Brown Tires!!

[LQ9SS]

What can I use that I can find locally to rid my tires of the brown nastyness? Tomorrow I am removing my summer rims and tires and would like to clean them up nicely before I store them for winter.



Thanks!!!

 

[wannafbody]

Simple Green or car wash soap. Also stick with a water based tire dressing.

 

[gdal]

bleche white or A2Z tire cleaner work great for brown tires.

 

[Bunky]

Optimum Power Clean (often at 3:1) seems to work great for me. It works better than Meg's APC at similar dilutions.

 

[topnotchtouch]

Look up "tire blooming". Brown doesn't always mean your tires are just dirty. The UV and Ozone protectants in tires is designed to migrate to the surface and on can leave your tires looking brown. The problem is a strong detergent will just make the problem worse after a few heat cycle as the chemicals will migrate to the surface again if you stip them away. A mild cleaner will remove it from the surface without causing a lot more to migrate to the surface. Some tire seem to show this behavior more than others.



Here is one of the better explanations I have seen for blooming



Learn how to clean your tires and wheels.

Protection: There are two main degrading agents that attack tires and rubber trim. They are UV light waves and ozone. Both of these attack the long hydrocarbon chains of the rubber and, by breaking these bonds, shorten the molecules with resulting loss of elasticity and other problems. Tire manufacturers add two primary sacrificial protectants to the rubber. To protect against UV, they add carbon black. This is why tires dont come in designer colors to match your paint. The carbon black will turn white/gray as it absorbs the UV and dissipates the energy as heat. This is the basis of rubber parts turning gray as they age. To protect against ozone, tire manufacturers add a wax based, sacrificial protectant. The ozone attacks the wax and depletes it. As the tire rolls, additional wax is forced to the surface of the tire. This is referred to as blooming. This blooming refreshes the surface wax protectant. A tire that has not been flexed will have the wax depleted by the ozone and thus begin to degrade and suffer dry rot. The raw silicone oil that is the main ingredient in most of the nationally advertised, auto parts store, high gloss products may actually dissolve the wax and be the cause of premature tire sidewall cracking/failure. The quality tire/rubber dressings should contain a strong UV protectant to bolster the efforts of the carbon black and not contain any raw silicone oil. Many of the nationally advertised rubber and vinyl products also contain formaldehyde. If you plan on having a funeral for your vinyl/rubber, then you may wish to use one of these products.

 

[Dan]

bleche white or A2Z tire cleaner work great for brown tires.

I like both on tires, but I think BW has issues with some rims.

 

[proudpoppa]

I have noticed on brand new chevy work trucks as soon as you spray the tires with apc they turn brown. made the guys start using regular car wash soap on em instead, +1 on the water based dressings.

 

[gdal]

I like both on tires, but I think BW has issues with some rims.

BW only touches my tires. I have experienced hazing on some clearcoated rims (long time ago though).

 

[imported_gusbubba]

Thanks for taking the time to post that, rjstaaf. Very interesting and informative.

 

[skip87]

say no to foam

 

[gav'spurplez]

say no to foam

this makes me duck behind the counter and peak out :nervous2:



i'm looking into hyper dressing come spring time.... is there an OTC tire dressing that is water based ?

 

[MisterShark]

Here's another informative article on tire blooming and how to protect your tires after you strip away that protective (though unattractive) layer.