Tire Tech: Sidewall Sading - get that "Old School" look

[Zumo]

It's all the rage!!
Ok ok. I decided to take a stab at sanding my sidewall to get me some home grown wide whites.

I didn't know till a few years ago that this method was common place at used car dealers in the 60's-70's and later. Dealers would pay guys to come out and sand out the side walls on some of their cars to enhance to look to get a sale. There is a white ring of rubber on all whitewall/line and raised white letter tires. Most of your wives know this already from rubbing the SUV/Minivan tire up on the curb.


The victim: A used 255 70 15 tires. Good tread left btw


I took my 7" grinder and bought a sand disc conversion kit. I had a sanding wheel on it but it was to rough. Then I started to sand. Took a little time to get used to. I should have practiced 1st but figured I would get it done on my "good" tire. I started from the inside out and just went back and forth. I can't really explain a technique. I just went with what was working for me. You can't stay in one place for to long our you'll go right through the white and back to black then belts. The edge creates it's self from the factory. The white ring under the rubber stops on both sides cleanly, almost.





I wore a mask so I would not be coughing up rubber loogies the next day. Didn't really seem like I needed it but just in case.



For the most part it came out ok. As you can see in this pic there is a mis alignment of the white and the edge got all wavy. I figure this may be a case by case thing and will just correct with Krylon Fusion paint made for rubber and plastics. Plus you can see the scratched from when I 1st started sanding. I got better and it got smoother as I went around.


So here it is. It's looks mounted but it is not. I will sand the other tire and paint the other rim and get them mounted thi weekend I think.



This is temporary and may not be liked by everyone but I don't care. I am Artist and we are weird anyway. Eventualy I would like to get some chrome reverse all the way around or with slots in the back.

[Evans]

All the rage over on the H.A.M.B. and Killbillit.. looks good !!

[jimmydean]

Nice.

I was going to do that to mine, but my tires are so bald, I need to replace them ASAP, so the work would be lost.

[BigSky71]

Originally Posted by Zumo

It's all the rage!!
Ok ok. I decided to take a stab at sanding my sidewall to get me some home grown wide whites.

This is temporary and may not be liked by everyone but I don't care. I am Artist and we are weird anyway. Eventualy I would like to get some chrome reverse all the way around or with slots in the back.

Hello, My name is Zumo and I am an artist...

Nice work on the wide whites! That look isn't for everyone, but I dig the old skool look man.

[70rs/ss]

How do the sidewalls feel? I'd only be worried about the sidewall being weakened by thinning the rubber. BTW I'd bet you'll get better results with the tire mounted and an orbital or DA sander. Looks cool, not a fan of wide whites, but I am a fan of on the cheap. As long as it isn't dangerous (I was an assistant manager with discount tire for a few years) once you curb rub em long enough the sidewalls get thin and prone to blowouts.

[FarmTruk]

hahahha...that's brilliant. I love it. WW's ain't my style, but, dude...that's great. Put a smile on my face.

[Zumo]

Well from what I can tell it's not to bad. Still feels ok. There was not much sanding involved on the black areas where there was no lettering.

I haven't heard of a blowout happeing from the other folks that have done this. There one guy who says he has been rolling on his for 2 years now.

I need to go back over it with a lighter grit wheel to smooth it out more, but then again I may not.

Originally Posted by 70rs/ss

How do the sidewalls feel? I'd only be worried about the sidewall being weakened by thinning the rubber. BTW I'd bet you'll get better results with the tire mounted and an orbital or DA sander. Looks cool, not a fan of wide whites, but I am a fan of on the cheap. As long as it isn't dangerous (I was an assistant manager with discount tire for a few years) once you curb rub em long enough the sidewalls get thin and prone to blowouts.

[Yukon Jack]

Good write-up!

[special-K]

I`m lazy,too much work.I`ll just rub along the curb every chance I get.

[fastwillie 696969]

Originally Posted by special-K

I`m lazy,too much work.I`ll just rub along the curb every chance I get.

^ i agree and i would get the paint brush on a stick then slowly drive to paint it on

[67ChevyRedneck]

WTF???? Is it like this under every tire???

Is it always a wide white strip???

[Sonny]

Only on white letter and whitewall tires. The width of the white stripe is probably consistent with the size of the letters/whitewall.

[turbochevy]

Originally Posted by Zumo

This is temporary and may not be liked by everyone but I don't care. I am Artist and we are weird anyway. Eventualy I would like to get some chrome reverse all the way around or with slots in the back.

I like it, and the comment above is great!

[rzarock]

Rubber is naturally white. Carbon black (among other things) is added to the compound during manufacture for wear resistance and that's what turns them black. Only tires with white writing and thin WWs have this white stripe underneath.

In high school I used to drive a 61 Impala lowrider with hydraulics and 13" wheels. I used to go to the local tire shop and they would "buff" the whites after mounting the tire on the rim and bolting the rim to the car. They had a small DC motor with a rubber wheel attached to the output shaft that they would let ride on the tire tread, spinning the rim when the car was in nuetral. They would then use a metal grinding wheel on a 4" angle grinder to remove the black. They wouldn't go out all the way to prevent reavealing the potential inconsistencies at the outer edge. If you wanted to get really fancy they could leave the factory WW and just buff a second thin stripe around the outside. They would then dye it whatever color you wanted. If you got a gold stripe it would look like you had Cadillac Vogues.

I drove that HUGE car with cheap 155/80/13 tires all over and never had a blow out. I would however have to buy new tires every year because they wore so quickly.

[stepn67]

Here's one of the tire buffers and a shot of the amount of "Black" rubber that is being removed.

[Sport/Truck]

If it were me, I would jack up the rear end chock the front tire. Then put it in gear (at idle) now you can hold the girder and get better edges as the tire is spinning.
Good luck with the white walls.
s/t

[ratrod67]

[OLDROCK&ROLLER]

I give you two up

[LUV2XCLR8]

Originally Posted by ratrod67

X2

[meathead95]

the off set in the white sidewall is just a poor sidewall splice by the tire builder. which really doesnt matter since it was a white letter and not a white wall tire.

as for the safety of the tire i dont think it will affect it as long as you do not get to deep in the white rubber, it is usually 1/4 to 3/8's thick as the black you are sanding off is just a cover gum strip which is around 1/16 of an inch.

as for the rubber being naturally white that is incorrect. we do add multiple types of carbon black,oils,wax, and pigments to the rubber. but natural rubber comes to the plant from our rubber farm in liberia bales and it is rough textured and brown it kinda looks like a 75lb turd. as for the white rubber it is usually made in akron ohio at our synthetic rubber factory in which we use multiple types of synthetic rubber as well.

[Zumo]

Thanks for the input meathead95.

[68Stepbed]

I read about that in a magazine somewhere, maybe Classic Trucks.
You can also sand off the letters of a blackwall tire for a super smooth look. I saw a guy do it on a set of T/A Radials. He roughed them down with a DA, then went back over it with sandpaper(starting with 100 grit and ending up with 400 grit) until it was super smooth. It looked awsome but way too much work just to get a judges attention at a show or just a conversation peice, but the car these tires were on was a 40 Ford with well over $150K, so why not buff off the tires.

I do like the WW idea if you're into that sort of thing. Nice work Zumo!

[GREASEMONKEY72]

thats frackin awesome man, i just might do that to mine....maybe


thanks for letting us know how it man

[Zumo]

Thanks guys. I am gonna try the 2nd tire this evening.

[albertarose]

thanks for getting me back to this thread BRO! this is a great way to be different !