What the heck are these blue dots on my rims?
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#8
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If you look at your tires, there should be a corresponing red dot on them that lines up with the blue one on the rim. The dots mark the heavy and light spots (forget which) of the tire and rim, so that when matched up new, they will balance the easiest and with the least weight. The G35c 18s have had white dots since '03. Purists will leave them on to use them for the same purpose when putting on new tires, but it's not that big of a deal.
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Originally Posted by MustGoFastR
If you look at your tires, there should be a corresponing red dot on them that lines up with the blue one on the rim. The dots mark the heavy and light spots (forget which) of the tire and rim, so that when matched up new, they will balance the easiest and with the least weight. The G35c 18s have had white dots since '03. Purists will leave them on to use them for the same purpose when putting on new tires, but it's not that big of a deal.
Yup! these are there for a reason... From the factory for ballancing the wheel & Tires...
We have had some customers pick them off and end up chipping away the actual rim finish...
#15
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Had the blue dots
when I went to pick up my 06 recently. Salesman had no idea why they were there so he took it back to the shop and had them removed before I went out the door. They looked crappy when the rest of the car was shiny and new and here were 4 dots on the wheels. C'mon, Nissan, you can do better than that if they serve some balancing purpose. You know Z drivers will be more particular than the Sentra buyer.
#17
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The paint used for the white dots on my G35c's 18s was not very good and flat finished, so they picked up and retained all kinds of dirt and started to chip off after a short time. I wanted to keep them for future new tire mounting purposes, so I removed them and replaced them with a smaller dot of gloss white enamel model paint. Odd that they did not have these on any of the Z rims until '06; I'd at least think that my '03 track rims would have had them. Oh, well, as I said, no biggie; just means a little more weight will likely be needed to balance them than if the dots are present and lined up with the red ones on new tires.
If you don't see the dots on the tires, they've likely already worn or been scrubbed off; they come off easily. Once the tire is mounted, they serve no purpose.
If you don't see the dots on the tires, they've likely already worn or been scrubbed off; they come off easily. Once the tire is mounted, they serve no purpose.
#18
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Originally Posted by MustGoFastR
If you look at your tires, there should be a corresponing red dot on them that lines up with the blue one on the rim. The dots mark the heavy and light spots (forget which) of the tire and rim, so that when matched up new, they will balance the easiest and with the least weight. The G35c 18s have had white dots since '03. Purists will leave them on to use them for the same purpose when putting on new tires, but it's not that big of a deal.
#19
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nail polish remover?!?!? wouldn't that damange the clear coat on the wheel??? just paint prep or tire bleach. tire bleach kicks *** and takes the dot right off.
#20
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Originally Posted by davidv
+1. The wheel dot is the heavy spot, and the tire dot is the heavy spot. When mounting the wheel and tire, the spots should be opposite one another. The balance "estimate" makes the wheel-tire combination easier to balance.