Tire mounting dots

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I don't think it matters unless the tire is directional, but isn't it supposed to be opposite the valve stem?
 
Originally Posted By: dishdude
I don't think it matters unless the tire is directional, but isn't it supposed to be opposite the valve stem?


Every manufacturer is different and it can be different for the same tire supplied to OEMs vs the aftermarket.
 
I've just noticed the dots, wanted to make sure they weren't supposed to be on the inside of the tire when mounted.
 
Just before Thanksgiving, I emailed some of the major wheel manufacturers and asked if the valve hole location meant anything and whether matching the red dots on tire up with the valve hole accomplished anything. I only got one response - and the answer was that the valve hole doesn't mean anything (for their wheels) and even the wheels they supply OE are not marked in that way.

That makes 2 wheel manufacturers that I am sure do not use the valve hole to mean anything of significance.

So coupled with the fact that not only aren't the dots on tires standardized - and some tire manufacturers don't have visible marks - and that all the OEM's (vehicle manufacturers) have different ways of having their tires and wheels marked, I think I can say with confidence that matching anything on the tire with anything on the wheel is largely a futile enterprise. It is not likely to do anything of significance.
 
Ya know, I am really wondering if these dots even matter. As I have looked at brand new vehicles on the dealers lots and I just don't see anything that would show the dots lined up with anything in particular on the wheel. In fact, the dots are all over the place on a single vehicle. Sometimes the dots are lined up with e.g., the valve stem and other times the dot is 180 deg from the valve stem. But most of the time, the dots are everywhere else.
 
One thing I have noticed on some new cars is a dot on the wheel and the dot on the tire is mounted adjacent to the wheel dot. I guess the auto manufacturers and their OE tire suppliers have agreed on some sort of mounting guidance. This is most likely done to get the best ride for the auto buyer and easier balancing for the auto manufacturers.
Aftermarket tires and their mounting is a different story, the wheel dot is worn off when replacement tires are needed. The tire makers have guidelines for mounting aftermarket tire.
http://www.tirebusiness.com/article/2007...serve-a-purpose
 
Originally Posted By: edwardh1
I thought it was a tire mark that was placed next to the wheel valve stem hole.
---heaviest part of tire (dot) next to lightest part of the rim (hole area


First, the matching was all about roundness - not balance. The idea was to mark the runout high point of the tire with the runout low point of the wheel to get a more round assembly. It was never, EVER, about reducing the amount of balance weights.

Here what Tire Rack currently says about it: "....... There was a time when the valve stem hole on standard wheels indicated the optimum place to which the tire should be match mounted. However, with the advent of styled, steel wheels and aluminum alloy wheels, the stem position evolved into an aesthetic issue rather than being a uniformity indicator. ......"

Tire Rack: Match Mounting to Enhance Tire & Wheel Uniformity

This lines up completely with all the research I have been doing on the subject. To my knowledge, no wheel manufacturer marks the wheel for runout and/or balance. If you want to contradict that, please, let everyone know WHO is manufacturing wheels where the valve hole is the mark and what it means.
 
Go down to your local Hyundai or KIA dealership. Take a look at the wheel assemblies. You will see a dot on the wheel (decal) and a dot on the tire will match up with it.
 
A) When friends cited this matching of mark-to-valve stem hole as "hillbilly tire balance" I figured it was a rural legend....pure bovine fertilizer.

B) If there's any coordination among tire/wheel/vehicle manufacturers on this it is in acknowledgement of the fact that car dealers seldom have the capacity to balance a wheel. Hats off to Hyundai/Kia for doing something so simple.
 
Just to clear some things up:

EVERY car manufacturer match mounts tires to wheels - BUT - NO ONE is using the valve hole for the mark on the wheel. Typically the mark is a removable sticker.

And match mounting is NOT about balance. It is about runout.
 
Look at those hubcaps that bolt over or through the lug holes. The valve stem can only be in one of four or five theoretical locations. There's no way that can be the low spot, consistently.
 
Yellow dot lines up with valve stem. Yes it matters. The yellow dot goes to the valve stem, not to the interior across. It'll work, but not the best. They wash off if you scrub a bit
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Red dot lines up with red dot on rim if they were spun at the factory and marked. Alcoa made alloys for the big three MFG's have red splotches on the rim at maximum run-out. The red dot on tire is minimum run-out. They go together
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I just mounted a set of Kenda Klevers on my 1993 Ford F150 4x4 with factory Alcoa alloys which still had the red splotches on the rim in the valley. Tires run very smooth. The Kenda's all come with dots. On steel wheels I use the yellow dot at the valve stem location.

I have had two Kenda's (Kinetica's) mount to the front Weld wheels for the drag car that required ZERO wheel weights for both tires. First time that ever happened for me
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Our vanpool 2017 Dodge Caravan has a sticker on the wheel at the valve stem hole and it matches a dot on the tire.


Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Just to clear some things up:

EVERY car manufacturer match mounts tires to wheels - BUT - NO ONE is using the valve hole for the mark on the wheel. Typically the mark is a removable sticker.

And match mounting is NOT about balance. It is about runout.
 
My Michelin LTXs have no colored dots on the sidewall, but they have a UPC sticker located on the tire lip. The stickers are very hard to remove and are covered by the wheel rim when mounted. Should the stickers be aligned with the valve stem?
 
Originally Posted By: TheLoneRanger
My Michelin LTXs have no colored dots on the sidewall, but they have a UPC sticker located on the tire lip. The stickers are very hard to remove and are covered by the wheel rim when mounted. Should the stickers be aligned with the valve stem?


Best guess: The UPC sticker means nothing other then what information is contained because of the bar code - it's location is random.

So, No!, aligning the sticker with the valve hole doesn't do anything - except by coincidence.

But call Michelin to be sure.
 
Originally Posted By: Richie
Our vanpool 2017 Dodge Caravan has a sticker on the wheel at the valve stem hole and it matches a dot on the tire.


Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Just to clear some things up:

EVERY car manufacturer match mounts tires to wheels - BUT - NO ONE is using the valve hole for the mark on the wheel. Typically the mark is a removable sticker.

And match mounting is NOT about balance. It is about runout.


I stand corrected.

Yesterday, I went to a Dodge dealer and while I didn't look at every type of vehicle that they had, the ones I did look at ALL had the tire's high point mark lined up with the valve hole (more or less). That means that at least someone is using the valve hole to mark the low point of the wheel and that at least sometimes matching up the tire dots with the valve hole has a positive result. Please note: This is not universal, just sometimes.
 
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