parula

Engin, I've been wondering about the same thing for the product I use now, Turtle Wax "Wet and Black", as after I use it I notice when I wipe the tire a lot of BLACK stuff comes off.

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

Don't know what that would be - it's not likely to be oil, since oil causes a slow deterioration when in continuous contact with rubber. It may just be a thin layer of road grime that is being cleaned off. I get a similar thing when I use silicone.

parula

I noticed the apparent soft rubber surface after applying each of the tire dressings I used over the years.

My LEXUS manual says on page 58, .. "DON'T APPLY SIDEWALL DRESSINGS/CLEANERS ......Instruct service personnel never to apply any other materials to enhance sidewall appearance. These may degrade the rubber and remove inherent ozone resistance." I think I got the quote right, check it for yourselves too in your own manuals.

Some of the Lexus dealers I have used apply these dressings, so I don't know what to think at this point, which dressings are OK?

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

Ozone also degrades rubber, by the way.

parula

My stuff washed off recently and I notice that scraping a fingernail on the now dry rubber doesn't get much rubber if any now, when they were wet with the Turtle Wax spray-on I could get what seemed like a good bit of rubber off with a rag or fingernail. I hope these coating manufacturers have looked into this issue, I am concerned about damaging my tires but can't find much about it.

some more information here from a quick search :
http://www.autopia-carcare.com/tiwhcl.html

http://www.autoint.com/ford_leather.htm which has, "The use of a waterborne polymer siloxane or amino functional dressing is the only way possible to protect components of the tire was well as get "the wet tire look". Once this type of dressing is dry, it will repel water be resistant to detergents and don't attract dust."
I am going to try to find this stuff, sounds good!

Goodyear mentions not using alcohol or petroleum-based cleaners at : http://www.goodyear.com/rv/tirecare/age.html

parula

Got and applied Meguiar's Endurance - High Gloss today.
I also bought some convex tire applicators that worked great, done in 10 minutes. Awesome look so far, we'll see how long it lasts. No spin off from a rather light application and driving <35mph.

Looks great but the smell is better!

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

Grape is good.

parula

more like black cherry to me, might have to reapply to recapture the fragrance.

the whole garage smells of it

Deanski

Try 303 on your tires! Nice matte shine to it.

Regards,
Deanski

parula

I'm not sure about these tire treatments, especially in view of my Lexus manual recommendation not to use them. I wiped the tire tonight over an area about 5-7 sq. in. and the wipe was really black and it's only been on a couple days, I wonder if this is really ok for tires?

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

It's generally not as bad as you think. The dressings are OK, even if they're removing a bit of the rubber, and that's questionable anyway. Usually the tires will wear out before any of this becomes a factor, unless you're using motor oil (arrrrggghh!). I've been using various tire dressings for many years, never had a problem with any tires. Keeping them clean and potentially UV protected is a good thing (I question how well some of these UV protectants work....)

parula

EE, I hope you're right, it takes me 6 years or so to wear out a tire at ~10k a year so I am concerned the dressing technology is appropriate for the application.

tks!

parula

Had some minor spin off apparently with the Meguirs gel, need to wipe it all off, it seems like it might permanently stain paint,

Looks good on the tires even after wiping down more, might have to wipe it more.

Threxx

303 is the only way to go for any type of vinyl/rubber dressing including tires. It may not be the shiniest or the longest-lasting. But at least it protects your tires rather than feeding them the silicone that most other cheap dressings do (which will cause your tires to crack/fade/turn brown over time and will sling up on your paint.

The only other tire dressing I've found that I like is Meguirs Endurance (NOT the high gloss kind), it doesn't contain any silicones either and it actually lasts quite a while.

Again, if you want ultra-shiny tires but you don't want to use anything bad for them, you're out of luck. But if you just want them to look nice and black like brand new and not like a glazed donut, and you want them (and all the other vinyl and rubber on your car) to be protected, 303 Aerospace Protectant is where it's at.

parula

Threxx. 303 sounds good, have to try it and use less Meg. Endurance at least by just a very light wipe on of the high gloss I got thinking it will last and I will only need little, just left too much on and these ribs on the Integity grab the stuff.