Originally Posted By: rshunter
........The yellow dots indicate......
The red dots indicate..............
Unfortunately, there isn't agreement among the tire manufacturers as to what the dots mean. It all depends on what the tire manufacturer decides.
Exception: When a car manufacturer tells the tire manufacturer how he wants his tires marked - then ALL tires in THAT assembly plant, regardless of tire manufacturer, will be marked the same exact way. Not only is there no commonality between vehicle manufacturers, but this also varies from assembly plant to assembly plant within the same vehicle manufacturer.
Even then, the only thing vehicle manufacturers specify is the marking of the uniformity radial 1st harmonic - usually the high spot, but there is one who specifies the low point. The vehicle manufacturer will also specify that the wheels be marked - usually by drilling the valve hole at the low mark - but that isn't universal as well.
Is there any harm in matching a replacement tire's marks up with the valve hole? No. It's possible both the tire and the wheel have been done in the same way - but it is also possible that neither of them is so indexed.
