Review: PBL Tire Clear Coat

[Mike Phillips]

Review: PBL Tire Clear Coat






What is it?

A water based tire coating - not a dressing.


What does it do?

Seals the surface of the tire sidewall and also white walls and white lettering with a water based film that bonds to the rubber.


When do I use it?

After thoroughly washing, scrubbing and getting the tires surgically clean.


Why should I use it?

To provide a long lasting deep, dark black finish to your vehicles tires that is dry to the touch.




Directions for Use

Before application, tires must be extremely clean. Clean using the Pinnacle Black Label Gel Tire Cleaner. The Gel Tire Cleaner will remove all previously applied dressings and will allow the Tire Clear Coat to form a bond to the tire sidewall. Allow tires to fully dry.

Dispense a nickel-sized dollop to a foam tire applicator and smooth evenly along the sidewall of the tire. Allow the Tire Clear Coat to dry for 30-60 minutes between coats, if desired.

Important: Always wear nitrile gloves. Apply to white letters and whitewalls first and allow to dry completely before coating the rest of the tire.



Dirt Road Dust

A good buddy of mine had me detail his 2015 Chevy Z71 Suburban. As a part of the process, I used the Pinnacle Black Label Tire Coating to coat his tires instead of using a conventional tire dressing. From time to time he drives down a dirt road and with a conventional tire dressing, the dirt and dust stick to the tire sidewalls. I told him about tire coatings and how they dry to the touch. This means the dirt and the dust will wash off easily using normal car wash soap. Problem solved.


Here's the tires after a thorough scrubbing, rinsing and drying.





Here's just ONE application of the PBL Tire Clear Coat.







Here's the tires after two applications. Note it's important to let the first application FULLY dry before applying the second application.





Here's the final results

Deep, dark black tires that will wash clean using any normal car wash soap. Best of all... the tires are not oily or tacky like they would be with a conventional tire dressing.









Review

Tire coatings are different than tire dressings in that they form a semi-permanent bond to the tire sidewall and dry to the touch. To me this a better approach for a "tire shine" because it gives your tires the deep dark shine we all love without also being a dirt and dust magnet. If you rub up against the tires there's not black oily goo that comes off and onto you. This includes your wash mitts and tire brushes. The finish left behind is almost like a plastic membrane that's flexible. And as long as you don't do stupid stuff, like spraying a harsh cleaner onto the tire sidewalls - the coating can last up to a year. Then if you want to refresh the appearance, simply clear really well and re-apply the coating.

The PBL Tire Clear Coat is easy to use. After first cleaning the tires thoroughly, simply use a foam applicator to apply and massage the product over the tire sidewall. This product dries fairly quick so you want to work at a good clip as this makes it easier to leave a uniform looking appearance. If you like a dark sheen, stop after one or two coats. If you like more shine and gloss apply up to 3 to 4 coats. The first coat is the most important because you want to work the product into all the various surface features of the tire sidewall, things like lettering and siping. A lot of tires have siping, which are a pattern of lines that run across the tire sidewall. Siping is fairly common and when applying a tire coating you want to work the coating into the grooves of the siping as well as any lettering on the sidewall. Subsequent coats are faster and easier to apply if you do a great job with the first application.



My own personal rule

When it comes to choosing either a tire dressing or a tire coating my own personal rule is this; If a tire dressing is already present on the tires - I stick with tire dressings. If the tire is new and/or a tire dressing has never been applied to the tire - then I'll use a tire coating. I prefer to use tire coatings but alas, many of the car I detail have already had a tire dressing applied to the tires, thus I stick with a tire dressing. But if the owner purchased the car new and were blessed in that the dealership did NOT apply some type of tire dressing then these tires are perfect for a tire coating. Also - anytime someone buys a new set of tires for their car, these are good candidates for a tire coating.



Out-gassing and leaching of impurities

When a tire is brand new, often times there can be a processing film on the tires and there can also be some out-gassing and/or leaching of impurities out of the rubber surface and off the rubber surface. In a perfect world, for brand new tires you want to drive on them for a few weeks or even a month or so during this time wash them thoroughly but do not apply any type of dressing or rubber conditioner. Just leave them bare-naked. Then when the time comes to apply the coating, give them a super thorough wash and dry. I even use a Panel Wipe to prep the rubber after washing and drying just to make sure the tires sidewalls are surgically clean.


If you've always used tire dressings but the idea of a dry-to-the touch finish on your car's tires interests you - then consider a tire coating.


On Autogeek.com


Pinnacle Black Label Tire Clear Coat

Speed Master Tire Dressing Applicator


I like these for applicators too, this is the one you see on the garage floor in one of the pictures above. The tapered edge works well for working the coating over the rubber next to the lip of the rim and also in and around lettering.

Buff and Shine Red Foam Wax & Sealant Applicator Pad with Tapered Edge - 2-Pack

[Eldorado2k]

Nice review. Looks like a product that’s definitely worth checking out and I too really like those Speed Master applicators, especially for applying tire coatings.

Fyi: The link to the tire clear coat isn’t working for me.

[Mike Phillips]

Nice review. Looks like a product that’s definitely worth checking out and I too really like those Speed Master applicators, especially for applying tire coatings.

Thanks.

I have a set of tires off a buddy's truck that have smooth sidewalls and white letters. Next week I'll coat them with this and add the pictures to this thread with any other tips or techniques that help out.

Fyi: The link to the tire clear coat isn’t working for me.

Thanks for the heads-up, the URL link was corrupted. It's fixed now.