New Tires Tuff Shined !

[swanicyouth]

New Tires Tuff Shined !


I got 4 new tires today. General Grabber AT2s





Of course the tire shop had sloppy hand prints in tire bead lube all over my wheels and new tires:



They also got some mystery grease on my wheels that wouldn't come off with regular wheel cleaner. It took Meg's Degreaser to remove it:



Then there is the obligatory scratches where the tire "technician" jammed his screwdriver into my center caps to pop them off:



Anyway, everything needed to be cleaned up, and I wanted to get Tuff Shine on the tires. This is my first set of tires that will never see any conventional dressings from the get go.

The stuff for the tires::



I ended up cleaning the wheels as well. I don't think a lot of people know this, but the excellent Tuff Shine tire cleaner (non concentrate) can be diluted 1:1 with DI water without affecting its performance. The cleaner is very good for what it's designed for, cleaning tires, but its kind of expensive for a tire cleaner ($40 a gallon). Diluting it 1:1 cuts the cost in half, but the cleaner still works very well.

TS Tire Cleaner 1:1 :



It had no problem taking care of this yellow mark:



I also always drive up on pieces of wood so you can clean and dress the whole tire without rolling the vehicle around and getting the tire dirty. You want the tires completely clean with Tuff Shine.

I was curious to see if I would get any dark foam from the cleaner since the tires where brand new.

Foam stayed mostly white:



However, I like to apply the TS all the way into the tread on the tire edge, it stays pretty well. So, I cleaned about a 1/4" into the tread. There was some dirt there. I always find when cleaning a tire its best to clean from the part closest to the rim out, as that area is farthest from the ground and the cleanest.

After I made sure the tires where 100% clean and dry, I coated them with TS's Tire Clear Coat. I used 3 or 4 coats. Once the tire is clean, TS is pretty hard to screw up. The coats dry pretty quick. However, the first coat never dries perfectly even for me.

1st coat:





After 3-4 coats I was very happy with the look. I find if you brush any wet spots out (hight spots) while the coating dries it evens it out and looks better when it dries.

Before:



After (different wheel):









I was going to do a waterless wash, but of course it started to rain. I love TS because it makes maintenance washing easier and faster. You never have to clean or dress tires. You can just wipe off the tires with soap and a towel. There is no dirt or brown that sticks to the tire.

Also, the tire remains new looking forever. Since it doesn't get dirty, you never need to scrub the tire. You never have to remove the TS from the tire, you just top it off every once in a while. My last tires were coated over a year (driven daily) and I never removed the original coat.

The tires always look good and new. You only use the cleaner once during the initial application. Snow, road salt, soap, and rain seems to have little to no affect on the Tuff Shine coating. Yes, it is expensive compared to traditional dressings. But, since I'm almost out of the coating, I plan to get the 32oz bottle and that should last years.

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Wow that looks incredible! I think you just persuaded me to get on the tuff shine bandwagon and get away from the conventional tire dressings.

Thanks Steve.

[MarkD51]

You should've taken your center caps off before going. I've actually gotten better tire service from wally world, and from a woman no less.

She crapped on every man in the place.

[The Guz]

That looks really good. I may have to get this once I use up what dressing I have.

[VISITOR]

what do you use to clean all the gunk of the tire brush?

[swanicyouth]

You should've taken your center caps off before going. I've actually gotten better tire service from wally world, and from a woman no less.

She crapped on every man in the place.

I was thinking about new center caps anyway. There is another style cap that fits with a chrome emblem I've been looking at. Now I have a good reason to get them.

[Don.]

Wow! Your tires look better than new. I also used tough shine on my truck tires and was very happy, although I used over half the bottle of the cleaner. I wish I would have known about diluting it. Well, now I know for next time. Thanks for the tip.

[swanicyouth]

what do you use to clean all the gunk of the tire brush?

That's a really good question, and its important for Tuff Shine. First I blast it with a hose. Then I work the TS cleaner in it with an old terry cotton towel. Then hose it again. Sometimes I will use a grit guard and scrub the brush on it under running water.

To get it 100% clean and the bristles glowing white, I spray it with a few sprays of mineral spirits I keep in a 4oz spray bottle. It doesn't take much, this is in the little sample bottles AG uses for sprays. 5 or 6 mists. Then, I spray half a spray of the TS cleaner on the brush (so it foams) and work it in with a cotton towel. Then rinse. The dirt will transfer from the bristles to the towel.

While it's a bit of work, you only have to do it once, as the tires never need to be cleaned this way again. Its important to do it right the first time, or the coating will peel. You want the tire and the brush "surgically clean". You want the brush bristles to be ivory white, that means the tire is 100% clean. So, you have to keep cleaning the brush as not to re- deposit gunk on the tire. You don't need to work the cleaner forever, its better to rinse frequently and start with a new spray. You have to keep rinsing to flush the dirt away.

Here you can see the brush and the mineral spirits:

[EvolutionDetail]

Hey man what did u use to apply the coating?
Back when i used my Tuf shine, i used their orange applicator and i kept getting air bubbles here and there and it looked super bad.... I notice if i dont smooth it out and leave a "High spot" they will turn into a air bubble or some sort....

[Boudin]

Looks great, love Tuff Shine for looks and ease of maintenance. I have not used anything other then car wash soap or UWW+ on my tires and they are still looking great after 4months.