franman69

Okay, I've been researching this on the interwebs and I've come up with conflicting information. I just purchased new Nitto Invo's (thanks for the Discount Tire ebay web special saved some $$$$)... The tires have the cryptic "Yellow Dot" on the sidewalls. I have not found any Red dots yet, but will look again this evening.

I've read in the past that the Yellow dot is used to match mount the tire to a rim and goes somewhere in relation to the valve stem.. where exactly that is seems to be a point of confusion??

Research on several website indicates that the Yellow Dot is "light balance point on the tire" and should be matched to the wheels "heavy point" which is typically the valve stem area on a forged wheel.

The Red Dot is "the point of maximum radial force variation, should be aligned with the wheel assembly's point of minimum radial run-out, which is generally indicated by a colored dot or a notch somewhere on the wheel assembly." These dots are not present on my TSW wheels from what I remember.

On another website it clearly states: On an aluminum wheel there likely won’t be a mark, so the red dot is put opposite the valve stem to help counteract the centrifugal force effect of the valve stem’s greater weight. If the tire has a yellow dot, then always mount that opposite the valve stem. The Yellow dot indicates a tire’s “light” static balance point. If a tire has both a yellow and red dot, ignore the yellow and concentrate on the red.

If my new Nittos only have Yellow dots, do they get aligned WITH the valve stem opening on the wheel or OPPOSITE the valve stem opening?? I'm confused?? Appreciate some informed feedback here. Just trying to avoid having to use excessive weights and/or having any balancing issues. I know my (qualified) tire installer/alignment guy (Little Bear in Buchanan, NY) should know this, but I'd like to know myself before I go in there. Thanks!

saplumr

If the wheel isn't dimpled or marked either dot goes to the valve stem. I should have also stated if you have both ignore yellow, red takes priority at stem.

Gars08vert

PatriotZ

I did not know this....more info appreciated

MikeERWNC

This is a thing of the past...

Good quality tires like Michelin's come from the factory almost perfect and don't need to be lined up with the valve stem.

I guess another reason for saying you get what you pay for.

franman69

So are you saying these Nitto Invo's that many CF Members swear by, are not good quality tires? I would disagree, but I guess it's an opinion. I love Michelin tires. The Super Sports were not available in the sizes I wanted to my TSW wheels which are 1/2" wider than stock C6 rims.. I had to move to other manufacturers and I have many vette buddies out here who run on Invos..

saplumr

When tire manufacturers make tires that are "almost perfect" that means they're not perfect so the dots will never be a thing of the past.

MikeERWNC

The DOT already is a thing of the past:

Tire and wheel manufacturers continually develop new manufacturing methods to enhance the uniformity of their products because radial runout, lateral runout, force variation and imbalance can affect a vehicle's ride quality.

Match mounting tires on wheels is a process where a tire's installed position on the wheel is specifically selected to help minimize the final combination's force variation and/or imbalance. One match mounting procedure aligns the tire's measured high point of radial force variation with the measured low point of the wheel's radial runout. The other simply aligns the tire's lightest spot with the wheel's heaviest spot.

Original Equipment (OE) tire suppliers are required to mark the tire's "high point" while OE wheel manufacturers mark the wheel's "low point." This helps the vehicle manufacturer match mount combinations that maximize new car ride quality while reducing the amount of balancing weight.

photoToday, many vehicle manufacturers specify the use of a temporary tag applied to tires and wheels that are removed before the vehicle is put into service. Unfortunately, this means that there are no permanent marks to reference later.

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. Add to this the probability of wheels retaining their original runout after thousands of miles of use and you can understand that simply mounting the tire so the colored dot is at the valve stem is no longer required practice.

We have found that the only way to accurately match mount replacement tires on used original or new aftermarket wheels is to use Hunter tire balancers which have the ability to measure wheel runout and tire force variations under load before the tire and wheel are installed on the vehicle. Using these machines, a colored dot might be positioned anywhere on the wheel relative to each wheel's runout measurement. In the end, the markers have little, if any, relevance when replacement tires are installed.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=17

MikeERWNC

This is from your forum vendor...

Do a little more research and you will find the same from about every manufacturer.

saplumr

I don't need to research. I've bought 6 vehicles in the last 3 years and they all have the dots. Including 2014.

MikeERWNC

So you can't read? OK. Whatever...
This has nothing to do with new vehicles.
It has everything to do with new tires being placed on used wheels.
But you did get your worthless post count up plus two.

Good job helping to uneducated the forum.

saplumr

Well we're not all as educated and knowledgeable as you but maybe a little more time in the classroom would help make sense of the last sentence.

MikeERWNC

You still don't know enough about tires to make a useful post on this topic.
All you really know about your cars is there are four black round thingies on each corner.
And instead of buying replacement tires you buy replacement cars...

You're a Genius! Richard Cranium

PatriotZ

Well Mike, I for one appreciate your post and it makes sense to me....thanks

glenB

My take on Nitto Invos, after having run them, is that they are the bottom of the performance tire world for the vette.

franman69

Glen, based on what part of your experience if you don't mind...

glenB

It has poor steering response during turn in, the sidewall rolls over. It's wet performance, even when new, is 'Ok' ok best. When hitting small puddles it offers resistance that you feel in the steering wheel. It only has better grip than the stock GYs because of the softer compound.

It's a 'good tire for the price' is the best way to describe it. There are probably 4 or 5 tires that are better for performance.

franman69

Thanks for the feedback. I am coming off of Pilotsport A/S runflats, so I was looking forward to a high quality non- runflat street experience. Hope I'm not disappointed. I run Toyo R888 on the track. I'm not expecting that type of performance, but something that offers good steering response and respectable wet performance is what I was expecting. Kinda committed at this point with four new Nittos sitting in my garage. Did a fair amount of research and I have to say your comments are the most negative I've heard. Time will tell. Thanks for your reply.

wayback

Having had 2 sets on Invos I can attest to GlenB's assessment. They are good for the price, but not great. Hankook Evos are a better tire and less $$$$. Much less roll in during cornering and better wet handling. One draw back is they have less grip from a standing start. Easy to spin them, but I have not found any that I cant do that to.

Tide Will Roll!

Today I had some Cooper tires mounted on my pickup that I bought from Discount Tire Direct

Two of them had yellow dots and two did not, the installer lined the dots up with the valve stem. I did not ask them to do that, in fact I only had noticed one of the tires had a yellow dot....

These may be inferior quality tires but I dont think so. They sure as hell got to be better tires than those Goodyear Wrangler tires I removed. The GY's were less than four years old, less than 20,000 miles and hard as rocks. I will NEVER buy Goodyear again

The Hankook tires I bought for the vette dont have any dots on them.

My suggestion to OP is dont even mention the dots and see what happens