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Bought a new set of BF Goodrich 255 60R 15 white raised letter tires and a few letters(about 10) I cannot get totally white. Even after scrubbing,using mineral spirits,tire bright,etc. No good. Even tried one of those white paint sticks..no good also, Anybody have a trick to get these letters white?
Thanks for any help.
Steve
An old "tried & true" product from the 70's is Blech White Tire Cleaner in a spray bottle.
Google says its on the Walmart shelf for $16. It works quite well.
Wear rubber gloves if you enjoy having skin.
I have had the best results with cleaning tires / wheels by removing them from the vehicle, then lay them on their back side.
Instead of the cleansers running off the sidewalls, it soaks in. More work, but better results.
There's been a lot of discussion about this problem. I have the same tires and they look like crap. I'm about ready to have them turned around and put the "brown" letters on the inside.
Here's one thread. https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ter-tires.html
I have had several vehicles with the BFG white letter tires throughout the years. Currently on my 72 Corvette and also my Ford Truck. I like LA's Totally Awesome All Purpose Concentrated Cleaner. I spray it on the dry tire (undiluted) and let it sit a few minutes, Scrub with a brush. Then do the same thing one more time. Then rinse off and wash thoroughly with soap and water. I only have to do this about twice a year. Try to keep it off your paint though. Rinse and wash with soap if it gets on the car body. You can buy this off amazon but it can be a little expensive. Dollar General in our town carries it and it is much cheaper. Good Luck.
Good luck. A lot of forum members had to go through the warranty to return them including myself. Absolutely terrible customer service. Mine turned brown sitting in the garage from one week to another.
I think your choice is live with them or if still under warranty try to return them. I put red line tires on mine. Again Good luck Ike
Last edited by general ike; Oct 22, 2021 at 09:51 AM.
There is lots of good discussion regarding the white letters turning brown over time, and the impossible task of returning them to white.
I am on my second set of T/A's . Letters on the first set turned brown, and I had them replaced under warranty. Letters on the second set are now brown and will not clean up, no matter what cleaner/solvent/magic elixir/scrub brush/sand paper/steel wool etc I use. Please see my post #35 and #62 in the thread above. The brown "Bloom" which migrated into the white letters is also present on my black sidewall. UGHHHH!!
As soon as the budget permits I will be dumping these T/A's for some Cokers or some Kelsey Tire Goodyear GT Radials.
Good luck
Last edited by '73and'75; Oct 22, 2021 at 10:46 AM.
Bleech-Wite and other such cleaners need to be sprayed on a DRY tire and left to soak for 2-3 minutes (as fieldsjkk mentioned). Then use a scrub brush (again with no water) to scrub the letters (and the sidewalls). Then shoot another dose of cleaner on the same tire, scrub, then rinse off with water.
If that doesn't get them white, the only other option is to use a clean cloth with lacquer thinner on them. If you do that and they are still not white, the white on the tire must be contaminated and will NEVER get white.
I suspect that the BFG T/A tires with the 'contamination' issue were sold for cheap to whoever wanted them. I'm sure there are LOTS of chintzy shops who would buy them up in hopes of selling them at lower price to some unsuspecting customers. Check the date codes on the tires and do some research on the web to see if yours are in that 'suspect' tire population. If so, go have a talk with whoever sold them to you...they likely knew the tires had that problem but didn't reveal that to you.
One last option for those that intend to keep those 'brown letter' tires-- you might consider buying some white vinyl dye (rather than the paint stick) and recoloring the surface permanently. Clean the letter surface with lacquer thinner, first; then brush on or mask and spray as needed. Not the best solution....but better than having dirty-looking letters on a clean car.
Last edited by 7T1vette; Oct 22, 2021 at 10:57 AM.
Seriously though. Try this stuff. $7 at the Home Depot. Use undiluted. I was very skeptical when I first tried it but a classic car restorer suggested it. Years ago when I bought my 82 vette I had 4 new BFG's installed. Letters were constantly brown. After using this stuff every few month they always stayed white. I have BFG Mud Terrain on my 4x4 truck and my son has BFG All-Terrain on his Jeep. Both black wall tires but they always looked brown, Tire blooming. After using this on both vehicles they have stayed black for over a year now. If you spray this stuff on heavily you can see the brown wash off. Maybe it will help in your situation.
I had the white letters turned out on my '80 on Tuesday and they still had the blue caked on them. The tires are 4 years old, but only had 300 miles on them. I was able to scrub some of the blue off but most of it was very stubbornly stuck on. I used some of my McKee's37 Cargo Liner and Floor Mat Rejuvenator/Cleaner spray on a cloth to wipe off the letters and it took the blue/brown right off. This stuff works great on rubber floor mats so I thought I'd try it on the white letters. Be warned, this stuff will burn like hell if you don't wear gloves, but it does a good job with minimal effort.
Just one last comment from me. After using cleaners such as "LA's Finest" or bleach white I NEVER use Armor All or any other tire shine/foam shine on the tires. I just leave them as is. Not sure if these shiny-shiny silicone coatings trap the anti-oxidants and make the tire still turn brown. Just my experience though. If you use tire shine, or armor all it turns them brown/yellow fast.
Tire sidewalls turn brown mainly because of an element added to the rubber called antiozonant. It saves tires from premature drying and cracking due to the process of oxidation. Tire browning is usually called blooming. It's a continuing process that can be prevented by thoroughly cleaning the tires.
This subject has been beat to death over the last several years.
Here is the last and final truth:
BFG has a known and admitted PROBLEM with white letters and bleed through in recent years. So guys who have earlier tires that swear products like Blechewhite cures the problem are correct, IF they have the earlier tires. If you have the LATER tires, white wall cleaners WILL NOT clean them. You can buy and scrub til the cows come home but they will never return to white. The only fix is to return them to BFG for warranty replacement, which I have done 3 times without a problem or cost to me.
Apples and oranges.
I have had several vehicles with the BFG white letter tires throughout the years. Currently on my 72 Corvette and also my Ford Truck. I like LA's Totally Awesome All Purpose Concentrated Cleaner. I spray it on the dry tire (undiluted) and let it sit a few minutes, Scrub with a brush. Then do the same thing one more time. Then rinse off and wash thoroughly with soap and water. I only have to do this about twice a year. Try to keep it off your paint though. Rinse and wash with soap if it gets on the car body. You can buy this off amazon but it can be a little expensive. Dollar General in our town carries it and it is much cheaper. Good Luck.
That's a nice blue - what's it called? Nice deep, rich shine - is that a clearcoat?
Getting white raised letters white
