Things You Don't See Very Often Anymore

by "Jcarr" (jcarr)
Published 05/24/2017 at 09:51

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STARS: 1

Yesterday I saw a Murano wearing tires with raised white lettering and it got me thinking that you don’t see those all that often anymore. They’re still relatively common on pickups, but they’ve pretty much disappeared as OEM on anything else. I imagine that’s due in large part to increasing wheel size and corresponding decreases in sidewall height, but I wonder if it’s a bit of a fashion thing as well. They looked terribly out of place on that Murano. They’re like the jean shorts of the automotive world.

Replies (27)

"adamftw" (adamftw)
05/24/2017 at 09:52, STARS: 0

White letters out brotherhood.

"Jcarr" (jcarr)
05/24/2017 at 09:53, STARS: 1

Still looks good on pickup to me. Looks terrible on anything else.

"Honeybunchesofgoats" (honeybunche0fgoats)
05/24/2017 at 09:55, STARS: 1

I haven’t seen T/A in a long time and even then it wasn’t very often.

:’(

"adamftw" (adamftw)
05/24/2017 at 09:55, STARS: 1

Any old(er) 4x4 works too, I think. Had them on my old XJ too.

"Stapleface" (patrickgruden)
05/24/2017 at 09:59, STARS: 0

Last time I bought a set of Goodyear Wranglers they were symetrical and I was given the option of mounting with the white lettering in or out. They were going on an S-10 Pickup. So of course they went out. But, this was probably close to 12 years or so ago now.

"crowmolly" (crowmolly)
05/24/2017 at 10:03, STARS: 9

Many people do not know that the old school white letter tires use a solid white layer sandwiched into the sidewall that is squeezed outward through raised areas in the tire mold. Then a cosmetic layer of black is applied to the surface white layer. Finally a machine buffs away the black cosmetic layer only on the raised portions and that is how the white letter look is achieved. On modern low profile, performance tires, there is not enough room to sandwich this solid white layer.

Credit to TredWear. It’s the same deal with whitewalls, too.

"Sweet Trav" (thespunbearing)
05/24/2017 at 10:04, STARS: 3

RWL tires : Good.

Tire Stickers: So horrible they need to be purged from this earth!

"Jcarr" (jcarr)
05/24/2017 at 10:05, STARS: 3

"Jcarr" (jcarr)
05/24/2017 at 10:05, STARS: 0

Ah, but what about white chalk on my bike tires?

"MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s" (mastermario)
05/24/2017 at 10:13, STARS: 1

Ahem

I disagree

"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
05/24/2017 at 10:14, STARS: 1

Sidewalls of 65 or greater, sure...maybe. Anything smaller than that just looks goofy and dated. Like Roger Moore’s Lotus Esprit on the FP.

"Jcarr" (jcarr)
05/24/2017 at 10:14, STARS: 1

I should clarify, I’m talking about new cars. They look perfectly fine on older vehicles where they were originally the norm.

"Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer" (smallbear94)
05/24/2017 at 10:15, STARS: 1

I had mine white letters out last year.

Unfortunately I forgot to tell the dealer that this spring, and they put them on white letters in.

:(

"kanadanmajava1" (kanadanmajava1)
05/24/2017 at 10:17, STARS: 0

How about painted letters?

"MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s" (mastermario)
05/24/2017 at 10:19, STARS: 0

Good. That Challenger in your post doesn’t look bad though either, but considering it’s basically a refreshed muscle car from the era that they were the norm your point still holds.

"Sweet Trav" (thespunbearing)
05/24/2017 at 10:20, STARS: 1

Only acceptable if it is the tire brand on slicks e.g. Goodyear / Avon etc. anything is gaudy and gross.

"Sweet Trav" (thespunbearing)
05/24/2017 at 10:21, STARS: 0

Chalk is fine, serves a purpose.

"Nothing" (nothingatalluseful)
05/24/2017 at 10:23, STARS: 0

I like them on the Cougar. While I don’t mind them on trucks, I’ll stay blackwall on the Taco, if I ever get to the point where I need new tires on that.

"Your boy, BJR" (jerseyshoreben)
05/24/2017 at 10:24, STARS: 1

You need to be purged from this earth.

"Sweet Trav" (thespunbearing)
05/24/2017 at 10:34, STARS: 0

New Jersey needs to be purged from this earth.

"Sovande" (sovande)
05/24/2017 at 11:00, STARS: 0

Brand new RWL’s. They look good on certain cars, and goofy on others.

"Funktheduck" (funktheduck)
05/24/2017 at 11:26, STARS: 0

I’ve always had white letters on my old truck. Looks weird without

"vicali" (vicali)
05/24/2017 at 11:27, STARS: 0

Usually I’m a letters in kind of guy but when I put these K02's on there was only really one option;

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
05/24/2017 at 11:33, STARS: 0

A lot of replacement truck/SUV tires have white letters on one side and black on the other so you can choose. Murano owner probably went with a vaguely trucky replacement tire and either wanted the white letters facing our or didn’t know/care about the difference.

"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
05/24/2017 at 11:51, STARS: 0

I like it. I don’t find it a bad thing. Plus it reminds me of old school drag cars and race cars

SO no, I don’t think lettering raise and painted on a tire is a bad thing at all as long as the vehicle is modified. Stock it is stupid and stickers are dumb.

"Your boy, BJR" (jerseyshoreben)
05/24/2017 at 12:48, STARS: 0

You still need to be purged from this earth.

"My bird IS the word" (mybirdistheword)
05/24/2017 at 12:49, STARS: 0

This is some quality oppo.