I got me new tires last year and the white turned into a brownish color. I am reluctant to brush them clean as I am afraid of removing the white layer and ending up with black letters. Any experience?
My 3 year old BFG RWL are not very white either (never were when new) and I have tried all different methods to brighten them with no luck so I am eagerly following this post.
Sounds like a common problem. Came across this during a quick search: https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/threads/white-letter-problem-with-bf-goodrich-tires.354797/ Devon
The lettering is a white layer of rubber with the raised lettering. That layer is laid over the underlying carcass, and the final black laid over the sidewalls along with the tread. I use mineral spirits and a rag to clean and never spray any tire shine on mine. (used it before. but have decided the plain black rubber is fine when clean)
Some success here: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forum...-goodrich-tire-letters-finally-a-success.html Devon
BFG's in recent years are notorious for this. Mine did it within a year. Bleech white helped a little, but not much. Harsher stuff worked better, but I didn't trust rubbing tires with it. A red scotch bright rol-loc wheel makes quick work, but there's definitely a finite number of times you can do that. There is one surefire solution: Buy Cooper's and never look back at those BFG turds.
I tried the "paint stick" (crayon) like we did back in the old days, but (new product ) is not the same product and would not stick well to the letters. So I tried brake cleaner, and then mineral spirits (and other things) brake clean and mineral spirits work the same. (pretty good), but the mineral spirits has much longer work time, than the brake clean.
I have led you all to the easiest answer, light sand paper, give it a try you will be amazed!!!!!! I didn’t believe it myself until about 15 years ago a car buddy told me. Simple, easy, effective Chemicals are bad for tires.
As to the OP's question - you should have some white rubber to work with, several millimeters at least. When importing my C3 I had some transportation damage, which revealed that there is plenty of white material. In the picture the top of the letter "D" is shaved off significantly. This holds only true of course if the manufacturing process between Dunlop and BFG is similar.
Tires are white to begin with, rubber is naturally white, it is dyed to become black. The dye is bleeding into the white letter and will never stop. The best you can hope for to to make the white from time to time.
My go to is Gojo hand cleaner and a rag or scotch brite pad. My fronts stay pretty clean but the rears get discolored pretty quick. The Riv had side exit exhaust and I suspected that was staining the letters. Recently put on a set of TA Mandrel bent 2.5" pipes out the back and the staining has all but stopped.
I don't like the white letter look. I have my tires mounted with them in after painting them black with a spray can.
I purchased new BFG Radial T/A tires for the front of my Gs in April 2019. The white letters turned brown BFG denied there was any problem. The dealer replaced them but due to the covid, I did not get them until June 2019. In Sept I replaced the rear. It took a few months for the rears to brown out. I have tried just about every cleaner, sos, bleche white. AS a last resort, I tried toluene which whitened the letter but only for a week or so. I will try the Corvette solution
I submitted a claim w BFG/Michelin customer service. They acknowledged the problem stating it’s the UV protection bleeding out of the rubber causing the discoloration. They are replacing my tires but must be done through an authorized Michelin shop. If you didn’t buy the tires from them good luck getting them to help. This is a one time replacement and if the next set does it I’m on my own. However they are replacing a 3 year old set of tires with a documented 1,xxx mikes on them. I had a set that was 30years old that never discolored