I just had a new set of Yoko Geolandar 051's installed on the truck, and I'm getting a vibration. It's not bad, but the old GoodRocks always spun true, so I need someone to research a question. I know that new tires have a dot on them that is supposed to be "matched" to a mark on the rims. That allows the high points to be aligned, so that you need less weight to balance the tires. I want to verify that my tire store "matched" my tires before I start yelling at them (actually I'll yell anyway ).

The problem is that I don't see any marks on my OEM Ford split 5 spoke rims that would indicate the "match" mark. I would assume that they would be somewhere on the outside for easy matching, but I could be wrong. Any Ford experts know where that mark would be. Some info suggests that the "mark" is actually the valve stem, but new rims don't do that anymore.

 

For most tire manufacturers, the tire dot is aligned to the valve stem hole.

 

Yup, but most "mediocre" tire places will not do it for you if your tires are already mounted, or they will charge you an arm and a leg and say it is not worth it (speaking from experience )

It took 6 shops for me....

 

this is what I have gone by for MANY sets of tires, and it has never failed me.

 

Thanks for the responses guys. If it is the valve stem, then all the tires are off. My bad, I thought a "performance" shop would know better.
The have a Coats 1050 machine which does match mounting, but I guess the guy didn't do that. He will tomorrow. If not, someone else will, and I'll cancel Amex payment to the first shop. Details, details.

Thx again, I knew you guys would know.

 

and Silver, I could take a pic of my new wheels FROM FORD, on my new truck, amd the tires have the spots still on them, and they line up with the valve stems. Just another indicator of how they should go.

 

Yup, that's how it is on my LII and when the Ford dealer warrantied two of my original tires, they lined up the dots on the replacement tires correctly, too.

 

its in fact the dot is aligned to teh valve stem

 

I'm sold, thanks guys. Mine have clear red dots, so the shop shouldn't have messed it up. Expensive machine, dumb operator = vibration. It should be fixed by tomorrow; if not, look for this company's name to appear on my angry blog list.

 

Just got back from the tires, and I had a good visit with the manager. He's been doing tires for a while, so he understood the whole concept of match mounting. The big issue wasn't matching, it was that one of the front tires isn't round. The installer didn't see it, but the manager knew right away. To be honest I couldn't tell the differance, but I haven't been doing tires for 10 years. The other issue was that the other front tire was 1.75oz out of balance. Either it threw a weight, or the tire had shifted as it settled in. So, new tires comes in tomorrow and should hopefully fix the issue. No hassles concerning warranty or anything, I like this place.

Concerning the dots and "match" mounting. The owner showed me that most OEM rims are zero balanced, and that it doesn't matter where you put the dot. If a rim can't be zeroed, they will make a mark which you can try to line up with the tire's marked low spot (and who wants a rim that isn't balanced). Problem is, which dot to use. Mine had a yellow and a red dot. Which is which?

My rims spun at zero-zero without the tires, so for all purposes they don't need matching. I'm confused again, but at least I'm happy with the shop.