Which side of the tire do you like?

[Chapap]

It seems that a significant number of tires have two different sidewall designs. One has a texture and low profile letters, and the other is smooth with chunkier letters. Some tires (nitro dura grappler) go a step further and have a steel plate graphic molded on one side. Does anyone have a preference? Has anyone noticed?

I guess you have to order tires online to even notice that this is a thing… if the shop does the whole thing, you never seen the other side of the tire.

 

[2011Supercab]

I prefer the black side, easier to keep clean.

 

[racsan]

Ive not noticed, but I have noticed you have to watch your installation place like a hawk, I dropped off brand new rims that never had tires on them , I had put new valve stems in myself, and they still tried to fraudulently charge me $4 per tire for a disposal fee & $2 per tire for valve stems. They did back down & correct the bill when I called them on it. At another place I watched them put tires on & not put in new valve stems, I had already paid in advance for the valves. I need my own tire machine so I can avoid this nonsense. lol.

 

[cbxer55]

Depends on the tire. I have two BF Goodrich Radial TA's on the back of my truck, but Mastercraft Avenger GTs on the front. If all four were Radial TA's, I'd have them white letters out. Eventually I will replace the fronts with Radial TA's and then will have my friend turn the rears inside out.

I have a friend that does tires at his Sinclair station. So I take them off one truck, put them in the back of the other and haul them, the three miles to his shop. They usually do them right there in front of me in PDQ fashion.

 

[sgtsandman]

I prefer the black wall so I don’t have to keep the letters clean. Other than that, I don’t care what the sidewall looks like.

 

[Chapap]

here’s the set of tires where I made this discovery. I kinda like white letters/stripe. If I ever picked a tire with that option I’d probably go for it.

 

[Roert42]

I always go with white letters out on a full set of new tires. Black letters out on a mixed set.

Every tire shop I've used has always asked how I wanted them.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I'm really debating this set...

 

[Chapap]

I'm really debating this set...

View attachment 91902

Don't know that I've ever noticed a color on the sidewall. General makes good stuff it appears. I had HTS60 in my cart, but the intrusive thoughts won and I wnet with untested new version of Falken HT. The old version had a bad rep, but their ATs are highly regarded. I'm hoping they brought the HT up to the standard. My last set of Falken passenger tires made it close to 70k then separated. I believe General is owned by Continental now.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I usually do white letter out if it’s a matching full set and black letter out if not, but sometimes things happen like I ended up picking up a pair of junkyard rims and tires for my F-150 and they were white letter out so I have a mis-matched set on there that’s white letter out. I’m not upset about it enough to switch it to black letter out, got more important things to worry about right now.

Pretty much every tire shop I’ve been to asked which side I preferred out.

I had an arrangement at one of the local shops to do my own tires for a number of years. If they weren’t super busy, I could pull the truck in a bay and use the tire machine and throw the old tires in their bin. Unfortunately the manager moved on and I lost that benefit. I’ve done my own tires by hand before and while possible, it’s a real workout just using tire spoons and a high-lift jack.

I currently have my own tire machine. I did have a place to dispose of tires but now I have to find somewhere else. That’s the biggest downside to doing your own tires, disposal. I prefer to do my own tires because I prefer to use internal balancing media. Most shops don’t want to be bothered by it. I prefer it. No wheel weights to mess up your rims and start rust/corrosion, no need to re-balance as the tires wear, and it lasts virtually forever. The stuff in the tires on my F-150 is currently in the third set of tires. It will likely be used in the fourth set of tires too.

 

[Chapap]

I prefer to use internal balancing media.

Never heard of that. It both does and doesn't seem like it'd work. Isn't fix-a-flat goop supposed to make it about impossible to ballance?

 

[dvdswan]

Depends on how nostalgic you want to be. Era of the vehicle is a big decision. 70s/80s/90s trucks were white letters out on wagon wheels.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Never heard of that. It both does and doesn't seem like it'd work. Isn't fix-a-flat goop supposed to make it about impossible to ballance?

So, there’s a couple different types of the internal balancing stuff. Equal is a sandy material that tends to clump if moisture is present. There’s also glass beads (forget the name it’s often sold under) and ceramic beads. I’ve used the glass and I’ve used the ceramic and the ceramic, IMHO, is the best.

You use a specific amount based on your tire size. Simple physics does the rest. At low speeds it doesn’t balance, but at low speeds balance isn’t needed. As you speed up though, the media spreads out in the tire and gets pinned in place due to centrifugal force (much like the tilt a whirl at the fair where when it gets up to speed you get “sucked” into place when it spins up). Since it’s seeking balance, the round beads that are stuck against the tread of the tire will distribute until balance is reached.

The fix-a-flat stuff is entirely different being a goop and having more “media” in the tire than needed. To some degree it will follow the same physics as the beads, but will be less effective. I think the glass beads are less effective than the ceramic because only the ceramic are actually round. Fluid dynamics are a little different than solid dynamics as well.

The ceramic beads I get are from a company https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...lancing.com/&usg=AOvVaw00GW5tdNtSZaDo0On22y5z

 

[Lefty]

Depends on how nostalgic you want to be. Era of the vehicle is a big decision. 70s/80s/90s trucks were white letters out on wagon wheels.

View attachment 91908

Yup: lettering outward comes from a different era. The Ranger began during that time. Should you wish to"throw a look" on yours you can go vintage/retro, lettering out, OR modern. The wheel itself is part of that look. I took the look one step forward and made a retro grille too.

 

[superj]

So, there’s a couple different types of the internal balancing stuff. Equal is a sandy material that tends to clump if moisture is present. There’s also glass beads (forget the name it’s often sold under) and ceramic beads. I’ve used the glass and I’ve used the ceramic and the ceramic, IMHO, is the best.

You use a specific amount based on your tire size. Simple physics does the rest. At low speeds it doesn’t balance, but at low speeds balance isn’t needed. As you speed up though, the media spreads out in the tire and gets pinned in place due to centrifugal force (much like the tilt a whirl at the fair where when it gets up to speed you get “sucked” into place when it spins up). Since it’s seeking balance, the round beads that are stuck against the tread of the tire will distribute until balance is reached.

The fix-a-flat stuff is entirely different being a goop and having more “media” in the tire than needed. To some degree it will follow the same physics as the beads, but will be less effective. I think the glass beads are less effective than the ceramic because only the ceramic are actually round. Fluid dynamics are a little different than solid dynamics as well.

The ceramic beads I get are from a company https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjLxsisr9n-AhWYAjQIHbKlCl4QFnoECBUQAQ&url=https://www.innovativebalancing.com/&usg=AOvVaw00GW5tdNtSZaDo0On22y5z

i have always wondered how well that kind of stuff works. do you get any wobble anytime with those beads in the tire or is it smooth all the time, just like wheel weights?