What is the purpose of Red and Yellow dots in a brand new tires?

[nansky]

When buying brand new tires, you will notice that there are red and yellow dots in the sidewall. I presume that the said dots are guides for the location of the "pito" of the tires. But why there are two of them and color coded? Enlightenment please. Thanks.

[nicolodeon]

Well, your correct on that one. The red dot is a uniformity mark. This marks the tyres high point - the spot where the tyre is highest. The yellow dot (sometimes it's a yellow stripe) is the marks heaviest spot on the wheel. It's also known as a 'weight mark'. You aligh this mark to your air valve or PITO.

Them dots you see denote the uniformity and weight of the tyre. Tyre manufacturing is not exactly a precise/perfect process. AFAIK, it's impossible to manufacture a tyre that is perfect in shape, perfect in weight and perfect in dimension. This has to do with how the steel belts inside the tyre are manufactured and how the rubber is moulded. The tyres in the rubber would have a bit of deformation once the rubber has cooled down after manufacturing - and this bit of deformation gives the tyre a wobble. The tyre manufactures then use a process to determine where the wobble is. Once they find highest point of the wobble, they mark it with red. This process also determines where the tyre's heaviest point is. Once they find it, they mark it with yellow.

Hope this helps.

[theveed]

Amazing how often I see brand new cars not having those dots aligned. hehe

[MAXBUWAYA]

Amazing how often I see brand new cars not having those dots aligned. hehe

Pang wholesale kasi eh

[Automahn]

Mukhang di alam ng mga tire installers yung purpose nung dots. From my experience, 1 out of 10 lang ang nag-aalign nung yellow dot sa pito. Yung iba naman sa red dot tinatapat.

[guido]

Mukhang di alam ng mga tire installers yung purpose nung dots. From my experience, 1 out of 10 lang ang nag-aalign nung yellow dot sa pito. Yung iba naman sa red dot tinatapat.

or baka naman sinasadya. para mas maraming weights gamitin sa balancing.

[alwayz_yummy]

may ganun pala! sa susunod ngang palit ng gulong papaayos ko yan...

[oliver1013]

hmmm interesting bit of knowledge

[boybi]

if the yellow dot/spot is the heaviest part of the tire, di ba dapat it should be placed at the opposite side against the pito to balance it?

[onewaytrip]

if the yellow dot/spot is the heaviest part of the tire, di ba dapat it should be placed at the opposite side against the pito to balance it?

i think the part of the rim with the pito should be the lightest because it has a hole. magaan lang naman ung pito.

[mrpink]

and this is why bilib ako dito sa forum na ito .. you learn something new everyday ..

[lightning099]

Nice thread nga...this is very enlightening

[seonadancing]

I wasn't aware of any dots before I read this thread.

[slip-slick]

new tires are balanced when they are installed. weights are added where needed.. so whats the point of the dots?

[ptk675]

new tires are balanced when they are installed. weights are added where needed.. so whats the point of the dots?

the dots would eventually wear off. but at least its an easy point of reference when say you get a flat and need to have the tired fixed. if the installer is knowledgeable enough then he'd align the "pito" with the yellow mark. its usually a yellow circle on most bridegstones i've seen and used. that way the wheel is still balanced somewhat because it keeps the same position as when it was previously balanced. at least that's the idea

[baiskee]

akala ko may asado/ bola-bola na rin ang gulong.

[Syuryuken]

Mali pala pagkalagay nung gulong ko apat pa naman yun dapat pala nakaalign sa yellow dot.

[OTEP]

Kung nabalance naman ng tama after, ok na din iyan.

Mas madali nga lang ibalance kung naitapat sa markings.

[gearhead000]

new tires are balanced when they are installed. weights are added where needed.. so whats the point of the dots?

the point really is to use the minimum number of weights when balancing.

ang medyo nalilito lang ako eh conflicting minsan ang instructions. mine are yoko a.drives with red and yellow markings. since wala naman indication sa wheel of its low point, sa valve stem na lang in-align ang red dot. tama ito sang-ayon sa bridgestone instructions:

Can we review which dot goes where?
First, if the tire has a red dot, ignore the yellow dot. Then, if you have a steel wheel, look for the low point dimple on the wheel, and mount the tire with the red dot next to the low point dimple. If the wheel is aluminum, or if it’s steel, but has no low point dimple, mount the tire with the red dot next to the valve stem.

pero medyo iba naman sa yokohama's:

Uniformity Method

When performing uniformity match-mounting, the red mark on the tire, indicating 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 (consult manufacturer for details). Radial force variation is the fluctuation in the force that appears in the rotating axis of a tire when a specific load is applied and the tire rotated at a specific speed. It is necessary to minimize radial force variation to ensure trouble-free installation and operation. Not all wheel assemblies indicate the point of minimum radial run-out, rendering uniformity match-mounting sometimes impossible. If the point of minimum radial run-out is not indicated on a wheel assembly, the weight method of match-mounting should be used instead.

Weight Method

When performing weight match-mounting, the yellow mark on the tire, indicating the point of lightest weight, should be aligned with the valve stem on the wheel assembly, which represents the heaviest weight point of the wheel assembly. After match-mounting by either of the above methods, the tire/wheel assembly can be balanced.

since yokohama nga tires ko, so i guess mas tama dapat na yellow sa valve stem. as it is kasi, when running at 100kph, me vibrations sa kotse ko. so i am really not sure if this is the one causing the problem. i will try to have the wheel re-balanced, i am just not sure if madali ba tanggalin yung mga lead weights na nakakabit.

[nicolodeon]

Well, like the tyre. almost all wheels/mags are not perfect so they are not 100% round or circular. The have minuscule imperfections that only machines (like the ones found at your suking tyre shop) can detect. If you look carefully and close enough, you'd find that your wheels/mags have notch or a mark stamped somewhere on the rim. Normally called a "dimple", this marks the lowest point of your mags. The dimple (lowest point) needs to be aligned with the highest point of your tyre (red dot).

However, there are tyres where the high point (red dot) is quite close to the tyre's heaviest part (yellow dot) and there are mags where the dimple is at the opposite end of the pito. If this is the case, then the red dot should be alligned with the mags' dimple - ignore the yellow dot.

Again however, as a rule of thumb used by experienced and well-knowledged tyre mounters, always align the red dot with the dimple and ignore the yellow dot totally.