Uniroyal Tigerpaw 2 whitewall turning yellow/brown

[David M.]

I have a 66 roadster and the Uniroyal tigerpaw whitewall tires I have had for approx 1 yr are constantly turning brown even just sitting in the garage. Uniroyal does not acknowledge there is a problem. I am considering replacing them but there are not many whitewall tires being made now and I am not comfortable using Uniroyal again unless they have fixed the problem.

Does anyone have a recommendation?

[Jim D.]

Re: Uniroyal Tigerpaw 2 whitewall turning yellow/brown

I've been running 205/75/15 Hankook Optima H724 tires on my 65 for almost 3 years and the whitewalls are still bright. B.F. Goodrich whitewall radials on my 60 (no longer available) for more than that with the same results. Whitewall tires are almost phased out and hard to find unless you go with specialty tires which are big $$$$. I bought a set of American Classic tires for the 57 T-Bird I restored for my wife and had to return them for the same issue you're having. I've had good luck with Goodyear whitewall tires in the past but don't think they make them anymore.
Here's a pic. of the Optimas. They hadn't been cleaned in months.
011-1.jpg

[Owen L.]

Re: Uniroyal Tigerpaw 2 whitewall turning yellow/brown

I've been running 205/75/15 Hankook Optima H724 tires on my 65

I just put the same Optimas on my '67 and like them. You're right that whitewalls are getting pretty scarce; I had originally ordered Toyos but they seem to be out of production according to a Toyo rep my tire store called. Preferred Michelin's but they don't even list any whitewalls. These Hankooks seem highly rated and cost less than $80/ea.

[Frank D.]

Re: Uniroyal Tigerpaw 2 whitewall turning yellow/brown

I posted extensively about this on that other forum: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ial-tires.html After years with Uniroyal, around 2015 something changed with the Tiger Paw tires. My latest set turned coffee colored in a matter of weeks after mounting and their customer service is abysmal. Don't bother replacing them with the same tire, you'll just get the same result: I had my replacement set do the same thing in 3 weeks. Whitewall cleaner is no help, not Wesley's, Simple Green nor "Totally Awesome", the only good result was from actually vigorously sanding the whitewall and they again turned brown in a few weeks. IMO, petroleum compounds are continually leeching into the whitewall from the tire itself. Its so bad that some owner's have actually tried painting the whitewalls.

I'm running the Hankook Otimos now and haven't touched them for months and still white as can be. Plus, they actually ride better than the Tiger Paws IMO. I'm not crazy about the Buck Rogers Hankook sidewall graphic but at least the whitewalls stay white. The pic below is of the tires 3 months after they were mounted and I hadn't cleaned them once.

Yes, whitewall radial tire pickings are slim now, to the point I had even considered these (ha!):

https://www.ebay.com/i/333110865181?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-213727-13078-0&mkcid=2&itemid=333110865181&targetid=4580840328168110&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=403206327&mkgroupid=1235851284533770&rlsatarget=pla-4580840328168110&abcId=9300372&merchantid=51291

The problem (with 63 cars at least) is that if you aren't running whitewalls then your wheels should be body color and not black. IIRC.

[David M.]

Re: Uniroyal Tigerpaw 2 whitewall turning yellow/brown

93C52794-9B30-49FD-988E-0CD6BCCEB37E.jpgFrank,
thanks for your comments and pics. That is exactly what mine look like. In doing some more research your comment re the petroleum leaching into the whitewall is correct. I am going to take yours and other peoples advice and replace the Uniroyals with Hackook. Thanks again. 23248233-A0A0-405C-974E-DC31B5D2C611.jpg

[David M.]

Re: Uniroyal Tigerpaw 2 whitewall turning yellow/brown

Thanks Jim. Looks like that is the solution. Change brands.

[David M.]

Re: Uniroyal Tigerpaw 2 whitewall turning yellow/brown

Thanks Owen.

[David M.]

Re: Uniroyal Tigerpaw 2 whitewall turning yellow/brown

I am running 215 70r 15 and they fill out the wheel well. What are your thoughts on the 205 75?

[David M.]

Re: Uniroyal Tigerpaw 2 whitewall turning yellow/brown

Frank,
what size are you running? I am currently using 215 70 as they seem wider and fill the well out.

[Frank D.]

Re: Uniroyal Tigerpaw 2 whitewall turning yellow/brown

Frank,
what size are you running? I am currently using 215 70 as they seem wider and fill the well out.

205/75R15 Prob could go bigger but I'm fine with these. I didn't want to even come close to fender rubs on the front and wanted to keep the steering light.

The Uniroyals in your pictures aren't nearly as bad as they can get over time. I purposely didn't mess with mine to make a point with my Discount Tire Dealer and after a few months they want from "coffee with cream" light brown to a nasty, dingy deeper brown.

[Stephen R.]

Re: Uniroyal Tigerpaw 2 whitewall turning yellow/brown

FWIW......I have a set of old, old bias ply Coker wide white tires from the early 70's which I replaced with a newer set about 3 years ago. I went with Coker because they have the Firestone Logo in the white area of the tire. I noticed a difference in the white part of the two different sets of tires. As best as I can describe it, the white of the old set (which is still relatively white for 45 year old tires) has a rough surface as if the white is embedded in or part of the actual rubber (like they actually used white rubber) where as the new tires have a very smooth surface as if the white is painted on. When you look at the new ones, you get the feeling that if you hit a curb with them, the white would peel off down to the black. The whiteness on the old set is slightly more yellow than on the new set. The white on the new set isn't that great anymore.

[Frank D.]

Re: Uniroyal Tigerpaw 2 whitewall turning yellow/brown

I may have this wrong but on that "other" forum a member mentioned contacting Diamondback about whitewalls and apparently they put an impermeable barrier on the backside of the whitewall and the petroleum components don't leech into the whitewall. That's what I recall at any rate.

IMO the Uniroyal white wall sales are so minimal at this point they don't see any bottom line benefit to fixing the issue.
I'm betting some backroom bean counter with green eyeshades figured to save the company a few bucks 5-6 years ago by eliminating the barrier...

[Patrick H.]

Re: Uniroyal Tigerpaw 2 whitewall turning yellow/brown

FYI, current BFGoodrich Radial TAs will turn brown quickly as well.

My 25 year old BFGs on my 70 Cutlass look better than the 1 year old BFGs that were on the 77 Corvette here.

[John D.]

Re: Uniroyal Tigerpaw 2 whitewall turning yellow/brown

I too went down the road of the yellow Tiger Paw whitewalls. They (michelin)replaced them (exchange only no labor) and the replacements yellowed as well mostly because they were from the same date range.

I appealed to the tire distributor who stepped up and got me the latest dated tires they had which were from late last year which they exchanged no charge. They have been Ok so far.

The only reason to consider them is they were the OEM supplier and they are reasonably priced. I just cant see hankooks on an old corvette.

[Frank D.]

Re: Uniroyal Tigerpaw 2 whitewall turning yellow/brown

I too went down the road of the yellow Tiger Paw whitewalls. They (michelin)replaced them (exchange only no labor) and the replacements yellowed as well mostly because they were from the same date range.

I appealed to the tire distributor who stepped up and got me the latest dated tires they had which were from late last year which they exchanged no charge. They have been Ok so far.

The only reason to consider them is they were the OEM supplier and they are reasonably priced. I just cant see hankooks on an old corvette.

I wasn't crazy about it, but I wasn't going to spin the roulette wheel again on new Uniroyals and hope they worked out; especially with the crappy customer service I got from them...

And yes, I'd heard the new Radial T/As suffer from the same problem. Too bad, I ran those for many years decades ago without issue.