What happened to white lettering on tires?

MazdaFace said:

I know the Firestone destination line all have white letters (at, le2, and Mt) but you have to ask the tech or sales person to mount them white letters out 

True ... I had to.

I thought they had gone the way of the white shoes and white belt, AKA the "full Cleveland".

Good to know I'm not out of fashion.

slowbird said:

I'm fixin' to get me some purple tire letters.

https://smile.amazon.com/Tire-Ink-Permanent-Waterproof-Carwash/dp/B07B7Q223G/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=tire%2Bpen&qid=1581558632&sr=8-4&th=1

Sweet.

I just got a new set with white letters earlier this year.

In reply to Knurled. :

Ah, crap, my tire math went the wrong way. Should have said 30 series sidewalls.

I actually like the look on the 'kids these days' cars.  I would do it on the Manic Miata, but I don't think I could bear the shame of spending time and money on something that trivial when there are so many more productive things I could be doing.

White letters were the thing for years, the trend is just coming back around. I like the look. Seeing it done with decals is wrong though. They get damaged and come off easy. I have seen a few pirelli decals on el cheapo tires as pointed out earlier.

Gearheadotaku said:

White letters were the thing for years, the trend is just coming back around. I like the look. Seeing it done with decals is wrong though. They get damaged and come off easy. I have seen a few pirelli decals on el cheapo tires as pointed out earlier.

Here's 32 pages of temporary and permanent stickers;

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-tires-stickers-parts/

Mr_Asa said:

Why did it go away?  As someone with an all white, 90s era truck it just looked right to have a set of Michelin LTs with the white lettering standing out proudly.  Is that just me?

I've seen the kits to add them to tires, and there are a couple Chargers rolling around here with big ole NITTO lettering on their wheels.  It makes me want to see if Cooper has a set for the rubber on my truck.

Anyone tried the kits? Any comments on them?

Coopers you say?

Discoverer AT3 XLTs on my F150. Love em. 275/70r18

stanger_missle said:

I've had 2 recent vehicles that have had OWRL tires:

2012 Wrangler, bought new in 2012 and sold in 2018:

 

And the truck I just bought, a 2015 Ram 1500:

 

People would give me crap about having the white lettering side out on the Wrangler. I think has a classic look to it.

 

Is your RAM lowered....  looks like 2"/2" to me.  I have a 2/4" lowering springs and rear axle relocation brackets, I need gone.  I loved my Ram 2dr, but needed 4 drs and wanted 4wd again.  I miss the hemi though.  

Some came on the last set of wheels/tires I bought. I don't hate the look, but doubt I'll put them back on when it needs new tires this year. 

I miss white letter tires.  Half the reason I was looking at BFG KO2s for the Crosstrek was to get white letters.

I like RWL tires. I'm glad they are making a comeback. Both my Trans Am and the Power Wagon are rocking BFG's with RWL tires.

They just look "right" on the appropriate vehicles.

I have been thinking about going blackwall on the truck with the next set to increase my choices, but hopefully they still make some beefy tires with RWL's when the time comes.

BionicTigerShark said:

Anyone else notice this?

omg thats great. I should put BFG logos on my MRF tires and bother people. 

RWLs are alive and well in our collection. 

K02s on the FZJ80:

Destinations on the C10:

To me, they're a requirement on certain vehicles. I had them on my '85 EXP a few years ago, and on every Squarebody GM that I've owned. They're almost as important as narrow whitewalls on Broughams and Sedan Devilles.

General Grabber ATs on Geo Tracker

My grandpa had a tire store where I changed tires and worked in the 70's.  At some point in the late 70's people started asking to have the whitewalls/raised white letter tires flipped so the black wall showed instead.   It was mostly younger people with sporty cars and it wasn't a high percentage.   The trend continued and got more widespread.  I think it was because they wanted the racecar look.   That's why I did it to my cars back then.   At some point raised white letters screamed "mullet" but probably not anymore,  I think now people just want the nostalgic look.  

Hmm.

White letters that take up less than 33% of a bulgy cantilevered sidewall look good.

White letters that take up the whole sidewall, or are on sidewalls that are flat, look like crap.

This is my unvarnished opinion that you can be free to ignore or stroke your chin and say "Dumbass has a point".

In reply to AnthonyGS :

Nope, its at stock height. I think its the perspective that makes it look lowered. I really want to lower it and have been looking at 2/4" kits. What brand is yours? I'm definitely interested. This is my second Ram. My first was a 2010 that was almost identical to this one. They are great trucks. The first thing I did was change the exhaust. I'm a fan of the Hemi despite some of the issues that they can have. I have a whole ton of mods planned for this beast.

In reply to Knurled. :

I think it depends on the vehicle as well.  

I'm no help:

I didn't mean to have the ROWL side out when I got the tires mounted on the Jeep. I forgot to tell the shop that I wanted the black sidewall out but they mounted the ROWL side out. At first, I didn't like it but it quickly grew on me. I felt it breaks up the black tires with the black wheels. The tires were 33x12.50x15 Goodyear Duratracs. They were great tires.

sorry, but I see no down sides to white lettering and white walls going away forever

We are rockin' the white letters.

In reply to Gimp :

That was my opinion of Port a Walls.