Tire Lettering - Tried Something Different

[Nuckingfuts]

The obvious research for white tire lettering for my son's '73 shortbox yielded the standard cheap route short lived options or the higher end decals that last. Having done tire pens, silicone, and plastidip in the past with short lived results I decided to look into these new rubber decals that are glued onto the tire. After doing some reading up I thought $30+ per tire was excessive for something I could try and mimic.

The materials these guys use is very much like a PVC temp shelter found on farms or possibly EPDM pond liners. In my early years I use to be a roofer and had the idea to get some EPDM roofing material and experiment with some various adhesives to get the best bite. Ran down to a local contractors yard and bummed a scrap piece of 40 mil sheet and picked up some EPDM specific adhesive as well as some loctite superglue to compare. I set up some 'peel' tests on an old trailer tire to determine cohesive strength and a day later I decided to go with super glue.

Took the EPDM sheet and cleaned off any release agents with a degreaser, ruffed it up with a wire brush then wiped it down with acetone. For the tire prep I used a degreaser several times over followed by acetone. I then took a picture of the tire, trying my best to square up the camera to the tire logo. Imported the pics to Photoshop and created an outline of the letters which I was able to print and cutout. With some patience and a few beers in had this.

[Nuckingfuts]

The time sink was definitely in cutting out the letters and prepping the tires but with only $15 invested I was pretty happy with the results. Hoping the adhesive holds but if not I'll go back to the EPDM specific adhesive which is much less moisture sensitive and worked just fine as well. I'll try and get some better pics out of the garage later this next week. Feel free to post questions or comments.

[RedBed]

Hey that's a really cool idea, well done!

So what about using something like this white Flex-Seal tape? It's rubberized, thick and stickier than gorilla snot.

[Nuckingfuts]

Originally Posted by RedBed

Hey that's a really cool idea, well done!

So what about using something like this white Flex-Seal tape? It's rubberized, thick and stickier than gorilla snot.

Heck, give it a shot ya never know. I love experimenting! I'm a chemical engineer by trade so I'm usually looking for adhesives with material compatibility, not sure what chemistry is being used with this product but it's worth a looksee just for experience gained if nothing else. Cool suggestion!

[UKNOWME]

You've done a great job! Any more pics of the truck? Looks nice

[andrewmp6]

http://tredwear.com/tire-kits/ makes that kinda thing and isn't that bad of a price.

[S10Fan]

I'm not much of a white letter tire guy, but those look nice, good job!

[cadillac_al]

It looks great! I wouldn't have the patience to do it though.

[buffydores]

I hate white letters... because they never look like that. That is sharp.

[dirish]

Look really good!

[bbbc10]

Ppl doing these colored letters on tires is dumb if they are not og bf goodrich or cooper tires its not right

[blazer2007]

Originally Posted by bbbc10

Ppl doing these colored letters on tires is dumb if they are not og bf goodrich or cooper tires its not right

relax, just some ideas

[mongocanfly]

our local news did a report on flextape and gave it high marks..said it was extremely sticky

[Jstock85]

+ That looks great!