WHY barcode stickers on the tire bead seat???

Status
Not open for further replies.
Traction

Traction

Joined
Jun 4, 2013
Messages
1,681
Location
iowa
It makes zero sense to me as to why most tires made have a stupid plastic barcode sticker right on the bead seat sealing surface of the tire. I just fixed one tire today that hade a very slow leak. After seeing tiny bubbles, I marked tire, and wheel, and sure enough it was leaking right around the barcode sticker! Some are very bad, like Cooper that put
2 stickers on, and not neatly either. Sometimes they are poking up over the rim flange. They need a new plan!!!
 
Originally Posted by Traction
It makes zero sense to me as to why most tires made have a stupid plastic barcode sticker right on the bead seat sealing surface of the tire. I just fixed one tire today that hade a very slow leak. After seeing tiny bubbles, I marked tire, and wheel, and sure enough it was leaking right around the barcode sticker! Some are very bad, like Cooper that put
2 stickers on, and not neatly either. Sometimes they are poking up over the rim flange. They need a new plan!!!


Ya that is pretty stupid. I'm sure there is a reason way above our pay grade, but at this level it seems like a bad idea.
 
I peel them off before I have the tire mounted........
laugh.gif
 
Originally Posted by Traction
It makes zero sense to me as to why most tires made have a stupid plastic barcode sticker right on the bead seat sealing surface of the tire. I just fixed one tire today that hade a very slow leak. After seeing tiny bubbles, I marked tire, and wheel, and sure enough it was leaking right around the barcode sticker! Some are very bad, like Cooper that put
2 stickers on, and not neatly either. Sometimes they are poking up over the rim flange. They need a new plan!!!


Make a complaint to the tire manufacturer. This is the type of thing they want to know about - AND - they aren't going to change if they don't think it is a problem.
 
I wonder if mounting a tire would leave a mark so they would know if a tire has been mounted to a wheel, therefore not being eligible for a new return.
 
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
I wonder if mounting a tire would leave a mark so they would know if a tire has been mounted to a wheel, therefore not being eligible for a new return.


The potential for fraud is so small though!

99% of tires are mounted by tire shops that are authorized retailers for the brand, and have a contract as to how they dispose of mounted-but-not-used tires. Maybe they have a blem sale. Maybe it doesn't matter. Maybe it only matters if they peeled the sticker off, or the injection nubs wore off.

Said retailers could defraud the maker by saying they have a slow leak, or won't balance right, or...

If I bought a tire from walmart (and mounted it myself) that didn't work out for me, I bet I could return it, as so few people even try, they haven't written it in their return policy fine print. And it wouldn't be fair to not allow returns on tires after they've been mounted, as that is how most defects show themselves. We have laws about "fitness for use" that cover this.
 
Every Goodyear made tire I have ever seen did the same thing. Except we never took them off, I can only remember once where it ever leaked from the sticker.
 
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
That was the only legit reason I could think of beyond some warehouse cataloging thing.

Apparently it's for tracking tires through production:
https://www.computype.com/product/details/tire-bead-labels

The question is, why in that particular spot? Maybe it's a place on a tire that's not subject to much flex, therefore the sticker won't fall off?



The barcode CAN'T go on the inside - too rough. People don't like the white sticker against the black, so it has to go somewhere that it won't show - the bead. There are other ways of doing this, but this is the easiest so far.

What's it for? It is part of the tracking system. With it, everything, from the source of the raw materials (like the rubber bales from Indonesia, the carbon black production date and location, the sulfur vendor, etc) can be linked to every defect and return. Just one more way of making each component better.
 
It is there because it doesn't matter that it is at that location.

For every OCD customer that complains and peels it off beforehand (incognito_2u), there are 1,000,000 (literally) that could care less.

If the OEMs got feedback for a real actual problem, it would be addressed. But it hasn't been.

Because it doesn't matter.

Clear?!?
10.gif


Now tell me the story about how you were the 3rd person deep for a come back at DTD for all those leaky beads....

Because of the barcode...
 
Originally Posted by Imp4
It is there because it doesn't matter that it is at that location.

For every OCD customer that complains and peels it off beforehand (incognito_2u)


Wasn't complaining, just stating fact...…..but I will continue to peel them off!!!
(No arguing on the OCD, though.....
lol.gif
)
 
Last edited:
Yes I know the sticker is there for production tracking, but after that they are probably never scanned again. After the tire has been on a while it couldn't be read anyway, which is what the DOT code is for. Yes, I try to peel them off, but many either tear, or try to peel rubber up with it. It is a real problem that many people are not even aware that it is a common cause for very slow bead leaks. This particular tire was losing 1 pound of pressure every 2 weeks. I have complained to my tire distributor for 17 years about the issue, but nothing has changed, and yes I have found newer OE tires that have leaked around the barcode sticker. Some come loose over time and even fall off when the tire is dismounted. I know it seems like the best place to put the sticker, but it is still a problem no matter what. A few years ago, Michelin put them right on the middle of the sidewall, which was okay if you could mount it to the inside.
 
Originally Posted by Imp4
If you really perceive this to be a problem and the distributor contact hasn't helped, then go straight to the OEM.

I really don't care that much, but where would you even start, and contact somebody else who doesn't care anyway? It is just a bad place to put a sticker period.
I can deal with it and make them not leak, but most people don't have a clue. It's already hard enough to maintain a good seal between the tire, and wheel without producing tires that have a potential leak on the bead surface of the tire from a stupid sticker. There are also many tires that seal better than others because the have a better bead sealing surface. Even clip-on wheel weights eventually cause leaks on many wheels too, which is also where they corrode first.
I also realize that most bead leak issues are also more of an issue up north from winter, and way too much salt on the roads, which is another big issue I can't fix.
 
Last edited:
They are not supposed to be placed on a sealing surface of the bead area. They are supposed to be placed above the bead on the sidewall, just below the lip of the wheel. If you've used the clip on weights before, the sticker would be located about where the back of the clip would be behind the lip of the wheel, if that makes sense.

Make sure that you don't have a torn toe on the tire that you found leaking at the bar code sticker. Although the part of the tire where the bar code sticker is located is not a sealing surface, it can make solid contact with the wheel and create a very small, secondary 'sealed' pocket between the wheel and the tire, outside of the main air chamber. If you have a real leak from a torn toe from mounting damage, the air can slowly leak from the inside of the tire into this secondary pocket and then will slowly bleed out at the sticker. Just something to be aware of.
 
Last edited:
Sealing of the main air chamber in a tire does not occur where the clip on weights are installed.
 
Here's a visual of a typical bar code location which is above the sealing surfaces and should not cause a tire to leak.

[Linked Image]
 
Originally Posted by jjjxlr8
Here's a visual of a typical bar code location which is above the sealing surfaces and should not cause a tire to leak.

[Linked Image]


Well, that's exactly where the sticker was on the leaking tire I had to fix. The air is trying to get out of the tire, and that is the point of least resistance, so the air scoots across the plastic sticker. That area of the tire does move around as it's loaded, and unloaded.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

wwillson
Tire balance bead experiment - do they work?
2
Replies
33
Views
6K
t1snwrbrdr12
MRC01
MTB XC all-around tires
Replies
3
Views
378
MRC01
92saturnsl2
Leaking tire beads
2
Replies
30
Views
10K
John105
edyvw
Turo Rental: 2022 Toyota Sienna Hybrid
4 5 6
Replies
114
Views
8K
ARB1977
1 SX
My Hyundai story with pictures and basic maintenance history..
2
Replies
34
Views
9K
autoapprentice
Back
Top