Ok so I tried the krylon fusion...it looked great, until i drove it. I don't know if I did'nt clean the tire good enough, or maybe I didn't let the paint set up long enough. It only dried for about an hour before I started driving it. Anyways, here is a pic of the wheel on the truck before driving it. Perfect Here is a pic with about 5 miles of drive time on it. Cracked I am going to mess around with it some more this week and see if I can get it to work. I was pretty disapointed, but hey, it was worth a try. Still sucks though. I thought that I would post this because there seems to be alot of people interested in it. I have'nt seen these results posted yet either.
If you go to the paint section at the auto parts store they have paint that says "vinyl dye" on the can. Get the white and try that. Prep the hell out of it with soap & water then wax & grease remover before though. an S.O.S. pad and some elbow grease will get that old paint off so you can try it again... -Ron
Are the tires new or old? Looks like they may gave been weather checked. I would say letting the paint cure for more then an hour would have helped also, not sure though. Looked damn good in the first picture though, how did you get the outside line straight? I see the line in the tire but did you use regular masking tape or ...?
THanks. They are new tires. What does weather checked mean? To get the line so good I just used 1" (I think) green masking tape and bent it around the line on the tire. It took FOREVER though. About one hour per tire. It seemed like forever anyways lol.
It's in a spray can. They also sell it at automotive paint supply stores. I've sprayed all kinds of vinyl and plastic with it. Also try some Bulldog Adhesion Promoter before you shoot it and it should work on tires. -Ron
I've never tried it on tires like you guys are doing, but it does a fantastic job on plastic, I must have gone through 4 cans doing my Galaxie's interior. The black "satin" is really more a semi-gloss, if you use it, just FYI. But it does look nice and leaves a really good, durable finish. The adhesion promoter works really well. I painted the foiled chrome piping with some chrome spray paint (I know, it sounds hokey, but it really came out looking nice!), and it really made that chrome paint stick to the really smooth plastic substrate the piping was made of (I picked as much of the chrome off as possible before hand). I'd certainly give it a try, but you gotta do it all in one sitting, you only let the promoter tack up before top coating it. -Jason
I've been using Fusion for years, in fact I posted the thread on doing it a few years ago. I have about 2 years on the tires on my Daily driver, and other then the gravel driveway being a little hard on them, they still look great. New tires are a little tricky, they have something in them that screws with the paint. I've done new and old, with better results with old tires. Clean, clean, clean, that's all I can say. Try a degreaser on them, scrub them with a wire brush. Then use a paint prep type wax and grease remover on them, like you would use if you where painting a car. Try a 3m scotch pad on them too, just to scuff them up. The thinner you can keep the paint the better, you just want it to cover, not build up. Hope this helps. I have 3 cars, 2 bicycles, and a Mini Bike with Fusion white walls, and I've had great results with all of them. Some have new tires, and some are old. Good luck, Dean
Spray paint only goes so far in terms of durability. "Vinyl dye" works great to recolor plastic and vinyl interior parts (with the right amount of prep-work beforehand), that do not get subjected to everyday wear, and by that I mean, not sitting/sliding on it every day. It wears off eventually, like normal paint would on vinyl seats. That being said, I don't think this paint would hold up well in the long term on something such as a tire, and as exposed to the elements as tires are. It's meant for planter pots and patio furniture. FAWW: you should include *your results may vary.
I guess I'll have to scuff them up better and clean the shit outta them before I paint again. I will let you all know how it goes.
Here's my original post. Did you see this? Notice I DAed the tires smooth. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8249&highlight=krylon+fusion
When I was using it on plastic (I actually did use vinyl dye to redo my interior panels, it worked really well on my new dash pad but honestly it didn't take well too well to the old original panels, it looks pretty bad, bad enough I'm gonna have to redo it otherwise I will constantly be staring in anger at it ) I discovered early on you have to apply it in numerous THIN coats. If I sprayed it on heavy, it did this weird sorta beading up almost, like really bad fish eyes all over the place. Numerous thin coats and it came out good. Again, this is on plastic, so your mileage will certainly vary... But on plastic, the finished product doesn't even really seem to be painted, its sorta hard to explain, but it doesn't feel or look like it has a layer of paint (no problems with the texture in my plastic panels, none at all actually, and I put on LOTS of coats). It is on there REAL well, I couldn't scratch it off, I tried but I acutally just scratched the plastic itself. SUPPOSEDLY it has some sorta chemical reaction with the plastic to better adhere. Don't they make paint specifically for tires? When I worked at a speed shop, I seem to remember some sorta goofy crap for ricers that was various colors. Maybe something like that would be better? Don't take my word for it though, I've never used it.
I did a dry run on an old tire and it looked good and held up. On the new tires that I DA'd the lettering off it hasn't worked out. Turned from white to brown and the paint is checking somewhat like in your photo.
Mine did the same thing. tried everything.I ended up grinding in WW's now i'm a happy camper!!. Funny thing is i had the hardest time cleaning off what paint was left on the tire!!lol JimV
Don't know about tires, but SEM makes high quality vinyl dye in rattle cans, and for use in a spray gun. It holds up really well on vinyl interior parts, including seats and dashes. It can also be used to put color back into faded carpet. This stuff might just work on tires because it is flexible, and seems to withstand heat well. The main problem that I see, is that these products are all semi gloss, at best...might not be "bright" looking enough for white walls. Another vinyl dye product that is tough and flexible is Ram Kote. I haven't seen any of this brush on brand in years, but if available, really holds up on vinyl seats.
no close ups.They where just "skippys" nothing special. heres 2 pics. first one is Painted WW's, second is ground WW's JimV
I too tried the Krylon Fusion white wall test and had similar results with the cracking. I cleaned the tire and everything it just didnt work, now grinding the tire well thats another story, they actually came out great. Save your sanity and grind the side wall the Krylon thing dont work and was the biggest time waster taping etc. At first you think SWEET they turned out great then after you go down the road with them you get that cracked-up look.
Some of the painters here may be familiar with this, but when I was in school for autobody we were told not to use a petroleum based wax and grease remover on anything with a plastic or rubber base... it soaks it up like a sponge and does some bad things when you try to paint over it. I've only seen its effects on plastic parts but I'd assume the rubber would be the same. We'd only use hot soapy water for cleaning and prep. Also if the tires are new there's probably some type of mold release agent in there, not sure how you'd get that stuff out though.
Yeah I wouldn't mind grinding the tires, the only problem is is that my tires are straight blackwalls. No white what so ever underneath. I wonder if me not DA'ing the tires smooth is the reason that it chipped. I think that this is going to drive me crazy...
I also tried the vinyl spray paint, and get familiar cracks! Tried the shoepaint, and dont crack, but needs some layers to cover up the black. Gona test some more paint sulotions...
New tires have the pores packed full of mold release agents that you won't scrub out. It's the kind of thing where you'd really need to run em for a while without applying any tire dressing. The dirt and brake dust that accumulates on the tire will wick those release agents out with time and heat cycles, then you can use cleaner to remove the dirt & dust. Even though I'm not even remotely into painted whitewalls, good luck with your project.
Here are some of the main rules; Old tires are better. new tires like any other rubber are full of oils which seep out... of course oil is the enemy of any paint. Think about an old old tire.... they dry rot, right???? Oil gone.....tire cracks up. This is why scuffing and degreaseing the tire is the most essential step. A new tire will have the oils continue to seep from it, so you have to find a nice older used set of tires as oppossed to buying a cheap new set. Thin coats are crucial!!! Use as few as possible! the thicker the paint, the more prone it is to crack as the tire flexes.....DUH!!!!! as far as the lines go, I use a razor blade to cut a 3/4" roll of masking tape down even thinner. you need it thin to make nice curves. then cover it with the thick stuff. I've also considerd D.A.ing the side of the tire but have yet to do so. I've had my tires look nice and crack only to have to redo them. then again I've seen some sets look great for years. Good luck, and be pepared for failure.... p.s. Even a shitty cracked up whitewall still looks good rolling down the road!!!
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