Removing tire stubble

[DragonHawk]

I got some new Firestones on my SUV and they have 1/4 inch rubber hairs for the lack of a better description sticking out on the side walls. Do these serve any purpose and can I pluck them off?

[Burnt350]

Those are actually called vent spews. They serve absolutely no purpose after a tire is made. Have fun with the scissors :)

[FUNX650]

Those are "sprues"---excesses of rubber, that goes
into the vent holes in the tire mold, during the tire's
manufacturing process.

They serve no purpose...except for saying that this
is a tire that has seen negligible road wear & tear.
(Call it a characteristic of a "new" tire, if you will)

I say: Pluck 'em...if you so desire to do so.


Bob

[2black1s]

I've never "plucked" them off but if I were to do it I'd grab them with a pair of needle nose pliers, or tweezers, stretch them a little and then slice them off with a razor blade as close to the tire sidewall as possible. They serve no purpose. They are simply residual material from the manufacturing process.

[DragonHawk]

Ok cool thanks guys, I like the razor blade idea since I did pull one off with my fingers already and it left a little bump behind. I'm definitely going to take them off so it looks nice and smooth. I've had tires with these before but never even thought about Removing them until now. After hanging out on this forum, I have a totally new eye for these details.

[AutoApollo]

Ok cool thanks guys, I like the razor blade idea since I did pull one off with my fingers already and it left a little bump behind. I'm definitely going to take them off so it looks nice and smooth. I've had tires with these before but never even thought about Removing them until now. After hanging out on this forum, I have a totally new eye for these details.

Honestly I wouldn't even bother lol. Unless it REALLY bugs you haha

[DragonHawk]

Well yeah I guess it bugs me a little. There's a lot of them on there, I think it'll help applying dressing if I took them off also.

[FUNX650]

Well yeah I guess it bugs me a little.
There's a lot of them on there,

Sometimes those rubber-sprue-teets actually
bugs other people a lot more, especially when
they think that someone may have newer tires! :dblthumb2:



I think it'll help applying dressing if I took them off also.
If you use Optimum's Opti-Bond; or:
Meguiar's M40...those rubber-teets
won't ever be an issue.


Bob

[DragonHawk]

Sometimes those rubber-sprue-teets actually
bugs other people a lot more, especially when
they think that someone may have newer tires! :dblthumb2:

Bob

Haha Bob it definitely feels good to have new tires, swiping my debit card to pay for them was pretty sucky though lol.

[hogie]

Maybe you should've used a credit car so you could get 1.5% cash back! :)

Still sucks though. I just paid cash for a mega cheap set of summer wheels and tires for my Mustang. I still need to get some all seasons for this upcoming winter! arrgh