Removing "Goodyear" from tires

Lew Ledyard · #1 (**permalink**) 05-19-2003, 07:15 PM

My big letter Goodyear Eagle tires just showed up from Roger Kraus. Since the big letters are not very period correct, I think that I will run them as blackwalls. What is the best way to remove the white painted "Goodyear" and "Eagle" without damaging the tires?

Ron61 · #2 (**permalink**) 05-19-2003, 07:20 PM

Lew,

I am not sure if a tire shop would have a way to do that without weakening the sidewalls. If they don't have a directional tread how about just turning the white letters on the inside when you mount them. I tried to take some white letters off the tires on my Comet and it looked really bad. I tried a wire brush on a drill and that isn't at all good. So I turned them around until I get a new set that I liked.

Ron

misfit41 · #3 (**permalink**) 05-19-2003, 07:29 PM

I would try laquer thinner first,,I have a feeling it may work,,if not before mounting,,spray paint stripper,,test it on an old tire first,,but it should be fine. Tk

PatBuckley · #4 (**permalink**) 05-19-2003, 07:57 PM

From experience....lacquer thinner will remove the Goodyear and Eagle lettering.

I can't comment on possible negative effects this may have on the tire, but it did not seem to hurt my tires.

Pat

decooney · #5 (**permalink**) 05-19-2003, 10:04 PM

Yeah - lacquer thinner works fine. It dissapates quickly too. Just keep it on the rag, not soaking the tire.

I did this a while back myself...and permanently remomved mine. See my Gallery for a before and after shot. The letters and tires just ended up just looking grungy after a while, even after careful relettering a few times. Nice clean look for a change.

Pete C · #6 (**permalink**) 05-19-2003, 10:35 PM

Duane,

I kinda like that grungy look so I kept mine on and yeah, they're a little nasty. It ain't no trailer queen! But, lacquer thinner is the ticket for that clean look!!

Cheers, Pete C

Turk · #7 (**permalink**) 05-20-2003, 12:16 AM

Brake cleaner.

TURK

Todd Hedges · #8 (**permalink**) 05-20-2003, 05:16 AM

Believe it or not, I used a cirtrus cleaner and it came right off.
It looked like a 5 year old painted the white letters on mine.
The stuff came right off with little effort.

David Kirkham · #9 (**permalink**) 05-20-2003, 06:29 AM

Gents,

I realize that for most laquer thinner is the universal solvent. However, laquer thinner is on the list of "no-no's" for use with rubber hose according to the manufacturer (Gates). I would think a long time about the consequences of a side wall blowing out before I'd use it on my tires. I think I would keep the two-year-old artwork if I couldn't find anything else.

Lew...send them out, we are ready.

David

Tomsti · #10 (**permalink**) 05-20-2003, 12:05 PM

Does the tire have white letters on both sides or just one? I have seen most tires with only one side with the letters. Most people will just mount the letters to the inside leaving the outside black.

Chaplin · #11 (**permalink**) 05-20-2003, 12:21 PM

Now I'm confused. I though everyone bought the Goodyear's so that they could have the large white lettering. Why would you scrub it off? And if you're going to go through the trouble of scrubbing it off, why not just get a blackwall DOT tire in the first place?

decooney · #12 (**permalink**) 05-20-2003, 01:56 PM

Hey Chaplin,

I bought these tires purely for function and traction first. Having tried BFGs before on a big HP car, those were not an option this time around. The big white letters were just a plus at first. For some reason I could never keep them from looking like they were thrashed and stained (because I do drive my car a bit now), so I finally just removed the letters after repainting them twice. Plus, I got irritated with cleaning the dumb things because I don't wash my car every time out. Like I said, it was just something to change. The big letters still look cool when they are kept nice. I can always paint them back later if I want to.

Chaplin · #13 (**permalink**) 05-20-2003, 02:26 PM

Duane-
How much stickier are those tires compared to say Goodyear Eagle IIs or Dunlops? (I agree about BFGs. I had BFGs on a car with a moderate amount of horespower and wasn't crazy about them). FYI- I bought Dunlops for the Cobra- I need a DOT tire to make it through inspection.

Mike

decooney · #14 (**permalink**) 05-20-2003, 02:52 PM

Chaplin...

they are a lot stickier. Actually, they are a dirt racing tire that was sized to fit a Cobra. Not DOT though. The only 15" tires I've found to be better than the BFG TAs, GT IIs, are the revised Yok's sold by Summit and others. They are cheaper too, but they have a less attractive tread design. It all depends on how hard you push the car, and the torque under your hood. My car will even blast these sticky tires off if I floor it in 3rd gear on a roll, so I need as much as I can get for performance and safety reasons - believe it or not. The BFGs were like driving on ice in the rear - very scary to me. I wish there was a good DOT 15" tire in between, but its just not there any more, and nobody has an update on bringing anything back. I'd even settle for some of the old sized Comp TAs if they were new and made available again. We all keep talking about getting a group batch-buy together to present to a mfg/maker, but nothing ever materializes beyond us clowns just talking about it here.

Oh well, our choices are still limited to too much or not enough at this time. Good Luck.