Tire question regarding cosmetics

[Joe 1320]

I've wondered this for quite some time. I have so many vehicles with all different brands of tires. Why is it some tires seem to stay relatively clean while some of them get road brown very quickly? Some of them even seem to brown with very little diving if any driving at all. For example, I put considerable mileage on my Goodyear GSD3s and it takes hundreds of miles before the sidewall turns brown, yet my Firestone SZ50s seem to turn brown with hardly any use. What are the manufacturers doing with their formulas that either cause this or deter the browning effect?

[Christopherrr]

really? brown? I've gone through some tires in my time, but ever turned brown except from brake-dust.

[Joe 1320]

really? brown? I've gone through some tires in my time, but ever turned brown except from brake-dust.

just to clarify, it is a film buildup.... the rubber itself doesn't turn brown. The stuff will clean off with cleaner/scrubbing.

[TraceZ]

Huh. I've got the SZ50ep's on mine and havent noticed any problems.

Are you sure it is the tire itself and not the brand of cleaner you use on it? Some of the "wet" tire treatments could attract dirt faster than others.

[Joe 1320]

Huh. I've got the SZ50ep's on mine and havent noticed any problems.

Are you sure it is the tire itself and not the brand of cleaner you use on it? Some of the "wet" tire treatments could attract dirt faster than others.

I rarely use them, I prefer the natural look. Clean and natural. I thought about that so I did a comparison au natural for several weeks. It definately seems to be tire brand related.

[Injuneer]

I see it on my company truck a lot, but we have a discount arrangement with a local car wash, and the boss insists that we get the tires ArmorAll'd every time (I suspect theyuse something other than ArmorAll). Seems like driving in dusty conditions lets the dust adhere to the tire dressing. The trucks that get driven off the pavement the most seem to build it up faster. But if you don't use the tire dressing that can't explain it. I've seen the brown layer on other vehicles too.

The big enemy of rubber is ozone. That causes it to deteriorate.... maybe it will cause a brown oxidation layer on the surface of the tire. Ken would probably know better, but I suspect that it takes some sort of special feature in the formulation of the rubber compound to resist ozone attack..... some manufacturers might have better ozone resistance in their compounds.