Red & Yellow Dots......?? Wildpeaks AT3W

Just received a set of Wildpeaks AT3W's and they've been factory "marked" with the yellow & red dots. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the valve stem aligns with the yellow dot and the red dot is the high spot on the tire. Do I have this right? I have read some conflicting interpretations of the marks and just want to get it right.

 

Once you align the yellow dot with the valve stem, then there isn't any more "adjustment". Does the red supersede the yellow?

 

Yeah, I'm going to ask. The shop who will be doing the balancing has the Hunter (GSP9700 ?) road force balancer. I'll assume they know about it but will mention it...... Thanks!

 

Hi, Crow Horse-

The colored dots may be beneficial during the mounting/balancing process, however, the yellow dot doesn't always end up aligned with the valve stem. Here's why...

What you're referring to is a match mounting process for uniformity, which can yield less wheel weight.

Match mounting can be done in a couple ways. One way is by aligning the tires lightest spot with the wheels heaviest spot. The other way is by aligning the tires high point radial road force variation (high point) with the wheels low point radial runout (low point). The latter is how O.E. tire and wheel assemblies come from the vehicle manufacturer.

To identify the high point and lightest point of a tire, most tire manufacturers place colored dots on the sidewall - red for the high point and yellow for the lightest spot.

For wheels it's a little trickier as most wheels do not have permanent indicators for mounting uniformity. All O.E. wheels come from the factory with a temporary/removable low point "tag" that is then aligned with the high point of the tire. Once assembled, though, the tag is removed leaving the low point unknown to the eye.

It is commonly assumed that the wheels valve location must be the heavy spot, but that's not always the case. Years ago the valve stem was used to identify the heavy spot but nowadays the valve is typically placed due to aesthetic purposes, though some wheel manufacturers still follow this practice.

In summary, there are lot of variables and while aligning the yellow dot to the valve hole may be considered a good starting point, it doesn't necessarily mean the color indicator dots will wind up in the optimal position. The best way to match mount a tire and wheel is to use equipment capable of measuring wheel run out and tire force variation, which it sounds like the shop you will be using is capable of.

 

Thank you for the informative explanation!!!!

 

When I started in the trades in 2005, my boss had me line them up every time.

It was critical with the big truck tires, but the quality of tires and rims have come a long way. I don't even bother with my own tires to line them up anymore. Only on oversized I'll do it.

 

I had vibration issues with a set of Wildpeak AT3Ws and had my local America's Tire balanced them over and over including road force balance. They put their best guy on it for one last try and when the dust settled the tires felt pretty decent and the dot(s) did not align with the valve stem which worried me but the manager explained why. Thanks for the confirmation that he was right.

 

Glad we could help clear this up. Thank you for your support.

 

Had them mounted and balanced today. For the most part, the yellow dots are inline or near the valve. Bottom line is that they ride silky smooth at 30PSI. It's raining so scratch the chalk test for now but I might want to increase the psi by a pound or two. I'm a happy camper and I only paid $109 (265/70-16 SL) per tire in one of those Amazon phantom deals. Maybe I should buy a lotto ticket tomorrow....