fake white walls.....HELP

[cdowns]

nobody has said it yet but the portawalls when they fail at speed can really do lots of damage to paint and sheetmetal and in the case of fronts can cause a lose of steering control USE AT YOUR OWN RISK

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by cdowns

nobody has said it yet but the portawalls when they fail at speed can really do lots of damage to paint and sheetmetal and in the case of fronts can cause a lose of steering control USE AT YOUR OWN RISK

I'm not sure where you read this but I find that a little hard to fathom... We're talking about a 1/8"-3/16" thick piece of semi-soft plastic here not something made out of metal like chains or a 3/8"-1/2" thick piece of rubber like a tire fragment... I can see how it might scuff the paint but other than that I can't see it doing "lots of damage" or "loss of control" before it disintegrated, under any circumstances.

Just my 2¢ worth.

LockDoc

[**grumpy**]

I agree.
I've used them plenty over the years on cars/trucks I planned to sell, not keep long-term.

I've had buddy's that had them fly off at highway speed. Worst one was a "flapper", and all it did was leave a nice scuff around the front fender wheel lip.

Like I said earlier, It's all in the install. And I usually use a dab of rubber cement here and there to help keep them on. Them as soon as they're installed and cemented, I lay them face down on cardboard overnight to help the drying.

And as I said, it's not a 10yr solution, but I usually buy a set of 4, good, but used radials for around $60.-ish bucks, a set of new portawalls, and if I get a summer out of them, cool.

Still cheaper than 700+ for new radials. And I seem to have a problem keeping vehicles for long. I'm looking for a specialist to treat it

And BTW, the black 59 wagon had that same set of portawalls on it for almost 2 years. Granted, the radial sidewall had grooves, but they more than paid for themselves.

[andresco50]

You can buy tires with a little white line in the wall.... check this I love it

[lowriden58]

Originally Posted by andresco50

You can buy tires with a little white line in the wall.... check this I love it

yes Pep Boys has them. i think most any tire place sells them

[HoupPhotography]

So I tried the Port-o-walls and they failed miserably!!!

I installed them just as the man mentioned on the phone, 36 grit sand paper on the inside lip of the rim, cleaned the side walls of the tires.... one ripped clean off, one partially tore off and the others were fine.

The guy at Lucas said DO NOT use any adhesive, so I didn't.

I didn't "lose control" of my truck but I was PO'd that I wasted $60 on junk!

My personal opinion, I would use a box of white out before I would even consider port-o-walls....

This happened today!! You would be better off with .50 cents and a book of matches playing fireman!!!


IMO, they're JUNK, don't buy them!!!


BTW - you can have your tires "shaved" for $75 (or do it yourself for fee) You get white walls that actually work and you can't tell the difference.

[Richard8971]

Unless I am missing something, why couldn't you just mask the area off and find a good "vinyl"* paint and paint them on? Seems simple enough to me...

Don

*Most automotive paint supply stores carry vinyl paint for plastic. (Vinyl tops, dashes, door panels, that kind of thing.) They have special resens in them that help them look like vinyl but also help stick better to plastic and rubber.