Technical Best tire dye for Coker Firestones

I’ve got some Coker bias ply Firestones on my coupe. I love them. But, they are turning a nice uniform brown color. I assume that it is surface oxidation(?). Not sure how old they are. No cracks, no problems, they drive great. The fronts are newer than the rears, but they have the brown discoloration too. What’s the best way to turn my brown tires black again? I’m hoping that they can be dyed. I’d rather not have greasy lotion all over them…. If it is a product that I need, please recommend a brand and a source.

 

Not oxidation. It's the sulphur and protective chemicals that precipitate out. It's how rubber protects itself from the environment. It's why there are no cracks!

 

They tell you not to use it on their white walls, but Wesley’s Bleach white and a good scrub brush will get the brown off.

 

A recent thread on hubcaps & brownwalls

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/olds-starfire-wheel-covers.1334637/#post-15574073

 

Westley's Bleche-Wite and a scrub brush has been getting the brown stuff off of my tires for decades. I apply it to a dry tire, scrub it up some, mist on some water, scrub it more and rinse. The rinse water comes off brown as shit. Mike

 

Here’s what I do and the old guys at the tire shop are really impressed. (1) Give them a good scrubbing with Blue Dawn in hot water. (2) Apply “Hot Shine” (which is a vastly superior competitor to Armour All). (3) Give the tires a good scrubbing with the Hot Shine and the stiff brush. (4) Wiped the gunk off the tire. (5) Apply another round of hot shine and rub it in good with your hands (I were gloves). (6) Let dry. (7) Now you can apply as many coats of the Hot Shine as you feel is needed to get the look you want (usually 2 for me).
If you spray the tires again every once in awhile you will keep that look forever.
I just “restored” a set of 35 year old bias ply’s for a friend that sat out in the weather for years. They came out fantastic and my friend is thrilled and is going to use them, he was going to trash them (I don’t need advice about using 35 year old tires. I don’t own them and I’m not using them, my friend is. It’s just a “Cars and Coffee” kind of car and will never see speeds over 35 mph for a couple miles at a time.)
I think that if you do this tire treatment you will be thrilled and even though it sounds like a lot of work you can do all 4 in less than an hour total. I have done several dozen tires this way and I use “Hot Shine” on all my vehicles (even the RV) it keeps them looking like new. The stuff is around 10 bucks and one bottle will last quite awhile. Forget about the dye, it’s a LOT of nasty work and it won’t last.
Let me know how it goes.

 

PS, you may consider it “Greasy Lotion” at first but give it a couple days and it will dry really nice. If in the end you don’t like it you can remove it with Blue Dawn and the scrub brush (but you’ll love it)

 

Dupli-Color Tire black. Lasts for years

 

Yep, that brown color is the L'Oreal Paris Triple Power Moisturizer that keeps the rubber from cracking.

I use a water base wipe/spray tire dressing, hides the brown color... I leave the brown color alone. I dont try and scrub it off

 

Photos added to original post. So just for clarification, Westly’s Bleach-White works on a non-white wall tire?

 

I’d scrub them with a bristle brush and Comet first. Probably have some of that sitting under the kitchen sink.

 

There is this stuff, https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/black-tire-paint.1339116/

 

Yes. I don't own any whitewalls and I mount white letters in (until I get a check for advertising). Westley's is a good tire cleaner, works on the white parts too, (if you have them). Mike

 

When I was little, my dad had something that was like a rubber STAIN, that the tire rubber seemed to absorb….it left no slimy film and was dry…must have had a solvent in it. He’s long gone and the knowledge with him.

 

The browning is called blooming and is caused by antiozonants, chemicals that rise to the surface of the tire rubber to protect it from degradation due to ozone and UV exposure, get some Naptha at your local Ace Hardware or Home improvement center, put it on a rag and wipe the tires down the brown will disappear. HRP

 

That sounds right!-they are more brown with every minute they are in the sun! I’ll give that a try.

 

When I was in the tire biz we had to put a plastic barrier underneath the bottom tire if they were barrel stacked, rather than racked. The new tires would leave a permanent brown ring even on epoxied floors!

 

I have a set of BF Goodrich Radial TAs on an OT muscle car. It has the white letters showing. The larger tires in the back turned brown. The slightly smaller fronts did not. I spoke to a representative and the said the same thing that the brown is from the chemicals that keep them from cracking. They said I could send them back and they would send a new set. I did not want to go through the hassle. He said if I took some 360 sandpaper and wet sanded them that they would clean up. He was right and it worked.

 

My Firestones did the same thing I could not scrub it out so I sprayed some flat black paint onto a rag and rubbed it into the tire worked good you could also use black shoe polish don't know if it will last though.

 

I have Coker bias look radials on my avatar, they pee me off going brown. It’s covered in a shed. Simple green works well you can see the ugly brown just running off . If they say it’s oxidation, I don’t buy that , as to why all the tires on our daily don’t go brown .?

 

Best thing I've found for cleaning that funky brown off tires is the same thing I use on my wheels! Maguires Wheel & Tire Cleaner. I spray it on my tires and wheels at every washing to keep my as cast wheels looking new, and my sidewalls looking new without using that gross tire shine crap. The tires after spraying get scrubbed with stiff bristle brush and I can see the solution turn brown as it cleans. It takes seconds to work, and a quick scrubbing and rinse has the tires and wheels both looking new.