[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by track73

This tells you how old I am. When I taught auto mechanics in high school the tires would have marks either on the bead (an indentation) or a paint mark on the sidewall which would tell the lightest side of the tire so it could be mounted on heaviest side of the wheel. That was where the valve stem would be. It made balancing somewhat easier. (I think that was the way)

Most manufactures still do. Some don't. Most times I find it hasn't really mattered even though I try.

The problem I ran into with the Nitto tires I just mounted a few days ago, is they only put the dot on one side of all four tires, which makes sense, but since they are directional, 2 of the tires had to be mounted with the dot on the inside of the wheel, opposite of the valve stem. To make matters worse once the tire was on the rim it was impossible to rotate the tire before setting the bead. Usually that's not a problem but when you have a low profile tire with very little sidewall there just isn't any wiggle room, even when it's lubricated.

Good news is it didn't matter, they all balanced with just 1.25 ounces or less. Can't complain. Very nice tire.