I purchased a set of Vossens and added Toyo Proxies 275/345.

Dropped them off to be mounted with TPMS at the tire shop. Gramted I did have the centers powder coated, but not the barrels. I noticed when I was cleaning them, three had atleast 12 1/4 oz weights on them. I am questioning this, any comments?

Note; isn't the yellow cicle on the tire supposed to be the mark to line up the valve stem?

 

12 weights on three of your wheels does seem a bit 'excessive' but the important thing is to have the wheels/tires balanced. Your wheels may be out of balance to begin with but some variation can be caused by the tires themselves (not to mention the added weight of the TPS's). Just putting a different (same brand and size) tire on the wheel may cause it to be weighted differently. Again, the important thing is correct balance whether it takes 2 weights or 12. If it works for you appearance wise I suggest you use some silver foil (HVAC) tape over all those weights. It's just added insurance that they'll stay put.

 

I believe that the "dot" on the tire is used by some when balancing. The wheels that have excessive weight might have been helped if, at the time of balancing, he noted the indexing of the tire by the dot and rotated it 180 and balanced again thus "equalizing" the tire/wheel. Someone correct me if i'm wrong here.

 

that was your first mistake

I brought a tire in to be repaired, they did the work but I noticed the weights on the rim were moved, so I asked them if they had rebalanced the wheel, "no, but we can do that for you for an additional 8 dollars"

when I worked at a garage I always made a mark on the tire to line up with the valve stem so that when I put it on it would likely be good enough and not need rebalancing, if I accidently moved the weights I rebalanced for free

yes, the yellow or red dot should be lined up with valve stem, but good luck on that bringing it to "a tire shop"

 

Find a place that has a Hunter Road Force Balancer..... Hunter GPS9700. IMOP, that is the only way to go. Google it

 

You are correct the "dot" is the sweet spot to align the valve stem to. If the weights needed are excessive a "good installer" will take the tire/wheel off the balancer and break the bead and shift the position which requires extra time. Either he started off wrong or took the time to find a better balance point. A Road Force balancer such as Hunter makes gives the best balance especially for our wide tires. Twelve 1/4 ounce weights is not unusual in balancing a large tire/wheel assembly.

 

Some tires have a red dot AND a yellow dot. I've seen some with blue dots. Some people say the yellow dot goes next to the valve stem. Some people say the red dot goes next to the valve stem. I e-mailed Michlein and they were no help at all. Where can I get a straight answer?

 

Thanks for the replies gents. Much appreciated.

 

...found this info online, thought it was interesting




The dots actually serve a very important purpose in ensuring accurate installation. The red and yellow dots help installers find a tire’s high spot, low spot and light point for consistent balancing.

According to Bridgestone, “The difference between the high and the low is called radial runout. Using sophisticated computer analysis, engineers have found that a graph of the force variations looks a bit like a wave, as does a graph of the runout variations.

By simplifying the graphs to what is called their “first harmonic,” it’s possible to find the place on the tire where, on average, the force variation is greatest. That’s where the first harmonic curve hits its high point. And, it turns out that the first harmonic high point for the radial runout coincides pretty well with the first harmonic high point for radial force variation.

Now wheels, especially steel wheels, tend to have the same kind of high and low spots as tires. In fact, many steel wheels are marked with a dimple that indicates their low spot. So, if you could match the high point on the tire to the low point on the wheel, these forces would, to some extent at least, cancel each other, and you’d expect to get a smoother ride and maybe improved wear.

Some original equipment manufacturers are doing this kind of match mounting when they mount tires and wheels on new trucks. The tire is marked with a red dot at the high point, and this is matched with the low point dimple on steel wheels. On steel wheels without a low point dimple, and on aluminum wheels, the red dot is matched to the valve stem.”

A yellow dot indicates the light balance point on the tire. In order to minimize the amount of weight needed to balance a tire and wheel assembly, match the light balance point to the wheels heavy balance point, which is normally located at the valve stem.

In a situation where a tire has both a red and yellow dot, the red dot takes precedence and should be mounted to the wheel low point dimple or valve stem.

 

 

Great info, thanks!

 

 

I just had a set of Michelin PS2zp's installed at a discount tire. I cleaned off all of the old weights, and took the tires and rims to them. It doesn't get any easier for these guys. They installed the tires, and all was good. Until I actually put them on the car and drove it. It felt like my washing machine in a bad spin cycle. Took them off again and made them re balance them while I watched this time. It took the kid 40 minutes to get them right. ALL of the weights had to be moved. I don't know if it was one of thier machines, or that they just were in a hurry. My advise is get them re balanced and look over thier shoulder while they are doing the work. They seem to do a better job! That and very loudly tell the servce writer that you don't want to come back a Third time in a room filled with customers.

 

I found out something interesting while getting a flat fixed this Saturday. The tire was patched and I watched the balancing process on a Hunter Road Force machine. Tire was balanced perfectly. I took a 150 mile ride immediately afterwards and as the trip progressed I started to notice a vibration. Upon my return I went back to the shop, told him something doesn't feel right and to check the balancing. They put the tire back on the machine, and its off 4.25 ounces! They strip the weights and redo. This time he put a white mark on the sidewall by the valve stem and told me to drive the car for awhile. He believed that the tire shifted on the rim due to the lube they had put on the bead to mount the tire. I drove around another twenty miles, went home, and noticed that the tire indeed did move a little over a quarter inch, but the ride was unaffected. Went back to the shop yesterday, they checked balance and it was off a quarter ounce. They redid the balancing and I was told after 24 hours the lube should have dried up and I should not have anymore issues.

 

Thanks VETTESTRINGS, I had to read that a couple of times, but I've got it now. Where to they typically put the "dimple" on the steel wheels? (bead area, outer lip, inner lip, etc)

 

...took me a couple reads too, some of it was new to me. I don't know where they put the dimple. I'll be getting new tires on my '94 Olds' today (beater/utility car)... maybe I'll get a chance to quiz the guy. I'll report back if I find out anything...