# What is the white stuff smearing wheels after installation of tires?



## neelkc12 (Sep 12, 2012)

Weather was terrible.. snow , slush , freezing rain .. ouch . Service was scheduled was installation of my pirelli RFT's with my local dealership . I braved the weather and made it. Prize - A bmw loaner .. great so far. Got a call in the evening that my x3 is ready to be picked up .
On visual I did not like the looks of my new tires and wheels .. white grease like stuff smearing all of the wheels and tire sidewall.. I thought it's slush from the road test after new tire installation and went home. Nope the white stuff stayed over 3 weeks over a couple of washes and disappeared only after I manually wiped all wheels and side walls. What is it ? Just curious. Had changed tires several times but never came across similar white greasy stuff before.


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## ard (Jul 1, 2009)

its a lube they smear around the bead to help mount the tire. Ideally they use it sparingly and dont get it on the outside, but a simple brush off when washing the wheels and tires usually does it.

Interestingly, on high HP cars you dont want to use it as the tire can actually slip around the rim (!!) with the torque generated. On race tires you may see an index mark in color on the rim and the tire. They will look at it to see if it moves due to acceleration and/or braking.

A


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