Dirt stuck to tires

[Surf City Garage]

Hey Guys,

Need a little advice here on cleaning my tires. When I took delivery of my truck the dealer put some tire crap on there that is almost like glue. After about 3 washes or so there is still heavy dust deposits that almost looks like its in the rubber. Hopefully this makes sense and if I had pictures i would post.

Thanks for the anticipated help

As others mentioned, a concentrated, effective degreaser/cleaner like our APC Concentrate and a stiff bristle brush should dislodge any dressings or grime stuck to the tires. If you still have these 'brownish' spots even after a few cleanings you might not be dealing with dirt at all, but more 'blooming' which is very common, especially on newer tires.

I have an extensive writeup on it here:
TECH TIP: Brown Tires - Surf City Garage Library - Surf City Garage Forums

 

[Reptar]

As others mentioned, a concentrated, effective degreaser/cleaner like our APC Concentrate and a stiff bristle brush should dislodge any dressings or grime stuck to the tires. If you still have these 'brownish' spots even after a few cleanings you might not be dealing with dirt at all, but more 'blooming' which is very common, especially on newer tires.

I have an extensive writeup on it here:
TECH TIP: Brown Tires - Surf City Garage Library - Surf City Garage Forums

That is a great article! Our 2013 explorer sport has hankooks and they ALWAYS turn brown. It's only got 14k miles on the clock, and I'm meticulous with detailing our vehicles. I always usually use 303 Aerospace or Vinylex on tires because I like the low-gloss sheen, but on my SRT-4 with Goodyears and my Raptor with BFGs the tires just get dull black over a week or two. The Sport's hankooks would always turn brown. Couldn't figure it out since I use the same product on all of them. And I don't use a scrub brush on the tires when I wash them because I don't want the bristles to scratch the rims, but I do use a dedicated wash mit to wash the tires after I wash the rims (same soap as the rims & paint...I do paint 1st with 1 mit, rims 2nd with another mit, tires 3rd with another mit). The blooming would explain it. I can also say I'm never buying hankooks. Between turning brown, and so far two of them in less than 14k miles have had a sidewall split, I can't wait till they wear enough to justify buying a new set of tires!

 

[GoFastSteve]

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[AZEngineer]

That is a great article! Our 2013 explorer sport has hankooks and they ALWAYS turn brown. It's only got 14k miles on the clock, and I'm meticulous with detailing our vehicles. I always usually use 303 Aerospace or Vinylex on tires because I like the low-gloss sheen, but on my SRT-4 with Goodyears and my Raptor with BFGs the tires just get dull black over a week or two. The Sport's hankooks would always turn brown. Couldn't figure it out since I use the same product on all of them. And I don't use a scrub brush on the tires when I wash them because I don't want the bristles to scratch the rims, but I do use a dedicated wash mit to wash the tires after I wash the rims (same soap as the rims & paint...I do paint 1st with 1 mit, rims 2nd with another mit, tires 3rd with another mit). The blooming would explain it. I can also say I'm never buying hankooks. Between turning brown, and so far two of them in less than 14k miles have had a sidewall split, I can't wait till they wear enough to justify buying a new set of tires!

The tire dressing is what turns brown. I've found that the more shiny a tire dressing the more quickly they turn brown. I prefer the look of a new rubber and not wet rubber. I use a no shine dressing from Griots Garage. Seems to go several weeks before it starts to go brown.

 

[Wilson]

Svrt dosn't go brown

 

[Reptar]

The tire dressing is what turns brown. I've found that the more shiny a tire dressing the more quickly they turn brown. I prefer the look of a new rubber and not wet rubber. I use a no shine dressing from Griots Garage. Seems to go several weeks before it starts to go brown.

did you read anything of what I posted when you quoted my post to tell me it's the tire dressing? Clearly you didn't make it past the first sentence or two. I use the exact same tire dressing on all 3 of my vehicles. On my vehicle with hankook tires they always turn brown. On my vehicle with goodyear tires and my vehicle with bfg tires they never turn brown. So it's clearly NOT the tire dressing turning brown, and it's the tire blooming as surf city mentioned.

Not saying that's EVERY case, but for the one you quoted up to say tire shine is the cause, it's definitely not lol

 

[SuperRaptor]

My suggestion would be to not try and get too aggressive all at once with cleaners and rather do 2-3 simple green strength washes instead. Seems like tires that have been hit with overly strong degreasers don't ever seem to come out looking good as soon as the dressing wears off, just in my travels.

 

[HAP]

air down to 18-20 psi and go spend the day in the sand. no work involved and your tires will be clean of whatever is on there by the end of the day

This. I drove through some white paint somewhere in my Bronco once and the paint was embedded in the tread. One drive on the beach and they were like new...