Perhaps it is time again to remind folks what "matching the dots" means. It is matching RUN OUT (technically Uniformity!) - high point of the tire to the low point of the wheel. No, it is NOT for balance! It makes the assembly "Rounder". (Is that a word??)
The assembly still needs to be balanced because runout has very little to do with balance.
To my knowledge ALL vehicle manufacturers require their tire and wheel suppliers to mark their wheels and tires appropriately. To my knowledge the only vehicle manufacturer that uses the valve hole for the low point of the wheel is Chrysler. There is no commonality as to how the high point of the tire is marked - and in the replacement market, many tire manufacturers do NOT mark their tires for either uniformity nor balance.
That means that in the replacement market, there is very little point in matching the dots on the tire to the valve hole of the wheel. OTOH, there isn't any harm.
HOWEVER, there are balance machines that can find and measure both the wheel runout and tire uniformity and instruct the operator about how to best match these. Hunter Engineer calls them RoadForce machines.
The assembly still needs to be balanced because runout has very little to do with balance.
To my knowledge ALL vehicle manufacturers require their tire and wheel suppliers to mark their wheels and tires appropriately. To my knowledge the only vehicle manufacturer that uses the valve hole for the low point of the wheel is Chrysler. There is no commonality as to how the high point of the tire is marked - and in the replacement market, many tire manufacturers do NOT mark their tires for either uniformity nor balance.
That means that in the replacement market, there is very little point in matching the dots on the tire to the valve hole of the wheel. OTOH, there isn't any harm.
HOWEVER, there are balance machines that can find and measure both the wheel runout and tire uniformity and instruct the operator about how to best match these. Hunter Engineer calls them RoadForce machines.