Yellowed raised white letter tires

[Don W.]

I there any product or method to correct dark yellowing on my BF Goodrich tires? thank you...Don

[Dan A.]

Re: Yellowed raised white letter tires

I've had good luck with Wesleys "Bleche Wite" as well as lacquer thinner. SOS pads will also sometimes work.

[Don W.]

Re: Yellowed raised white letter tires

I looked for Wesleys bleche wite on amazon and all the reviews said it is now made by "black magic" and the current product does not work at all and is just being sold based on the original manufacturer's product reputation.

[Dan A.]

Re: Yellowed raised white letter tires

I saw that too but I can't really tell any difference.

[Gene M.]

Re: Yellowed raised white letter tires

Add bleach or swimming pool chlorine to the Wesleys and it works better. Best have some water near by to rinse it down.

But yes you guys are right it does not work as well as it used to.

[Paul D.]

Re: Yellowed raised white letter tires

Don, if they can be saved, sand paper on a stiff sanding block (220/320) will do it. Try to stay flat to the raised letters and DO NOT sand on the black sidewall. I use "Krud Kutter" and a brass BBQ brush to keep white walls and white letters bright. I have found "Krud Kutter" works as well as the other cleaners and degreasers, yet doesn't turn black plastic trim dull or grey like "Purple Power" and "Simple Green" tends to. I like to spray it in my wheel wells when washing and I keep my vehicles a long time. My 2006 Trailblazer SS still looks new in the wheel wells. Chip.

[Rick T.]

Re: Yellowed raised white letter tires

Don, I think I am having the same trouble as you but I have a question first. Is it the entire letter or just the tops of the letters? I ask this because I was told that if new tires are stacked on top of each other, the black wall sitting on the white wall, for a long time it can cause staining. The tops of the letters would suffer the most due the the weight being the highest in the middle of the sidewall. I have always kept all my white letters pristine, but these BFG's are impossible to clean and it's mostly the tops of the letters that have the yellow/brown staining. I have tried Wesleys Bleach White, SOS pads, Purple Power, mineral oil and steel wool, soft scrub, bleach mixed with simple green, purple power mixed with simple green, and good old comet. I have scrubbed them hundreds of times and although they look ok for a while, the stains come back. I actually have an open claim with BFG and they were very helpful. I called them up and told them what was happening. I said I purchased my tires in 2012 so they are 4 years. They said to take them to the nearest tire shop that sells BFG and have them inspect the tires then have the manager call BFG and reference the claim number. This car is rarely driven so the tire tread measured basically brand new and all the tires still had the rubber whiskers on the side walls. I couldn't believe the look on the managers face when BFG told her to give me 4 brand new tires at no charge!!!! (I would have to pay for mounting and balancing though.) So, I was super happy. But when the new tires showed up, they were stained even worse than the ones I owned. The tire shop pulled out all of their cleaning supplies but no luck. They could not get the yellowish brown color off. So I had them order 4 different ones and they were no better. The manager said she had never seen tires show up with stains like the ones on these 8 tires, 12 if you include my four year old ones. As of right now I still have an open claim and I am just waiting for a new pressing of tires to come from the factory. The problem is that the tire size is not very common so there isn't a big demand for them. I would recommend calling BFG anyways and see what they say. If your tires are in as good of shape as mine, maybe you could score some new ones too. Then you could check out what a new set looks like at your local shop. If they have clean ones let me know, maybe I will order some from them too, ha.
Sorry for what you are going through. I feel your pain.
Rick

[Patrick C.]

Re: Yellowed raised white letter tires

I saw a referance to this problem on the Diamondback tire website. They suggest that they have a way to solve the problem but you have to call them.

[Gary S.]

Re: Yellowed raised white letter tires

I use "Bar Keepers Friend" brand of scouring powder on a soft sponge and I have had great results keeping my white letters white. It isn't aggressive and it has become my favorite brand of scouring powder in the kitchen too.

[William F.]

Re: Yellowed raised white letter tires

I can. New bleach white doesn't get the job done.

[Don W.]

Re: Yellowed raised white letter tires

Thank you all for your responses. I have ordered a basic tire cleaning product from autogeek and will try it along with steel wool or sandpaper once it arrives. I have not seen the old white lettering stick crayon that was available in the old days to touch up the color. Also, thank you Rick T for your detailed post above with BFG manufacturing, production and warranty issue...Don

[Don W.]

Re: Yellowed raised white letter tires

I took my car with the yellowed raised white letter tires to the original tire dealer/installer. They used soap and water, a wire brush and some rubber solvent with a scrub pad to clean the lettering. They report that BFG installs a protective film layer over the raised white letters at the point of manufacturing and that the film coating yellows over time and should be removed at the time of mounting/installation. Problem solved and thanks to American Tire Depot in Huntington Beach for correcting the problem.

[Al E.]

Re: Yellowed raised white letter tires

I used deck cleaner... some guy told me that he used it on his 57 white top and white walls..
I used it on the tires.. it was better than Wesleys Bleach. I do not recommend it on the top.. it may ruin your paint.