Rotating Prime tires at home

I started noticing it in the manufacturer information, on the tires I have purchased, somewhere around three decades ago.

Other manufacturers may have started noting it at different times.

 

I have two sets of wheels and in June after a trip in May I will install my American Racing wheels for the second time and doing a front to rear rotation on them. At the rate I am going I will never wear out both sets and will change them because of time.

 

Rotation can be done at home, but not balancing, which also need.

 

best jack points ?? i have a nice low profile 3 ton floor jack from costco, if there is a good front center jacking point, where is it? another one for the rear ?

 

I only do balancing when the tire is mounted on a rim. Mounting and balancing come as a set at a tire shop. If the tire stays on the wheel mounted but uninstalled from a car, I don't think it needs wheel balancing before they are installed again. That said, the tire shops are now offering new technology on balancing something called "dynamic rotational balancing" or my tire company calls "road force balancing". When I bought my winter tires on rims, they offered me this service for an additional cost. Traditional "static balance" was included free of charge. I did not ask for the new balancing act. To tell the truth, I don't know if I need it or any difference I can feel if I did it.

See my thread on this exact topic: Please show me where the floor jack suppose to go! | PriusChat

 

I have never heard about "Road Force Balancing" until now. The video show how it works.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQxVAssnbp8

 

Never heard of it! Each of my new tires has a red and a yellow dot which is something I hadn't seen before. From what I've gleaned on the web, that has to do with matching the high and low spots of the wheels and tires, which must make it easier to get them dynamically balanced.

 

Yeah, I first read about "road force balancing" at the tire web site where I purchased my winter tires and wheels. https://www.discounttiredirect.com/learn/road-force-balancing
As I said, I did not purchase the service. They charge $10/tire for this service. I am not sure if $40 extra would have made any difference. Even without it, I did not feel any vibration when I put the wheels on my car.

 

I worked in a Sears Auto Center in college. We would also remount if they took too much weight. I don't remember the limit. That was a LONG time ago!!

 

Red & yellow dots:
The red dot is the point of maximum radial force variation, i. e., the stiffest point on the side wall. If you know the low point on the wheel, put the red dot here. Ignore the yellow dot. If you don't know the low point on the wheel, ignore the red dot.

The yellow dot is at the lightest point on the tire. If you didn't use the red dot, put the yellow dot at the heaviest point on the wheel, i. e., at the valve stem.

Not all tires have the colored dots. Not all tires of the same production run will have the dots. Not all tire makers use the dots or even the same dot code. But, if you have the dots, and know how to use them, your new tires might run more smoothly.

 

I typically have my tires installed with a road force balance (e.g. they use a Hunter GSP-9000 series). I've never had an issue with balance, but the shops who have and use the machine typically do a better job in general.

On MotorWeek (I'm always amused how the show has kept the aesthetic of a 80s public access show for nigh on 30 years now).
Road Force Balancing | MotorWeek

Only 6oz? That's for amateurs!

I never knew what the dots were for. This is really interesting.

 

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I loved how I could jack up a whole side of the car with a miata! I miss that... probably going to pick up a NA/NB for the track again. I miss how fun those cars are and how cheap they are to maintain!

Also like being able to fill up the gas tank from either side.

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As for tires, not sure why crossing symmetrical, non- directional tires would be an issue...