epricedright Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 Does tire dressing really hurt your tires and possibly void mfr. warranty? Something about it taking away the rubbers UV blocking properties and drying out your tires leading to sidewall cracking...or is that all a bunch of hogwash? Any scientific studies that have been done to prove those theories? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonA Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 You know, I used to use it all the time. As I'm researching new tires, I came upon Michelin's treadwear warranty statement. Included in there is a message about tire dressing voiding a treadwear (longevity) warranty. If you buy road hazard, it shouldn't affect that, but it appears to void a treadwear warranty. And I've only had my Pilots for a little over two years, but there are a lot of small cracks that I would say look like stress cracks on the sidewall, down toward the rim. I don't know if the dressing did that or not. My truck tires (which are 4 years old) don't have those cracks, but I also don't know if the previous owner used dressing or not. I'd say not, and I've never used it much on the truck either. I have stopped using tire dressing on both of my vehicles in the past few months...and I certainly won't use it on my new tires. The tires I plan to get (Michelin X Radial) have an 80,000 treadwear warranty. Whether or not they last that long, I certainly expect them to last longer than 35k miles (what I got out of the Pilots), and I don't want to damage them prematurely. So...scientific or not...I've used it and my Pilots do have very small cracks at the very inner edge of the sidewalls. Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond) "When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msilva954 Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 For about the last year I stoped using it because of discoloration etc.....but ive started again...with a rub on one....and every weekend when I wash the car I always use eagle one A2Z....I think this keeps them clean and protected Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill K Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 Per Michelin warantee: "Tire dressings that contain PETROLEUM DISTALETS" will damage your tires. In other words dont use deisel fuel or kerosene to shine your tires. I dont know of any company that puts that stuff in their tire dressing. The tire dressings usually contain UV blockers that are beneficial to tire life. Meguiars, 303, Zaino, Blackfire, Eagle, Armor All......None contain any petroleum distalets. I dont know for sure but I think the use of dressings would help keep a tire form weather checking (cracking). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomsts Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 I've used Prolong Tire Dressing (getting hard to find) since my Michelins were new. That was 75,000 miles ago and they still look great. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonA Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 Bill, do you know for sure which Armor All products do NOT contain petroleum distillates? I've seen products costing 10 times as much as the regular Armor All, and they state specifically that they do NOT contain PDs. Armor All, however, does not make that claim (and it's only $2-3/bottle). I checked their site and they don't make the claim there either. I was under the impression that to get something without PDs, you have to pay $10 for 4 oz. or something spectacular like that. If you know of a product that specifically doesn't include PDs, and is available at the local retail store for a decent price, I might start using it again! Thanks, Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond) "When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRS'99STS Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 I too had a set of Michelin Pilots. They were cracking around the bead, not outward, but following the curve of the wheel. They only had 16k miles on them. The tire shop replaced them at no charge. Only mounting. I use eagle 1 tire dressing each time I wash the car. I asked if that could be a factor. The tire shop foreman said no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epricedright Posted October 31, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 You know, I used to use it all the time. As I'm researching new tires, I came upon Michelin's treadwear warranty statement. Included in there is a message about tire dressing voiding a treadwear (longevity) warranty. If you buy road hazard, it shouldn't affect that, but it appears to void a treadwear warranty. And I've only had my Pilots for a little over two years, but there are a lot of small cracks that I would say look like stress cracks on the sidewall, down toward the rim. I don't know if the dressing did that or not. My truck tires (which are 4 years old) don't have those cracks, but I also don't know if the previous owner used dressing or not. I'd say not, and I've never used it much on the truck either. I have stopped using tire dressing on both of my vehicles in the past few months...and I certainly won't use it on my new tires. The tires I plan to get (Michelin X Radial) have an 80,000 treadwear warranty. Whether or not they last that long, I certainly expect them to last longer than 35k miles (what I got out of the Pilots), and I don't want to damage them prematurely. So...scientific or not...I've used it and my Pilots do have very small cracks at the very inner edge of the sidewalls. Yeh, I was afraid that would be their back pocket escape from a warranty claim if there was evidence of tire dressing. Costco some time ago advised me not to put dressing on as well. Not sure if it affects their road warranty or not. I called Michelin to inquire about tire sizes, the affects on the speedometer and what not last week and they're were very helpful and I then threw in a Q about dressings, and she did say using it would void their warranty. She then wanted my name to document the call and I replied I didn't think that was necessary and politely got off the phone. I figured they wanted to document I was warned to possibly null & void any future claims if there was evidence of tire dressings on my tires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msilva954 Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 Yea, you should be fine with anything not containing the petroleaum.....oddly enough, vogues own product does contain it.....and even though I do not use it myself......the vogue dressing seems to have the biggest "bling" factor of all dressings out there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnum Rockwilder Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 Try Jet Wet. It's the shiniest around. You need to let it sit for a while before you drive the car, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonA Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 I too had a set of Michelin Pilots. They were cracking around the bead, not outward, but following the curve of the wheel. That's exactly what mine are doing. The very small cracks are only 1/4" to 1/2" in length, and follow the curve of the bead. Must be a trait of the Pilot tire. Either way, I'll be looking for a product that specifically does not have PDs in it before I use it again on my new tires in the spring. Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond) "When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonA Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 By the way, I went and checked out my local Pep Boys this evening, and came home with a new product. I checked the shelves to find something that specifically said that it DIDN'T contain Petroleum Distillates (PDs). Couldn't find many. Eagle One, Black Magic, STP, yada yada yada -- they all had some note on the bottle about containing PDs. You had to look REAL hard on some of them, as you might imagine. There were also a group that didn't say anything either way about it, including the Original Forumla Armor All, and Formula 2001, which is what I was using. I've generally been under the impression, however, that if it doesn't say it doesn't have them, it probably does (have PDs). I did find a product from DuPont called Teflon Tire Shine. On the bottle was the phrase I was looking for, "non-petroleum-based forumla helps tires resist browning, drying and cracking." It's supposed be a spray-on-and-leave-it application, but I always apply to a dressing sponge first and wipe the tire. It came out pretty good. The sidewalls feel like glass they're so smooth. The Formula 2001 "dried" to a greasy coating, which did attract dust. While this product still didn't really DRY, it's not greasy either. I may have over-applied it too. I'll see how I like it over the next couple of washings, including taking note of whether it attracts dust or not (it says it's not supposed to). The best part was the price. Only $4.99 for a 22 fl. oz. bottle. I know I was paying at least 2 bucks for a 10 fl. oz. bottle of Formula 2001, so this seems like a square deal. Anyone else use this product? Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond) "When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epricedright Posted November 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 By the way, I went and checked out my local Pep Boys this evening, and came home with a new product. I checked the shelves to find something that specifically said that it DIDN'T contain Petroleum Distillates (PDs). Couldn't find many. Eagle One, Black Magic, STP, yada yada yada -- they all had some note on the bottle about containing PDs. You had to look REAL hard on some of them, as you might imagine. There were also a group that didn't say anything either way about it, including the Original Forumla Armor All, and Formula 2001, which is what I was using. I've generally been under the impression, however, that if it doesn't say it doesn't have them, it probably does (have PDs). I did find a product from DuPont called Teflon Tire Shine. On the bottle was the phrase I was looking for, "non-petroleum-based forumla helps tires resist browning, drying and cracking." It's supposed be a spray-on-and-leave-it application, but I always apply to a dressing sponge first and wipe the tire. It came out pretty good. The sidewalls feel like glass they're so smooth. The Formula 2001 "dried" to a greasy coating, which did attract dust. While this product still didn't really DRY, it's not greasy either. I may have over-applied it too. I'll see how I like it over the next couple of washings, including taking note of whether it attracts dust or not (it says it's not supposed to). The best part was the price. Only $4.99 for a 22 fl. oz. bottle. I know I was paying at least 2 bucks for a 10 fl. oz. bottle of Formula 2001, so this seems like a square deal. Anyone else use this product? Thanks Jason for doing that leg work. That'll save me the eye strain...my vision has going awry I've noticed lately. Hard to see the finer print anymore...need lots of light! And I thought I'd always have good vision...so much for that dream. I'll call Michelin tomorrow to see if non PD dressings will void their warranties. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByStorm Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 Autotopia.com. has a great article on tires and dressing them. They even explain the "cracking " you guys are talking about. Just go to their site and go to the "how to" section for tires and wheels, you'll see it. I will have to make a few adjustments to my tire dressing as well. Peace.... ByStorm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 Autotopia.com. has a great article on tires and dressing them. They even explain the "cracking " you guys are talking about. Just go to their site and go to the "how to" section for tires and wheels, you'll see it. I will have to make a few adjustments to my tire dressing as well. Peace.... ByStorm http://www.autopia-carcare.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonA Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 Thanks for that link! To wash my tires, I've been using Westley's Bleach White...which is perhaps contributing to a dull finish. Before, I was using Purple Power, but I didn't think that cleaned as well. And even though I wash the car at least once a week, I've never been satisfied with the cleaning power of car wash soap. Maybe I'll give it another whirl. This has been a great thread! Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond) "When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eldoman95 Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 i think most tire dressings will dry your tires rubber faster than it would normally. because most dressings come in a form of a petrolium distalate, or however you spell it!!! and petrolium distilates wear down rubber, ie: vaseline on a condom = new child! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msilva954 Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 eh, just looked at mine and it contains them, ill probably switch to some pro stuff like poor boys....water based.....i frequent the detail forums and now I realize how dumb I was to purchase this....owell it looks really nice on the cars...haa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eldoman95 Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 it shure does look good, but i think it attracts dirt, my white stripe on the symetrys is looking brown every time i put dressing on so i have this tire scrub bleach stuff. works wonders at making tires look brand new. i only use dressing when im out to impress, other than that, i think im fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msilva954 Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 im usually always out to impress......thats y i got the caddy n vogues...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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