Ok new tires on stock steel wheels
have read google quite a few times in regards to this
Seems yellow for aluminum if not
Go to red for steel
Place red dot on steel dimple
Red dot is heavy part of tire to dimple on steel wheels which indicates lightest part of wheel
I dont see a "dimple" on outside of my wheels
Is it on the inside of of wheel? Underneath tire? Where it would have to be broke down to see?
my son former master mechanic and i debated reading google explanations, seems clear, looking at his 2017 honda crv that he just bought new gy assurance weathergards and neither dot is lined up with valve stem. He has alum wheels
He said oh.
So driving on highway in my truck 65mph 4x4 in free hub position i feel a mild shimmy doesn't seem if i go up or down on pass front. I have a sack from dollar store sitting in pass seat and can see top of bag bouncing back and forth in tune with feels like tire out of balance.
Tires mounted balanced at wally mart. 12.00 bought certs for 10 bucks more. I almost asked technician you do know what red and yellow dots mean?
stock tires are 235/85/16
But they agreed to put 265/75/16eeeee's no problem. PO had c's
f250 155" wb 4x4 in free did not get an alignment yet, but it handles very straight since new tires, im used to wander so i kinda weave steering wheel a little in anticipation but thats bad now as the rear end seems to want to go the opposite way like its going to swing around.
Thanks




3oz front

 

As I understand it.. Red dot is maximum road radial force; could be a heavy spot or could be a high spot. Yellow is light weight spot. Some wheels are marked for a low spot, which is what you'd like the red dot up to. Many are not marked, so then ignore the red dot and put yellow dot at the valve stem. I've talked to a few tire techs that had no idea about the dots at all, and they didn't seem to care. If they balance OK, it doesn't matter. But if they don't, bring them back and let the tech know they have a shake and need balanced better.

 

Most tire techs I've talked to have no idea what the red and yellow dots are for, and even if they did, ignore them when balancing a tire. I really like to see that yellow dot at the valve stem, or at least see the tech starting there, unless the shop has a Hunter Road Force Balancer. With the stock tire size on my 96 F250 (essentially a rather tall, narrow tire), the only way to get really good balancing is to go to a shop that's invested the money in a Road Force Balancer.

But yeah, if you've got a shimmy, just keep taking it back until they balance your tires properly. And if any of the tires won't balance well (I've had a few new tires that just wouldn't), get them to replace that tire. Don't put up with out-of-spec tires or balancing.

 

Ive been doing tires for about two decades, luckily not as much as what i used to, but here is what i learned from several different training classes from different manufacturers.

Yellow dot is for lining up with the valve stem.

Red dot is for matching sides. as in both red dots go outwards, or both go inwards.

There was a bunch of logic behind this, big fancy words tossed around, but basically, it came down to that the tire was pre spun at the factory, and thats how they decided where the marks go.

I will say this:
I have mounted a tire, balanced it on a road force balancer, and remounted it with the yellow dot moved to different positions on the wheel, and a tire does in fact balance heavier if the yellow dot isn't close.

I have seen several sets of new tires with the red dots not lined up ( drivers side out, passenger side in) cause a tire pull.. not always, but it has happened. tire pull was corrected after remounting.

Hope this info helps.
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