That Art of Mount/Balancing a Tire

[chefwong]

Have any of ya'll actually dealt and won with a *in warranty* tire warranty ?

I tried once and got rejected. 2 week old $300+ Yoko tire was slowly losing air. Shop sent it back *supposedly* and the factory denied the claim. I can't recall the details but that was the last Yoko tire I bought. Loved the tire in the dry, but in the rain was a whole nuther story.

 

[mechtech2]

Red dot is for the high spot on the tire [actually, it is the spot where the run out force is the greatest - special measuring techniques for this one! ]. Normally, there is no corresponding mark on a wheel to set this to, but if it has a mark, the red dot goes there.

Yellow is the light spot. Supposed to go by the valve stem, but it doesn't seem to matter. Notice how light a valve stem is, and where the final weights are?

 

[hitmanharleyk]

Originally Posted By: edwardh1
no hope for some cheap tires, balance great , but still thump since they are out of round or not uniform in their "springiness", mechanics then blame shocks, struts, warped rotors etc etc
try michelin, expensive, but for me the balance issue go away.



My wifes Durango came with goodyears and rode fine, tried more goodyears and coopers before the shop put on a set off Michelins to get the vibration out.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: chefwong
Have any of ya'll actually dealt and won with a *in warranty* tire warranty ?

No luck for me either. I bought a set of Dunlop tires that were exhibiting severe flatspotting. Dunlop/Goodyear refused to take them back. The only thing I was able to get was a discount from TireRack (who sold the tires) on my next purchase of tires from them.

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Most ignore the Red and Yellow dots on the sidewall when mounting a new tire. They have a purpose, critical part of balancing. Red has priority, if not yellow over the valve stem. Do that right, the balancing is minimal. Do that wrong, you have a ton of weights all over the tire, and a bad experience over the life of the tire.


This post has all kinds of wrong with it.

The purpose of match mounting is for uniformity (think roundness and you'll be close) - not balance.


Bull [censored]. What the yellow dot is for.


It's really funny because 5 minutes after I posted that response I walked outside my office and was confornted with 4 different brands of tires - and only one of them had dots on them - the Yokohamas. The other 3 were major major brands(as in the top 5).

So I absolutely stand by my statement.

BTW, I am a CURRENT tire engineer in the warranty department and one of my job responsibilities is to answer questions like this. It's important that I get this right. It's embarrassing when I don't.

 

[LeakySeals]

Originally Posted By: weebl
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Ridiculous response. Grow up.


Capri is a former tire engineer and currently in warranty claims for a major tire manufacturer. I'd love to hear how you're qualified.

Doesn't entitle him or you to be an arrogant jerk. All I did was share my experience. My hands were destroyed doing that job. I know what balanced best, because I physically touched the tires, manned the machine in the trenches. If thats not good enough, ignore what I said.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer


It's really funny because 5 minutes after I posted that response I walked outside my office and was confornted with 4 different brands of tires - and only one of them had dots on them - the Yokohamas. The other 3 were major major brands(as in the top 5).


Add Dunlop to that.

I can still see the yellow dots on the passenger side. Dunlop Direzza DZ101s. Could no longer see them on the inside or outside sidewall on the driver's side for some reason

Not great tires, but I didn't pay a lot for them.

For the record, the right rear stem is almost directly opposite the yellow dot. offset from the yellow dot by just a couple of degrees are 4 .25 oz weights. I wonder if the tire had been mounted differently if it would have balanced with fewer weights....

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Doesn't entitle him or you to be an arrogant jerk.

Please point to a location in this thread where Capri was being an arrogant jerk.

If anything, it was you who started spitting out expletives.

 

[MNgopher]

Sorry Leaky Seals, the one being arrogant and a jerk was you. You came across as if you knew everything. The person who actually works in that field (and has consistently been an excellent resource in this area) is only trying to make sure that incorrect information (that is entirely too common on the internet) doesn't become gospel because of "experts" who read one article from one manufacturer and assume that it applies to everything and everyone. If you read the article closely, you'll note in several places it refers to Bridgestone tires specifically. Not to all tires.

And yes, I have seen the difference from a tire tech who takes the time to mount a tire correctly and those who view their jobs as being a weight slapping monkey. I had the last set of tires I bought rebalanced correctly and ended up with less than half of the weight applied the first time and a smoother ride to boot.

 

[CapriRacer]

Guys,

Don't be too harsh. He made a mistake and reacted badly. It's hard when you discover that what you thought was true isn't - and not everyone handles this well.

 

[bigmike]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
It's hard when you discover that what you thought was true isn't - and not everyone handles this well.


This is the understatement of the year. It happens to all of us.