Long term running of whitewall paint / inserts

[Moseley]

I'm in need of some whitewalls in my life, and have been weighing up the pros and cons of whitewall paint (from the likes of mr whitewalls) or a set of inserts. Now if you google either of these, it is full of stories of paint going brown and cracking / peeling and inserts going yellow, splitting and wearing through the tyre wall itself.

For those using either, or who have done in the past; what are your experiences and how well do they last?

I only do minimal mileage in the bus, but I would be good to use something which will still look good after a few years. 8)

 

[Davydomes]

I used to have Atlas White Wall inserts on a Type 1. I seem to remember the biggest issue I had was "getting someone who would fit them" and after a while the adhesive began to fail and they rippled in places so I had to quite frequently glue the ripple back down. This was back in the mid 90's and there weren't many fitted with white walls back then, so maybe as they are now more common fitting/glueing of them has improved.

 

[Trikky2]

Even real white walls get grubby pretty fast and need regular effort and elbow grease to get them reasonably white again. I guess it's why they fell out of favour.

 

[Gwar72]

I have the inserts and you can fit them yourself. See my thread on page 8

I replace my original ones (came with van 5 yrs ago) cos one have started to deteriorated and I scuffed one to.

 

[lobie]

I have these on mine been on for 2 years now heres the link http://www.ravus.de/Produkte_cat_66.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

you can translate into English with google chrome

 

[Moseley]

I've taken a look at those Ravus ones - my fear is freshly powder coated wheels I imagine will get ruined when fitting them, and also, it looks like you have to fit the chrome rim with those.

Mixed opinions on the Atlas ones also, much like a google search showed up.

Anyone any feedback of painted whitewalls?

 

[Resto-raider]

I Have a friend that has white inserts on his Beetle and he showed me how they wore into the tire. You don't believe it until you see it.

 

[Moseley]

I Have a friend that has white inserts on his Beetle and he showed me how they wore into the tire. You don't believe it until you see it.

This is what worries me slightly, although I haven't read anything where a tyre wall has failed completely. However, it was why I wanted to hear from anyone running painted ones to see how that fairs.

 

[Foz]

You do get tire wear on the walls, due to the inserts constantly flexing as the tire turns and where the bulge of the weight on the tire is at the bottom, causing chaffing to the rubber wall, however I was told this can be drastically reduced by smearing a very very thin layer of grease between the tire and whitewall insert. Never tried it so cant comment on its success. I would imagine this would have to be done on a regular basis tho.

I was going down this route a few years back, but after much research I too decided its probably best left alone.