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Spots on sidewalls - Andrew-T

The elderly 205 I recently got had a full set of tyres fitted a couple of years ago. Three of the four have a 10mm yellow spot, all of which I noticed are adjacent to the valve. Is this significant in the manufacture, or is it just a reference point to help refitting if they are removed ? They aren't special, only Falkens.

Spots on sidewalls - 57Rebel

The yellow spot marks the lightest area of the tyre and is usually fitted against the valve as that is theoretically the heaviest area of the wheel rim.

In reality it makes little difference but could reduce the amount of added weight when balancing as an assembly.

There could also be a red spot, which indicates the lowest area of the tyre and could be mounted to coincide with the highest part of the rim. (or vise versa?)

Spots on sidewalls - Andrew-T

Thanks for that - interesting.

Spots on sidewalls - alan1302

I've seen these on tyres before as well - interesting to know what they are there for.

Spots on sidewalls - skidpan

I first saw the marks on Yokohama and the Bridgestone tyres in the late 80's/early 90's. Pretty sure the Pirellis on my Suprb don't have them but the Bridgestone's on the Fabia do.

Since the OP's tyres are Falken's (Falken is a Dunlop company and made in Japan) I do wonder if its a far eastern thing.

Spots on sidewalls - Andrew-T

Since the OP's tyres are Falken's (Falken is a Dunlop company and made in Japan) I do wonder if it's a far eastern thing.

These Falkens are made in Turkey. The Avons on our other Pug were made in Serbia. I suppose if you look for 'British' tyres you have to pay a premium.

Spots on sidewalls - Crickleymal

The yellow spot marks the lightest area of the tyre and is usually fitted against the valve as that is theoretically the heaviest area of the wheel rim.

In reality it makes little difference but could reduce the amount of added weight when balancing as an assembly.

There could also be a red spot, which indicates the lowest area of the tyre and could be mounted to coincide with the highest part of the rim. (or vise versa?)

I knew about the valve spot but not the other one. How do you tell where the highest part of the rim is?

Spots on sidewalls - paul 1963

The yellow spot marks the lightest area of the tyre and is usually fitted against the valve as that is theoretically the heaviest area of the wheel rim.

In reality it makes little difference but could reduce the amount of added weight when balancing as an assembly.

There could also be a red spot, which indicates the lowest area of the tyre and could be mounted to coincide with the highest part of the rim. (or vise versa?)

I knew about the valve spot but not the other one. How do you tell where the highest part of the rim is?

Run a dial test indicator round the rim but I honestly can't see the average tyre place doing it...

Spots on sidewalls - mcb100
This explains it -

www.tyrebaydirect.com/knowledge-base/tyres-explain.../
Spots on sidewalls - skidpan

These Falkens are made in Turkey. The Avons on our other Pug were made in Serbia. I suppose if you look for 'British' tyres you have to pay a premium.

Dunlop have been Japanese since the 70's, mate had a Celica with Japanese Dunlop's on it and they had no grip at all. Replaced almost immediately and the car was far better.

No idea what British tyres there are now. Avon is owned by American brand Cooper and they no doubt get tyres made where they work out cheapest. A recent brand called Blockley tyres that came about to provide quality tyres for classic and vintage owners and racers is very popular but even they are made in Indonesia

Spots on sidewalls - RT

These Falkens are made in Turkey. The Avons on our other Pug were made in Serbia. I suppose if you look for 'British' tyres you have to pay a premium.

Dunlop have been Japanese since the 70's, mate had a Celica with Japanese Dunlop's on it and they had no grip at all. Replaced almost immediately and the car was far better.

No idea what British tyres there are now. Avon is owned by American brand Cooper and they no doubt get tyres made where they work out cheapest. A recent brand called Blockley tyres that came about to provide quality tyres for classic and vintage owners and racers is very popular but even they are made in Indonesia

I'm not sure there is a British-owned tyre company any more - we used to have Goodyear making tyres in Wolverhampton, Pirelli in Burton-on-Trent and Michelin in Stoke-on-Trent but I'm not sure which still are.

Spots on sidewalls - Xileno

Avon tyres make some in Melksham Wiltshire but only until the end of this year and then it closes.

Spots on sidewalls - industryman
This explains it - www.tyrebaydirect.com/knowledge-base/tyres-explain.../

Do not believe all you read on the internet or watch on You Tube. This folklore regarding coloured dots being lined up with the valves was true many years ago when wheel/tyre assemblies were generally not balanced before fitting to vehicles but not any more. Now they are usually applied to assist vehicle manufacturers achieve the best results when sets of tyres are fitted to new vehicles. What the dots mean and their related colour code is agreed between the relevant tyre and vehicle manufacturer and there is no common system which applies (even in the EU!!).

Spots on sidewalls - bathtub tom

What the dots mean and their related colour code is agreed between the relevant tyre and vehicle manufacturer and there is no common system which applies (even in the EU!!).

I find that difficult to believe, as more tyres must be sold as replacements than fitted to new cars. Wouldn't the replacement market have a larger interest over car manufacturers?

Spots on sidewalls - industryman

What the dots mean and their related colour code is agreed between the relevant tyre and vehicle manufacturer and there is no common system which applies (even in the EU!!).

I find that difficult to believe, as more tyres must be sold as replacements than fitted to new cars. Wouldn't the replacement market have a larger interest over car manufacturers?

Contracts to supply original equipment (OE) tyres for new cars are very important for tyre manufacturers. A single car production line could be building one car per minute, 24 hours a day and each car will need at least 4 tyres. That is 5,760 tyres per day for this line only and there are lots of car production plants in the world with most of them having more than one line. It is in both the car and tyre manufacturers' interests to ensure that the cars produced meet customer's expectations and warranty costs are minimised. A lot of time, effort, and money is spent ensuring that OE tyres match or exceed the specifications set by car manufacturers with respect to performance and quality. In contrast, Joe Public will typically want something approximately round, black, and cheap from a local tyre dealer who will not have the time, inventory, or equipment to achieve the best possible results.

OE contacts provide major tyre manufacturers with more continuous, reliable business than the replacement market which they will supply with surplus OE tyres or tyres built to a standard specification.

I know the above to be true because I have worked for OE suppliers to the motor industry for 33 years.

Spots on sidewalls - Adampr

So, why do so many tyres have the spots? I have them on some Maxxis all season tyres. I can't believe they're OE for anyone.

I don't doubt what you say, I'm just curious. I can see that OE contracts are hugely important; I've had a few cars with Continental tyres, which always seem awful, but a lot of people will replace them with the same brand and model because they think it gives the best performance. if Continental didn't supply OE tyres, I can't see why anyone would buy them.

Spots on sidewalls - alan1302

So, why do so many tyres have the spots? I have them on some Maxxis all season tyres. I can't believe they're OE for anyone.

Even if they are not OE for anyone they dots still have the same use.

Spots on sidewalls - mcb100
Here’s a tyre company explaining it -

www.toyotires.com.au/news/seeing-spots
Spots on sidewalls - industryman
Here’s a tyre company explaining it - www.toyotires.com.au/news/seeing-spots

The Toyo dot coding colours will apply to Toyo tyres but, as I posted above, there is no standardised system for dot markings. For example, a very large worldwide tyre manufacturer once used red dots as the "light spot" marking on its European production but stopped marking this "light spot" in 1990 as it had become common practice to balance wheel tyre assemblies before fitment to the vehicle. Red dots were still applied to the their tyres but then identified the residual side pull force direction for bi-directional, non-asymmetric car tyres. This enabled tyre fitters to avoid tyre induced steering side pull by fitting tyres to wheels so that the red dots were either both on the outside sidewalls, or both on the inside sidewalls of the assemblies as fitted to the car.

If it makes you happy to get a tyre fitter to line up coloured dots with the valves then go ahead. I recently had a set of OE specification tyres fitted to my car as replacements (Audi spec with AO marking but a different brand to the originals). Only one had a dot mark - a green one on the outer sidewall of an asymmetric tyre. Did the fitter line it up with the valve? No. Am I bothered? No.