Removing White Lettering from Tires

[Algaeguy]

Hi Everyone,

Is there a product or procedure that someone can recommend to remove the white color from raised letters on tires? I`d like to use something that won`t damage the tire if such a product exists.

Thanks for the help,
Scott

[tubafeak]

You could always scrape them off with a razor blade, that might work. Usually RWLs are white rubber that is vulcanized into a crater that is "cast" into the tire. You`d have to dig it out to get it all out. It would be easier to just dye the letters and not buy the RWLs next time.

[TrueDetailer]

The easiest thing to do is to flip the tires around. Bring it to the local garage, Shouldn`t cost too much.

[jaybs02]

I agree with truedetailer, just have the tires flipped

"J"

[tubafeak]

Oh sure, play it safe.

[Brenton]

That was a good response Tubafreak. The other guys just cut themselves on Ockam`s Razor.
What`s wrong with the RWL Algae, green stains?
Ha. Ha. ...........
Sorry, I`m the guy who thinks he`s funny but isn`t. Welcom.

[C. Charles Hahn]

Agreed with the tire flippers.... just have the black side swapped to the "out" side.

[Squirtgun]

Sorry to say there is no way to completely remove the lettering(flipping them is your best bet).
When a side wall is put in a tire either for raised letter or white walls it is put on in a pack(that contains both black and white rubber)that goes around the entire circumfernce of the tire and is only seperated from the body ply`s body by a very thin membrane. Once the tire is cured all of the rubber melts together and the thin membrane bonds to the body ply`s.If you try to grind off/slice off the white you will end up ruining a tire.You can grind down the raised letters on the black wall side but,it will leave a dull area where you removed them.
I was a 1st stage passenger tire assembly specialist for 8 years. I built 400-500 of those suckers a days.

[joe.p]

Sorry to say there is no way to completely remove the lettering(flipping them is your best bet).
When a side wall is put in a tire either for raised letter or white walls it is put on in a pack(that contains both black and white rubber)that goes around the entire circumfernce of the tire and is only seperated from the body ply`s body by a very thin membrane. Once the tire is cured all of the rubber melts together and the thin membrane bonds to the body ply`s.If you try to grind off/slice off the white you will end up ruining a tire.You can grind down the raised letters on the black wall side but,it will leave a dull area where you removed them.
I was a 1st stage passenger tire assembly specialist for 8 years. I built 400-500 of those suckers a days.

I would reverse the tires also theres a risk of damaging the tires and the replacemant would cost more then paying to have them rotated. if you opt to rotate imo you should have them balanced.
Some free proffesional/squirtgun advice, what more can you ask for. This is why i like this site the members have a wealth of knowledge from different backrounds and always willing to help.

P.S. you can reverse yourself,no need for rotation.but not a bad idea.

[NEW AGAIN]

That question should make a list somewhere

[Don]

Sorry to say there is no way to completely remove the lettering(flipping them is your best bet).
When a side wall is put in a tire either for raised letter or white walls it is put on in a pack(that contains both black and white rubber)that goes around the entire circumfernce of the tire and is only seperated from the body ply`s body by a very thin membrane. Once the tire is cured all of the rubber melts together and the thin membrane bonds to the body ply`s.If you try to grind off/slice off the white you will end up ruining a tire.You can grind down the raised letters on the black wall side but,it will leave a dull area where you removed them.
I was a 1st stage passenger tire assembly specialist for 8 years. I built 400-500 of those suckers a days.

As a side note to this, my brother wanted raised whites on his old car, but the tires came as black letter. The shop took a grinding wheel and lightly ground the black letters, voila, raised whites. PS, have you ever seen tires that were really worn on the sidewalls with the white rubber showing through where there wasn`t supposed to be a whitewall?

I would reverse the tires also theres a risk of damaging the tires and the replacemant would cost more then paying to have them rotated. if you opt to rotate imo you should have them balanced.
Some free proffesional/squirtgun advice, what more can you ask for. This is why i like this site the members have a wealth of knowledge from different backrounds and always willing to help.

P.S. you can reverse yourself, no need for rotation.but not a bad idea.

After you have the tires reversed on the rims, place the left side tires on the right side of the car & vice-versa.

If you simply put the left sides on the right, or have the tires `flipped` without rotating them, the rotation of the tires will now be backward compared to how they were "broken in" (some say this is a myth, but why risk it if you don`t have to? ). Besides, you already have the tires off the car, why not rotate them anyway?

[joe.p]

As a side note to this, my brother wanted raised whites on his old car, but the tires came as black letter. The shop took a grinding wheel and lightly ground the black letters, voila, raised whites. PS, have you ever seen tires that were really worn on the sidewalls with the white rubber showing through where there wasn`t supposed to be a whitewall?





After you have the tires reversed on the rims, place the left side tires on the right side of the car & vice-versa.

If you simply put the left sides on the right, or have the tires `flipped` without rotating them, the rotation of the tires will now be backward compared to how they were "broken in" (some say this is a myth, but why risk it if you don`t have to? ). Besides, you already have the tires off the car, why not rotate them anyway?

imo when and if you rotate the tires have them balanced.sears rotated my tires and the would vibrate between 55-60 mph it only stopped when i went back to sears because of vibration and had them balance the tires, i have not had any problems since.

[Squirtgun]

Don,
When freshly cooked tires come out of the press there is a black film over the lettering/whitewall that is usually buffed off before they leave the plant.In teh lant I worked in the lettering.whitewall were buffed then a robot sprayed the blue protective coating over them.
I have never seen tires made with double white walls,although I have built plenty of double black walls.On a typical white wall tire the black wall is all black rubber and the white wall side is blackrubber with a white pack extruded into the area they desire to be white once the tire is cured. The width of the white pack is determined by the height of the lettering or desire white wall. I have personall build white wall tire with up to 3" exposed after curing.
I know a lot of people that think raw rubber is poured into a mold and heated to make tire.There is a great deal more involved.Also tires are cure/cooked with steam not just high temps like that of a blast furnace.
Tire build is a multi step process
1st stage builders apply the beads,liner,body ply`s,sidewalls.
2nd stage builder apply the belt package and tread package
Curing load and unload tire in the presses
Finishing buffs side walls
Tires are inspected for defects and if they pass they are shipped to your local tire store for sale.
Companies vary some have fully automated machine.some still build by hand with aid of a machine.Hand building is how we did it but, the processes are similar and acheive the same end result.

[Don]

I have never seen tires made with double white walls,although I have built plenty of double black walls. On a typical white wall tire the black wall is all black rubber and the white wall side is blackrubber with a white pack extruded into the area they desire to be white once the tire is cured. The width of the white pack is determined by the height of the lettering or desire white wall. I have personall build white wall tire with up to 3" exposed after curing.

The tires my brother got appeared to be double black. The one side was like a serrated black letter, and the other looked like raised white letters, but they were black. They ground off about 1/32" of black rubber and exposed white underneath.

[Squirtgun]

Don,
It sounds like he actually got white letter tires that were not buffed before the left the manufacturer.It does happen,in the plant I worked in 25,000 tires were built every 24 hours. Things happen and inspectors miss things,I have seen an inspection line go down and tires pile up on the conyers,then they play catch up on other lines to relieve the over flow.
The pace that is demanded of tire plant employees is insane.In our plant we worked 2on,2off,3on/12 hour shifts.It`s only 14 days a month,but in that time frame a builder may build upwards of 7000+ tires.The plant I worked in tried to maintain a goal of .10% defects from it`s builders per pay period(2 wekks).