What If My Trailer Tires Do Not Have Red or Yellow Dots

Published 08/22/2019

Question:

Do trailer tires have to have red or yellow dots in order to place the tire correctly?

asked by: Maggie M

Expert Reply:

The red and yellow dots are not present on all trailer tires nor do they need to be in order to mount them correctly. The presence of these dots varies by manufacturer. If the tire has just a yellow dot then this indicates the tire's light spot and can then be aligned with the wheel's heavy spot which is the valve stem. If the tire has yellow and red or just a red dot then this indicates the high point for both radial runout and radial force which then can be aligned with the valve stem as well. If you don't have any dots then you don't need to worry about aligning any certain part with the valve stem on the wheel.

In summary, the dots just help to reduce the amount of wheel weights added if you were to have them machine balanced which is not required.

expert reply by: Conner L