to dulling a fresh disc on concerete before I hit the rubber too. the duller disc cuts slower and more controlably. My first practice tires were all gouged to heck too
Look around for those holey disks and for God's sake post some pix of how things turn out for you. Bugman said Rotozip might be making those disks. I'm gonno check at a local place called the Dayton Tool Crib. It's an industrial tool supplier, kinda like like Grainger but only tools and tool accessories. Vance
just wondering if using the da from the start might be more forgiving. Maybe use a course grit to start with and then a finer one to finish up. Any thoughts on that?
I had a set cut locally on a pro machine. They came out pretty good, but the hidden WW on one of the tires was not as wide as the other three. Anybody have a preference on the brand or model of tire to use?
its been a while since i watched the vid. but it think he goes over it with the da and a higher grit paper to smooth everything out
Sorry it's taken so long to answer, life's been very hectic latley. You can use a DA from the start, and it is much more forgiving, but even with course paper, it's sloooowwww. I'm down to 30 minutes or so a tire, I'd imagine using just the DA would take conciderably longer. If you've got the time and patience, go for it. As far as tire brand, I've not been able to find much consiatancy. Even with same branded tires it varys. Some RWL tires have very narrow stripes that aren't even close to concentric. My previous set were Cooper Lifeliners. Same size, same outward appearance narrow WWs. But when ground out, one tire had a 1/4" wider WW than the other. You don't notice it unless you look real close and study both sides of the car, but there was a difference. This is another reason I don't grind new tires. It's always a gamble as to what you'll end up with. Of the ones I've done, the Coopers and Goodyears have been the most consistant, but i can't say that all Coopers and Goodyears will make nice whites.