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Is there a way to get road tar off of tire treads?

nytebyte

Not Politically Correct
Mar 2, 2004
13,627
20,958
Yesterday, I was forced to drive through a construction zone where they were resurfacing the pavement.
The area was full of tar and it coated my tires really badly. There is so much tar on the treads that the car feels like I'm driving on ice. Any amount of throttle will spin the tires and braking performance has been cut by about 80%. I'm lucky I made it home and the car really isn't drivable on those tires in their current state.
The tar on the tires is probably about a centimeter deep. I tried to scrape some off with a screwdriver, but not much really came off, not to mention trying to scrape it off the treads of all 4 tires wouldn't be practical.

Anyone have any idea on how to get this shit off without damaging the tires?
 

nytebyte

Not Politically Correct
Mar 2, 2004
13,627
20,958
Doing a huge burnout is the first thing I tried! ?

It really didn't do much and I think I'd have to do a continuous burnout for a half mile to even make a dent.
The tar is so slippery that I can spin the tires at will at 45 mph in 6th gear. A Prius could out accelerate me at this point.
 

nytebyte

Not Politically Correct
Mar 2, 2004
13,627
20,958
So, I figured I'd update this thread with the solution that worked best, in case anyone else needs to do this.

I tried a combination of things, but what worked best was running very hot tap water over the tires with a hose and then scraping the softened tar with a screwdriver that has a 1/2 inch wide tip. I tried various width chisels, paint scrapers and wider screwdrivers but the 1/2 inch flat head worked best. Once the majority of the tar was off the tire using hot water I sprayed the tire with the Tarminator stuff and worked it in with a very stiff nylon brush. That removed the rest of tar, leaving a clean surface. I experimented with WD40 too and while it worked to remove the tar, it's also a lubricant and left a greasy mess on the tire. The Tarminator stuff worked better and wasn't greasy. I'd recommend this stuff for normal tar removal from car paint since it works well.

It's a ton of work with a LOT of elbow grease and takes about 1.5 to 2 hours per tire, depending on how much tar is on it. I've done two so far with two more to go.
 
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The Beast

TCG Elite Member
May 24, 2004
28,232
32,496
South beach
Real Name
Go Go
So, I figured I'd update this thread with the solution that worked best, in case anyone else needs to do this.

I tried a combination of things, but what worked best was running very hot tap water over the tires with a hose and then scraping the softened tar with a screwdriver that has a 1/2 inch wide tip. I tried various width chisels, paint scrapers and wider screwdrivers but the 1/2 inch flat head worked best. Once the majority of the tar was off the tire using hot water I sprayed the tire with the Tarminator stuff and worked it in with a very stiff nylon brush. That removed the rest of tar, leaving a clean surface. I experimented with WD40 too and while it worked to remove the tar, it's also a lubricant and left a greasy mess on the tire. The Tarminator stuff worked better and wasn't greasy. I'd recommend this stuff for normal tar removal from car paint since it works well.

It's a ton of work with a LOT of elbow grease and takes about 1.5 to 2 hours per tire, depending on how much tar is on it. I've done two so far with two more to go.

At 8 hours you should have just bought 4 new tires. J/K
 

FirstWorldProblems

TCG Elite Member
Staff member
TCG Premium
Sep 6, 2006
70,459
80,148
Crown point, IN
So, I figured I'd update this thread with the solution that worked best, in case anyone else needs to do this.

I tried a combination of things, but what worked best was running very hot tap water over the tires with a hose and then scraping the softened tar with a screwdriver that has a 1/2 inch wide tip. I tried various width chisels, paint scrapers and wider screwdrivers but the 1/2 inch flat head worked best. Once the majority of the tar was off the tire using hot water I sprayed the tire with the Tarminator stuff and worked it in with a very stiff nylon brush. That removed the rest of tar, leaving a clean surface. I experimented with WD40 too and while it worked to remove the tar, it's also a lubricant and left a greasy mess on the tire. The Tarminator stuff worked better and wasn't greasy. I'd recommend this stuff for normal tar removal from car paint since it works well.

It's a ton of work with a LOT of elbow grease and takes about 1.5 to 2 hours per tire, depending on how much tar is on it. I've done two so far with two more to go.
Damn that sucks
 

FirstWorldProblems

TCG Elite Member
Staff member
TCG Premium
Sep 6, 2006
70,459
80,148
Crown point, IN
Literally everything about construction sucks ass. It costs too much money, screws up traffic worse than it should due to their inability to plan, is largely unnecessary work meant to use up a budget (fight me if you disagree), the people organizing and performing the work do not give one single fuck about the commuters & taxpayers that fund the work, etcetc. I'd raaaaage if they made me drive through wet tar
 
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