How to removal tire mounting lubricating grease from tire

[Desertnate]

DesertNate- Heh heh, if the WD40 *does* work that great, I`ll be both happy (hey, a quick/easy solution!) and *not* (hey, I spent all that time/effort!). But OK...I can just be happy for *you* if it works on what`s left

I don`t know if I`ll be happy either if the answer as simple as WD40 or hot water after all the effort I`ve already expended! We always seem to overlook the easy answer....

And I`m gonna remember that those Continentals were that way, just in case the brand does somehow factor in (not that I`ve ever liked my Contis..).

For some reason the Michelins and I just don`t seem to get along The ones I had on the previous Crown Vic were fine in every respect, but the ones on the Tahoe and A8..well, not so much even besides the mounting lube mess.

The Conti DSW 06`s were great tires, just difficult to dress. Nothing seemed to work very well on the sidewalls. I`ve got Michelins on two of three cars now. Again, great tires from a performance stand point. The set on the SUV seem to take just about any dressing pretty well. The set on my car, well....we`ll just have to wait and see.

[Desertnate]

I`m supposed to get new tires by year`s end and I`ll distinctly keep this thread in mind. I wonder if my getting Pirellis may keep things easier

My experience with this goo really has little to do with the brand of tire and more with the aspect ratio of the tire. It`s hard to remove regardless of the rubber.

The tires mounted on our SUV seem to only have small patches of this lube on the wheel and maybe a small glob or two on the bead of the tire. Small amounts are easy to clean up. High performance tires with a smaller sidewall seems to be the issue. The stiffer sidewalls seem to lead shops to slather this goo all over the place to make the mounting easier and prevent any wheel damage. It seems to get all over the sidewalls and the wheels. You can tell the tire technicians have it all over them as well because I tend to end up with perfect, gooey, gloved fingerprints in places on the wheel.

[Bill D]

Yikes! This is going to give me something to worry about when I take my car in. Although I am going to go back to the same place and they did a perfect job on my other car.

[Desertnate]

Random thought and only vaguely related...

When buying a tire/wheel package from Tirerack, they show up spotlessly clean. Going to any local tire shop locally ends up being a mess. Either TireRack has employees deal with this mess before shipping a wheel/tire set or they`ve cracked the code on mounting performance tires on wheels. Maybe both...

[ShaneB]

No hose and brushes for the wd-40 if you try it. Just a dry tire and some rags you don`t care about.

[The Guz]

Maybe some stoners tarminator

[bodidly22]

sounds like a lot of `i haven`t really had this problem before` comments here...

clearly you start with the least aggressive method then up the ladder you go. Don`t over think it, they`re just bloody tyres/tires.

Mineral/White spirits on a rag... wipey wipey - job done. If you`re paranoid go over it with your IPA and wipe again. get some tyre protectant on there. And admire the results!

[GearHead_1]

I think most of these soaps/greases used for mounting tires are vegetable based. I can’t imagine some BlecheWhite or similar and a rotary brush on a buffer wouldn’t get it off.

[Stokdgs]

DesertNate ---
Why not go to the tireshop that did this and go out there and have them show you what they use to mount your tires????

In all the decades I have had tires mounted on my vehicles, I have only used Discount Tire/American Tire shops, and have never had an issue with the soapy water they used to mount a zillion sets of tires...

I would just go over there and let them show you what they used.. And show them the mess it leaves, and have them show you what they use to clean it up..
I would have to think a LOT of people have done this already..

Dan F

[Accumulator]

Yeah, I need to ask Eric what he used on the Tahoe`s Michelins...like, before he mounts any more for me (not that I`m gonna go to somebody else local, he`s nice and gentle with my wheels).

,,. Don`t over think it, they`re just bloody tyres/tires..Mineral/White spirits on a rag... wipey wipey - job done. If you`re paranoid go over it with your IPA and wipe again. get some tyre protectant on there. And admire the results!

Heh heh, I`m generally *in favor* of people "overthinking" things, if only because IMO most folks *underthink* almost everything But anyhow...

FWIW, Mineral Spirits were not effective when I tried them on the Tahoe`s Michelins. 3M Adhesive Remover was, but I don`t like using that on tires any more than necessary (which it often is when removing the *incredibly tenacious* UPC stickers ).

I don`t know if I`ll be happy either if the answer as simple as WD40 or hot water after all the effort I`ve already expended! We always seem to overlook the easy answer....

Actually, I`d be overjoyed it something easy like that (or anything else I haven`t thought of trying) would be effective on that stuff! I just never use a Water Dispersal Product for things like that. Not hating on WD-40, just don`t use if very often as I have other products that always seem more appropriate.

Hot water? Hey, my Daimer steamer didn`t do a thing to that stuff.

[Oneheadlite]

... (which it often is when removing the *incredibly tenacious* UPC stickers ).

The ones they put on the bead area? I hate those things...

[Desertnate]

Looks like a SMALL amount of WD40 on a rag cut right through the stuff like it wasn`t even there. Hot water didn`t faze it at all. The tire looked like it was gone while wet, but once the water dried, the remnants of the goo was still there.

The only down side of the WD40 is it seems to dry out the rubber and leave it a little gray looking. I`m not sure I`d use this as my first option for the large-scale clean-up, but it does work for great for removing heavy spots other products like a degreaser cannot.

DesertNate ---
Why not go to the tireshop that did this and go out there and have them show you what they use to mount your tires????

In all the decades I have had tires mounted on my vehicles, I have only used Discount Tire/American Tire shops, and have never had an issue with the soapy water they used to mount a zillion sets of tires...

I would just go over there and let them show you what they used.. And show them the mess it leaves, and have them show you what they use to clean it up..
I would have to think a LOT of people have done this already..

Dan F

At the time I didn`t even think about it. Since it seems to be so common and I`ve had it happen at every tire shop I`ve been to in the area, I just think of it as part of the experience in getting new tires. The shop I used this time is about 30+ minutes away, but I may ask the next time I`m in the area. Since it doesn`t look like any effort was made to remove the product besides a wipe down with a rag, I`m not holding up much hope they`ll have any tips. They may be able to let me know what it is though.

[ShaneB]

Wd-40 will leave something behind on the surface, follow it up with any regular tire cleaner and you should be good.

Or it`s possible some of this lubricant you`re trying to clean up has leeched into the tire and it`s not all cleaned up yet. Wd-40 works wonders but does take a couple extra rags to clean everything up sometimes

[Accumulator]

Oneheadlite- Yeah, some of them have taken a very long time to get off All-in-all, between that and the [whatever it is we`re discussing on this thread] Im spending countless hours on something that was simply *never* a problem for so many decades.