Best Tire Shine Product

[Coral Red Syd]

Looking for the best tire shine product that leaves that 'wet look' . Confession that 2001 tire shine is not cutting it anymore.

[djmcmath]

I've been pretty happy with the Turtle Wax product. After washing the car, I use the leftover dirty water to do a first rinse on the tires, then hit 'em with Turtle Wax tire cleaner. Almost makes old tires look new again, it does! (And it doesn't hurt the Fuchs, either!)

Dan

[Jim Garfield]

There was a Corvette show down the road from me recently so I walked through to have a look. I was amused to see how many of the owners had Armor All'ed not only the side wall but the treads too. I didn't stick around to see the carnage as they slid out of the show.

[RickM]

The best ever was the original non-silicone based "Black Again". This product is still available but reformulated by the new onwners.

Larry at Car Care Online recommends 3 M Tire / rubber dressing and One Grand tire dressing. Both are medium gloss.

[geof33]

The absolute best is maguire's endurance. Lasts a long time and comes with it's own applicator. It doesn't dryout rubber, nor does it cause the tire to turn brown... Excellent product.

[anthony]

I've been using Meguires Professional #25 Vinyl and Rubber cleaner/protectant. But it's not a wet look product. It gives vinyl and rubber a new, non greasy look.

[Bill Verburg]

I used to use "Color Back" but "303" for the last few years

[vesnyder]

Heard a tire guy speak a couple months ago at a local PCA event and he said most of the products contain something that is terrible for the tires? One guy in the crowd said that a product from Griot's does not contain the ingredient he said was bad. Can't recall what it was and have been reluctant to use any of these products since.

[Bill Verburg]

Silicon is certainly on the proscribed list

[73911guy]

The Corvette story reminds me of a guy I know who had a Corvette, applied Armour All to the tires, then decided to do the tread while he was at it. Only problem was that he had an exposed aggregate driveway that was rather steep and he had trouble getting enough traction to get the car back in the garage. Sounds too funny to be true but the story was authenticated by his neighbors who witnessed the event.

Jim

[RickM]

Better yet is the guy with the crotch rocket who did the same.....

[anthony]

He should have just lit up the tires. He would have found traction soon enough!

[kilodawg]

Only got a minute to respond. This may sound a bit crazy but the best tires I've ever seen had nothing on them but were in fact hand rubbed with water. In effect shining the rubber. I was told it took a lot of time. Didn't give it much thought until last week when I polished my fuchs rims (while they were on the car) and the buffing wheel went across the tire too. The result was polished tires. I have a pic. Again at this point I was focusing on the rim not the tire but this weekend I might see what happens when I specifically work on the tire. Seems to me this is the best approach because instead of some slimey cheesy coating it's the real rubber showing thru.

[gzulli]

I use an old school product my dad used back in the fifties on tires, Vasoline. Make sure it is warm enough so that it is not hard. Take a nice rag and just rub the Vasoline into the rubber. You may need to go back and take another rag to take the excess off the raised lettering on the tire. I found this will penetrate very deep into the tires. If you are tiring this on a cold day it will be more difficult. I use it on my tires before the winter snow and salt attacks the rubber. Not sure if there is anything bad in the Vasoline but it sure is cheap compared with Meguairs (which I use when I don't have much time.)

[david914]

I've used Griot's Vinyl and Rubber Dressing for years. I really like it for its "natural" look (satin, not glossy).

[Victor]

Someone look up the "Jet Fockin' Black" thread!!

[geof33]

Originally posted by Victor
Someone look up the "Jet Fockin' Black" thread!!

Great thread!!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?threadid=80129&highlight=jet+fockin+black

[RoninLB]

Originally posted by geof33
The absolute best is maguire's endurance. Lasts a long time and comes with it's own applicator. It doesn't dryout rubber, nor does it cause the tire to turn brown... Excellent product.

ditto..
it's a gel that's a bit of a pia to apply compared to the wham bam other tire dressings. It's a nice satin low key finish. It's also a great protectorant when machine buffing bare Fuchs.

[RickM]

Originally posted by gzulli
I use an old school product my dad used back in the fifties on tires, Vasoline.

Hmmm, what were we all taught about Vasoline and rubber?...in junior high school?

[RickM]

OK, here is a site with a great explanation on tires and how they react to different products. I saw this same explanation on a show but couldn't recall all the facts. Here's a snippet:

"Tires/Rubber Trim: There are two main degrading agents that attack tires. They are UV light waves and ozone. Both of these attack the long hydrocarbon chains of the rubber and by breaking these chemical bonds, shorten the molecules with resulting loss of elasticity and other problems. Tire manufacturers add two primary sacrificial protectants to the rubber. To protect against UV, they add carbon black. This is why tires don't come in designer colors to match your paint. The carbon black will turn white/gray as it absorbs the UV and dissipates the energy as heat. Thus the basis of rubber parts turning gray as they age. To protect against ozone, tire manufacturers add a wax based sacrificial protectant. The ozone attacks the wax and depletes it. As the tire rolls, additional wax is forced to the surface of the tire. This is referred to as "blooming". This blooming refreshes the surface wax protectant. A tire that has not been flexed will have the wax depleted by the ozone and thus begin to degrade and suffer "dry rot". The silicone oil in Armour All et Al may actually dissolve the wax and be the cause of premature tire side wall cracking/failure. It is rumored that some tire manufacturers will not honor warranties on failures caused by silicone based products. I am in the process of checking with the major tire manufacturers to determine the validity of this rumor. In conclusion, any tire dressing should contain a UV protectant to bolster the efforts of the carbon black and preferably not contain any silicone."

More info: http://www.unofficialbmw.com/all/carcare/all_dont_use_silicone.html