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I love mine. So much better than doing them with a paint pen every couple months. My only complaint is that they wouldn't make the letters taller. You can pick yours sizes on the site and they told me they couldn't make them for me because the letters hit each other due to my tires size and desired letter height. I never really understood what they were trying to tell me but I took the largest they could make and it turned out good, I just wanted them to be a little more exaggerated looking. Kinda like on some of the tuner cars you see at SEMA.
I blasted my tires at the car wash real well then brought it home and cleaned them with acetone. You don't have to pull the wheels to install the letters but I felt like it made it easier to keep them aligned properly. I'd recommend pulling the wheels for the install. The only other thing I did was heat the tires with a heat gun. Mostly because I did them during the middle of winter but heat always helps glue set better so that part is up to you.
And yes, the meat head in the pic is me. Flame suit on!
Awww here comes the insecurities... You boys should absolutely leave your cars alone. Make sure they look like everyone elses on the internet. While you're at it, keep your "ridiculous" opinions to yourself too. OP didn't ask for your approval.
That's what lot's of people say in the beginning of anything. They said it about Rock-N-Roll, they said it about Monster Trucks and they said it about loud cars. Like any trend it has to start some place. They looked good in the 60's & 70's and it doesn't look awful here on those cars, IMO.
The only big problem with white letters was always trying to keep them clean and free of scuffs.
Really, stickers on your tires? Rice is an understatement.
Originally Posted by MikeG
Agreed. This is a disturbing trend. Looks ridiculous.
I will also call "foul" on this criticism. While blackwalls may be popular today, "white walls" or lettered tires are still produced today and could be considered period-correct for these cars.
I know its hard to remember all the way back before fire and modern day plumbing to the time when these cars were first produced, but white walls were still pretty common then.
To each his own I guess, I like the way it looks. Nothing wrong with being out of the ordinary same old thing!!
Exactly. We see such lettering used on tires in NHRA & NASCAR and no one says it looks rice there. All any trend needs to take a foothold is for a few to dare to be different. In time lots of others join in and it takes off. 15 years ago hardly no one was wearing a goatee, but then come along all those reality biker build TV shows and lots of guys started sporting them.
I for one grew up in an era of white letter tires and I still like the look. While I agree they don't look so good on eveything, i.e. Mom's station wagon, LOL. But I see nothing wrong with the look of them on modern muscle, though it's seldom seen because tire mfg's just don't produce them in those rim sizes.
I'm looking to get new tires myself, and I've always been somewhat of a rebel. Dare to be different, you can be a follower or a leader. I just might consider doing the white letter thing, if circumstances allow it?
I love white letter tires, I have them on my Nova and, IMO, it's the only proper look for many '60s (other than perhaps redlines, but still I like RWL better), '70s and even some '80s cars. HOWEVER, I wouldn't want asian tire names so prominently displayed on my domestic car (just personal preference) and I'm concerned about the durability of this method vs. the traditional method (where the sidewall itself is actually white, and then a thin layer of black rubber covers all but the letters.) Even in the traditional format, it's hard to keep clean and can sometimes require pretty vigorous scrubbing if not regularly cleaned. I wonder how well these stick-on letters will hold up to such cleaning in addition to heat cycling, flexing of the sidewall and general aging of the rubber underneath.
Overall, I like the concept but I wouldn't want the letters to be so big on such a low profile sidewall. On the old 14/15" RWL tires, the letters would be proportionally bigger or smaller depending on sidewall height, but they were never tall enough to span over half the sidewall height. I think some of the examples in this thread would look better if they were scaled down just a bit, but to each his own.
White letter tires are still used in the SUV market. While it's true lower profile tires present a problem for tire Mfg's to produce with white letters. However, these are not insurmountable obstacles they couldn't overcome. In the traditional method an extra step is necessary to make white letter tires. So, what you really have is a case of where tire companies have conditioned the public, to think modern sports cars shouldn't have white letter tires because they don't see them. This saves the tire companies the extra labor & cost to produce such tires. They're aided in this because their competitors don't make them either. Therefore the public has been lead to believe they look unfavorably through manupulation, rather than by any choice of their own.
You can be most assured if new Mustangs, Corvettes, Camaro's etc., started showing up on dealership floors sporting white letter tires, the popularity of it would soon catch on.
White letter tires are still used in the SUV market. While it's true lower profile tires present a problem for tire Mfg's to produce with white letters. However, these are not insurmountable obstacles they couldn't overcome. In the traditional method an extra step is necessary to make white letter tires. So, what you really have is a case of where tire companies have conditioned the public, to think modern sports cars shouldn't have white letter tires because they don't see them. This saves the tire companies the extra labor & cost to produce such tires. They're aided in this because their competitors don't make them either. Therefore the public has been lead to believe they look unfavorably through manupulation, rather than by any choice of their own.
You can be most assured if new Mustangs, Corvettes, Camaro's etc., started showing up on dealership floors sporting white letter tires, the popularity of it would soon catch on.
If these tires were manufactured in the traditional RWL format, the letters would be properly sized for a given sidewall and properly located within the sidewall design - and that would look much better than the stick-on letters IMO. While I wouldn't personally consider the stickers, I would most certainly consider a set of proper RWL tires, even in a 17" diameter/40-series sidewall, for my '98. In terms of styling I think it would look nice, but the care aspect is something to be considered. Having these tires on my '71, I know first hand how hard it is to keep them clean in an application where I don't ever do a soap/water washing of the car.
If these tires were manufactured in the traditional RWL format, the letters would be properly sized for a given sidewall and properly located within the sidewall design - and that would look much better than the stick-on letters IMO.
But isn't that the point? Mfg's aren't trying to manufacture them, but they could if they wanted too. I agree aspect is important but I believe some of these aftermarket companies, that offer these stickers can and do offer them in a more realistic sizes.
While I wouldn't personally consider the stickers, I would most certainly consider a set of proper RWL tires, even in a 17" diameter/40-series sidewall, for my '98.
A great way to encourage tire makers to do so is by having them see us in the hobbist world start doing what they've failed to do. They'll quickly follow suit where there is money to be made. It's all a dance in reality they wait to see where the hobbist go and then they start duplicating it.
In terms of styling I think it would look nice, but the care aspect is something to be considered. Having these tires on my '71, I know first hand how hard it is to keep them clean in an application where I don't ever do a soap/water washing of the car.
No argument about that. Whether whitewalls or white letters, such tires do take considerable dilligence in care and cleaning.
You got to admit kyoytey1693 car looks pretty cool looking with those white letter tires?
A great way to encourage tire makers to do so is by having them see us in the hobbist world start doing what they've failed to do. They'll quickly follow suit where there is money to be made. It's all a dance in reality they wait to see where the hobbist go and then they start duplicating it.
I don't disagree, in fact I hope that is exactly what happens. And if/when it does, I would certainly consider a set.
Originally Posted by *JC*
You got to admit kyoytey1693 car looks pretty cool looking with those white letter tires?
I definitely like the look/concept, but the execution isn't quite what I would want. The letters are a bit too far towards the outer edge of the tire, and although that may have been necessary to properly integrate them into the existing sidewall design, if they had been originally manufactured as a RWL tire the letters would be more optimally positioned and sized, and there would be seamless integration. Details like that tend to bug me, which is why I'd have to wait for a factory RWL tire to appear before considering this for my own.
I certainly don't find any fault with folks wanting to do this and possibly create a future market from which many of us may benefit. I just wouldn't be willing to do the sticker version myself based on durability and integration concerns.
09-03-2016, 11:31 AM
That's what lot's of people say in the beginning of anything. They said it about Rock-N-Roll, they said it about Monster Trucks and they said it about loud cars. Like any trend it has to start some place. They looked good in the 60's & 70's and it doesn't look awful here on those cars, IMO. 
Exactly. We see such lettering used on tires in NHRA & NASCAR and no one says it looks rice there. All any trend needs to take a foothold is for a few to dare to be different. In time lots of others join in and it takes off. 15 years ago hardly no one was wearing a goatee, but then come along all those reality biker build TV shows and lots of guys started sporting them. 
