I need new tires, and was thinking of getting the tires with white raised lettering. I wanted to know if anybody here had a photo of their car or somebody elses car (fiero) that has this? I want to se ehow it looks. I have a GT. Fastback, so if anybody has white raised lettering on their fastback please chime in! THanks in advance - Lorin

Here is a picture of my 84.

http://img.photobucket.com/...ns_girl/30d7d7b4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/...ns_girl/a4642241.jpg

My Brother's 86GT with Dunlop GT Qualifiers

i always liked the look of the white lettering.

Can you even find raised white letter tires anymore? Last time I looked I couldn't find any, (at least not in the size I was looking for)

i know they make raised white lettering BF Goodrich Radial T/A's that will fit stock 88 GT rims

Holy Smokes ANAM427.... Finally another Fiero that has the same wheels I do... As I began to read the thread I was thinking "what would white letters look like on my Chrome Aero's?"... and low and behold... Now i know!!

Those look great together!

Jeff

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quote Originally posted by ANAM427: i know they make raised white lettering BF Goodrich Radial T/A's that will fit stock 88 GT rims

Yeah I was looking for an updated retro look on 16s or 17s... no such thing.

quote Originally posted by Dogcreek: Holy Smokes ANAM427.... Finally another Fiero that has the same wheels I do... As I began to read the thread I was thinking "what would white letters look like on my Chrome Aero's?"... and low and behold... Now i know!!

ha ya its a good looking rim and the raise white lettering really sets it off.

I like the look of white letter tires. I personally don't like the honeycomb rims, but that's just me. The chrome is beautiful! I have black on the formula. I like it bc it shows off the red calipers.

White letter tires are going away since they really can not hold up to the speed ratings on many of todays cars.

White rubber is used to make the letters like a side wall it is spliced into the side of the tire. White rubber has no structual qualities and is only cosmetic. The real issue is it make for a weak spot in a tire and a place that retains heat and where often a tire will fail.

The best while letter tires are usally S speed rated to 112 MPH. Many companies are getting away from them as most of todays cars can do more than 112 MPH. Tire engineers have hated putting white rubber in tires for years.

We may see some tires with decals on them. Most race tires used to be painted on but Goodyear invented a decal that holds up and does not hurt tire strenght. Most race tires are using these decals now. I have seen a few Z rated performance tires with them now so it could start a trend with street tires sometime in the future.

Cheap low speed rated tires are coming to an end. Liability as it is many installers and retailers will refuse to install less than the required speed rated tire anymore. With less and less older cars on the road there is little need to make them anymore.

Most of the tires with white letters are just upgraded compounds with a tire that is based on 1970 construction technology.

It may be left only to companies like Coker to make repo tires with white walls.

quote Originally posted by hyperv6: Cheap low speed rated tires are coming to an end. Liability as it is many installers and retailers will refuse to install less than the required speed rated tire anymore. With less and less older cars on the road there is little need to make them anymore.

Yep... I just heard the other day that tires are getting expiration dates, (something like 6 years). This is an unfortunate trend on all consumer products....limit liability to some finite window because some people don't have common sense to know when a product has reached the end of life and will sue if it fails.

I know there are some Fieros out there with tires older than 6 years, (maybe even on my cars).

quote Originally posted by jscott1: Yep... I just heard the other day that tires are getting expiration dates, (something like 6 years). This is an unfortunate trend on all consumer products....limit liability to some finite window because some people don't have common sense to know when a product has reached the end of life and will sue if it fails. I know there are some Fieros out there with tires older than 6 years, (maybe even on my cars).

Tire age is kind or really over blown. There are many factors that go into tire age. The type of rubber used, the storage conditions and other factors determine the to life condition of a tire. The date thing is just there as a blanket statement to protect the companies.

You would be suprised how well some tires hold up over the long run if stored properly.

The new law is just a general law to protect people who have no clue from themselves. Many people have tires with large lumps in the side, low air pressure and no tread on them with much less than 6 years and they just keep on driving.

Many years ago if you got 10,000 miles out of tires it was never an issue but with many of todays tireas going 50,000 plus age can be an issue for someone who parts a car next to a furnace with a electric engine in the garage. The compounds and heat the tires sees also effect the true effective life.

I have seen many a collector car that has over 25 years on their tires and most generally are stored properly and have no issues. But there are some with cheaper tires with poor heat issues that can be an issue.

The tires I see where age really effects them are race tires. Rubber gets hard with age and the softer rubber will not hold up as it ages on race tires. If anyone has an old NASCAR tire check it out. They will dry crack and get hard in 4 years. Most street tires of any good quality in the proper conditions will go well over 10 years seldom with any ill effects. But because of liability after the Ford Explorer deal everyone is affraid of law suits.

But in this day and age so many people just are not as smart as they used to be and you have to tell some the coffe is hot.

tell me about it when it comes to people that do not know when there tires are done. I was following a guy in an SUV and his back drivers side tire was so worn down it looked like a racing slick and the passenger side tire actually had steel showing through it! This was all during northern winter conditions. Thats a blow out or car accident waiting to happen.

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Adam

2004 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
1988 Pontiac Fiero GT

I just got rid of my white letters on another car. The Radial TA's were not that good of a tire. Ths sidewalls are too soft. I will never compromise quality just because of how a tire looks again.

soon tires won't even exist on modern cars...heard something like 2015 the twheel might be out.

quote Originally posted by Hockaday: soon tires won't even exist on modern cars...heard something like 2015 the twheel might be out.

Maybe someday but not anytime soon.

The airless tires concept is nothing new and has been kicked around for a long time. They has them way back to the 50's and we really still do not have them. Cost is a major factor that has beena problem. Even the run flats were once considered to take over the market have not accept for a few models. Cost, weight and handling are all issues with most.

The Twheel is just another of those ideas that might be on a car or two but never wide spread.

There goes the tire bleaching business. I sold my stock in "Wessley's Tire Bleach" today.

,,There are crayon type applicators that can be used to color the tires,,I have not seen them in years ,but some where on the net there must be some individual who purchase the remaining supply and sells them from his cave in the Bitteroot mountains to suppliment his main income , Beaver trapping .

There's other options. A shop that I frequent using precut lettering and designs. It starts off by removing a thin layer from the side walls and then using some type of applicator the letter are glued to the side wall. As for white walls-a thin layer is removed and then bleached into the side wall. Also, the shop has various colors and logos to match. Personally, I like the lettering since we have Fieros and not Caddys.


Tire Lettering.

Where I worked we used to mock up tires for BFG, Goodyear, Firestone and Michelin. We used to precut letter etc. Buff out side walls and the like. It can be done but often the durability is just not there for the long run. THey work fine on show cars but daily drivers some of these options fail in time.

Just have to get used to the fact that while letters for the most are going the way of wide white walls. You will have to go to repo companies like Coker to find them. I figure in time they will make Goodyear Eagle GT repo tires but I am not sure if they will do a 14" since nearly all cars no longer use tires that small. Even the new Chevy Sonic will have 17" tires.

I run Goodyear Eagle I raised white letter. 16 inch. I checked on replacements just in case and they only have them in a larger size and limited at that.
Not a good pic but here it is.

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Two yeast spent their entire life "about 2 days" discussing what the purpose of life could be and not once did they even come close to the fact that they were making champagne. Quoted by: Unknown

quote Originally posted by Spoon: I run Goodyear Eagle I raised white letter. 16 inch. I checked on replacements just in case and they only have them in a larger size and limited at that. Not a good pic but here it is.

Goodyear will phase these out in the near future. I think they are only selling off what they have left and have not made only for a while. They did away with the yellow letters a few years ago. While the tread and tire compounds have been improved these are still based on the Goodyear GT Radial from 1978. Same for the BFG Radial TA and Firehawk or the Dunlap GT Qualifiers. Most are based on really old tire designs.

Even the people who want white walls the choices are getting limited on the better tires.

To be honest I really don't miss the white letters as I hate cleaning them and you also had to be careful not to use cleaner that would hurt the clear coat on the wheels. Plus on my new car the 18's have so little side wall they would not look very good.

But who knows the decals they are using in racing may help bring them back in the future. The technology is there if there is enough demand.

Note they went to the stylized sidewalls seen on many of the tires to dress the sidewalls up in place of the white rubber. Some of them are pretty cool too. They have that 3D look.

quote Originally posted by jscott1: Can you even find raised white letter tires anymore? Last time I looked I couldn't find any, (at least not in the size I was looking for)

They are easy to find in 14-15 inch sizes. Still popular replacements for 60's-early 80's cars.

I have Cooper Cobra 15 inch on my 72 Buick

http://highperformancetire.....php?productid=20717

Coker Tires has them, but they cost out the azz. Also Kelly Springfields. Goodyear did the yellow letters to mimick Nascar. I think a pickup like the Lightening came with them from the dealer. I had a hard time finding plain whitesidewalls for the Limo and ended up going all black on it. On about all tires I wish theyd quit making all the friggin designs and crap in the sidewalls. Why not just a plain old smooth sidewall that stays clean like bias ply tires. I paid to have the sidewalls shaved smooth on my Magnum when I was showing it.

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 01-21-2011).]

here is a pic of some cooper cobras ...this was before paint just after i bought the car!!!

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BLUE BY YOU!
NYFOC

quote Originally posted by hyperv6: Tire age is kind or really over blown. There are many factors that go into tire age. The type of rubber used, the storage conditions and other factors determine the to life condition of a tire.

Some where around 1992-94 or so I found out Goodyear had discontinued the Gatorbacks used on the 88 Mera's. 245-50-15 and 265-50-15. Maybe a year or so later I searched and found some new old stock and bought a complete set. Goodyear has a warehouse or something where they keep left over new old stock tires. I had them in my moms basement in plastic bags until last year or maybe the year before when I put them on my 88 Mera. They seem fine. Rubber looks good. I see no problem with them. The Gatorbacks I had on my 88 Mera seemed fine yet. One front had developed a slight out of round condition (broken belt?) and one had a slow leak and they were all maybe 50% worn. So it was time to use my new old stock Gatorbacks. I still have a almost new set of the Gatorbacks on hand that were taken off an 88 Mera at maybe 2,000 miles just in case plus several more used Gatorbacks. These tires are by far the best looking tire for the 88 Mera.



Rodney Dickman
1988 Mera

quote Originally posted by Rodney: Some where around 1992-94 or so I found out Goodyear had discontinued the Gatorbacks used on the 88 Mera's. 245-50-15 and 265-50-15. Maybe a year or so later I searched and found some new old stock and bought a complete set. Goodyear has a warehouse or something where they keep left over new old stock tires. I had them in my moms basement in plastic bags until last year or maybe the year before when I put them on my 88 Mera. They seem fine. Rubber looks good. I see no problem with them. The Gatorbacks I had on my 88 Mera seemed fine yet. One front had developed a slight out of round condition (broken belt?) and one had a slow leak and they were all maybe 50% worn. So it was time to use my new old stock Gatorbacks. I still have a almost new set of the Gatorbacks on hand that were taken off an 88 Mera at maybe 2,000 miles just in case plus several more used Gatorbacks. These tires are by far the best looking tire for the 88 Mera. Rodney Dickman 1988 Mera

I Figure the Gators will get reprodced some day based on the fact they were used on so many performance cars in the 80's. They are kind of the Polyglas GT of the era. When the car get to the point of restoring I can see them making new versions of them. The only problem for you is will they make them in the size you need?

BFG Radial T/As

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My World of Wheels Winners (Click on links below)

3.4L Supercharged 87 GT and Super Duty 4 Indy #163

quote Originally posted by jscott1: Yep... I just heard the other day that tires are getting expiration dates, (something like 6 years). This is an unfortunate trend on all consumer products....limit liability to some finite window because some people don't have common sense to know when a product has reached the end of life and will sue if it fails. I know there are some Fieros out there with tires older than 6 years, (maybe even on my cars).

...I have a 68 Chevy pickup that still has the factory rubber (and amazingly they are still holding air) - not sure it would be a good idea to drive the truck at highway speeds with those on tho (however that is not going to happen until the get off my arse and rebuild the engine block).

interesting...funny how what goes around, comes around again...
(i've seen some imports lately around the neighbourhood with white raised letter radials...)...must be the in-thing again (!)

I have a white paint pen. What do you need them to say?

At PE Motoring they perform tire lettering and white walls. A guy from the LA area came up north to Bakersfield to have his truck tires (with lettering) removed.

Here's a pic of how they apply a white wall using a 255-265 low profile black side wall tire.

^Are those 100 spokes or better?

I hope they're going on a '64 Impala!

quote Originally posted by OHNIKO: interesting...funny how what goes around, comes around again... (i've seen some imports lately around the neighbourhood with white raised letter radials...)...must be the in-thing again (!)

They just have better tire markers now.