New tyres, cars pulling?... this is why.

wheels-inmotion

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All new tyres have visible coloured markings forming a radial band on the tyre. Several of these markings represent destination between the manufacture and the recipient.... Cars like Lexus require specific compounds so the radial markings do indeed allow the process to become visible and act like a bar code.

But there is also important information held within those lines that most consumers and tyre centres are not aware of, in particular the position of the outer line (colour does vary)

Depending on how the belts are positioned during construction imperfections will allow the casing and the tyre tread to 'run out'. This disparity allows the compression to steer the tyre laterally regardless of any actions taken by the driver thus generate a pull.

The manufacture measures the degree of run out and marks the severity onto the tyre by the position of the outer band, typically the colour is Red or Blue, if the colour band is central then the run out is considered 0, if the band is toward the outer edge the tyre will need a 'reactive' partner to belay any pull. So the positions are vital to you and your car....

Realising this problem then it's easy to conclude if the tyres are symmetrical in tread construction, if the tyres are asymmetrical or directional then the centre will need to find a suitable match with an opposite reactive lateral partner....... Their problem not yours......

So next time you buy tyres have a look for the banding and decide what match you want..... remember most centres will have no idea of your request due to misunderstanding and lack of knowledge so you need to be wise.
 

S80

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Very interesting!

Can you confirm or deny that some tyre manufacturers mark the 'heaviest' part of the tyre with a coloured spot on the sidewall?
 
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wheels-inmotion

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Very interesting!

Can you confirm or deny that some tyre manufacturers mark the 'heaviest' part of the tyre with a coloured spot on the sidewall?

The yellow dot (weight mark light point) is the light spot that should be aligned with the valve, this alignment should minimize balance compensation.

Additionally the red dot (uniformity mark) should be aligned with a "dimple mark" on the wheel, this minimizes lateral runout. Obviously both marks cannot be perfectly aligned so in this instance an optimize is required.
 


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