Whitewall tire

White wall tires are bicycle or car tires, which are fitted with a white tire side or a white strip on one or both sides of the tire.

Production

The first car rubber tires were not black, but - as made ​​from natural rubber - white. In order to improve the properties of rubber, other additives were added in the coming decades, through which the car tire got their black color in the production.

In the 21st century, only a few specialized manufacturers produce white wall tires. For this purpose they use in the new tires special forms that make it possible to bring rubber compounds with different colors and properties to the desired locations of the later tire. Special properties of white wall tires are described in International Patent Classification " B29D 30/00 G". Especially for bicycle tires tubular tires are made with white reflective stripes.

White wall tires and colored tires (tires with circumferential stripes in other colors) can also be prepared by subsequent vulcanization of suitable rubber compounds.

History

In the early years whitewall tires were the cheaper alternative to fully fabricated from enriched black rubber tires. All black tires corresponded to the premium class. Over time, however, this changed and whitewall tires were considered premium tires since they contributed to the overall design of the car. During the 1930s, black tires were preferred again, in the 1950s and 1960s, the trend repeated to whitewall tires. They were used as a design element of vehicles. White wall tires were manufactured for the automotive industry as well as for scooters, Motorräderund other two-wheelers.

One reason why white wall tires again are already since the 1950s on the decline, may be that today's car tires have a much narrower " wall ", which could be colored white. Since the 1980s/90s, it is available as standard equipment on new cars any more. One exception was the Lincoln Town Car, which could be ordered to cease production in 2011 with whitewall tires.

Whitewall tires of the 30s

White wall tires for Harley -Davidson 45 -UL (1945 )

White wall tires with narrow strips ( 1965)

Colorful tire with a narrow red stripe (1969 )

Imitations

White sidewall tires are often mimics, such as white sidewall rings are used to achieve a similar appearance. This allows the contemporary treatment of older vehicles ( vintage ) for which no white wall tires are available. However, the few available on the market whitewall ring products for the operation of road transport are used; usually they are only suitable for display purposes. Tires or tire color paint with white color is also used, but this darkens very quickly and acts so dirty.