june2021 - 34

Find out what
shop owners are
reading about in this
month's pages of

DIAGNOSTIC TECH

Advanced wheel service:
Tire grading, rotation and repair
Tire and wheel service on modern vehicles may require special
service procedures along with new tooling.
By Scott Brown

W

heel and tire ser vice
requirements on today's
vehicles are quite demanding. Technicians possessing the
ability to address tire pressure and
monitoring system (TPMS) issues
and deal with noise, vibration, and
harshness (NVH) are in demand.
Consumers today are growing more
and more accustomed to a smooth
and quiet ride due to the advancements in vehicle design. Given all of
the advanced technologies populating the automobile, technicians now
must make sure they are adhering
to all of the special precautions and
service procedures. In fact, you may
have run across vehicles that require
additional services following a wheel
alignment, such as a zero-point calibration or camera/radar aiming.
Today's tire design has evolved tremendously over the years. Tire manufacturers are working hard with OEMs
to produce a tire with less rolling resistance and less NVH and continue to
deliver a high level of safety.

TIRE GRADING
The National Highway Transportation
Safety Administration (NHTSA) has
published a document outlining all of
the uniform tire grading guidelines.
(Figure 1) This document is available
for download and should serve as a
great reference when dealing with tires.
When installing new tires, you may
have noticed colored dots placed on the

sidewall of the tire. Usually, you'll see
either yellow, white, or red. Some tires
may have just one or a combination.
But what do these dots represent? The
red mark designates the lightest part of
the tire, so, when you install this tire
on a cast wheel, you will want to align
this dot with the valve stem. When it
comes to steel wheels, you'll want to
look at the rim closely and find the diamond-shaped indicator with which you
would align this red dot. Cast wheels
are finely machined components and
typically don't have the same balance
offset as that found on a steel wheel.

34 Professional Distributor I June 2021 I VehicleServicePros.com

Figure 1 - Tire grading.

The dot is placed at the TPMS sensor
because that's the heavier section of the
rim. On the other hand, steel wheels
are not as refined and typically have a
balance factor, hence the need for the
diamond indicator.
Now, I'm sure you've seen a lot
of tires that are installed on vehicles
where these dots don't line up. I believe
the main reason for this is because personnel servicing tires and wheels are
not aware of this system. Why do you
want to do this? When you follow



http://www.VehicleServicePros.com

june2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of june2021

Editor's Note: A New Adventure
Sneak Peek
Most Wanted
In Focus
2021 PTEN Innovation Awards Nominees, Part 2
The bigger the better
Diagnostic Tech – Advanced wheel service: Tire grading, rotation and repair
Show Me Your Truck: A new truck each year
Go Sell Something: Gentle versus hard close
Driving Sales
Tales from the Road: Baked-in customer service
Scan Tool Spec Guide: Global OBD-II Scan Tools
Scan Tool Spec Guide: Professional Diagnostic Scan Tools
Scan Tool Spec Guide: Products
Scan Tool Spec Guide: Heavy Duty Diagnostic Scan Tools
Scan Tool Spec Guide: Company Directory
june2021 - 1
june2021 - 2
june2021 - 3
june2021 - Editor's Note: A New Adventure
june2021 - 5
june2021 - Sneak Peek
june2021 - 7
june2021 - 8
june2021 - 9
june2021 - 10
june2021 - 11
june2021 - 12
june2021 - 13
june2021 - Most Wanted
june2021 - 15
june2021 - In Focus
june2021 - 17
june2021 - 18
june2021 - 19
june2021 - 2021 PTEN Innovation Awards Nominees, Part 2
june2021 - 21
june2021 - 22
june2021 - 23
june2021 - 24
june2021 - 25
june2021 - 26
june2021 - 27
june2021 - The bigger the better
june2021 - 29
june2021 - 30
june2021 - 31
june2021 - 32
june2021 - 33
june2021 - Diagnostic Tech – Advanced wheel service: Tire grading, rotation and repair
june2021 - 35
june2021 - 36
june2021 - 37
june2021 - Show Me Your Truck: A new truck each year
june2021 - 39
june2021 - Go Sell Something: Gentle versus hard close
june2021 - 41
june2021 - Driving Sales
june2021 - 43
june2021 - 44
june2021 - 45
june2021 - Tales from the Road: Baked-in customer service
june2021 - 47
june2021 - 48
june2021 - A1
june2021 - A2
june2021 - A3
june2021 - Scan Tool Spec Guide: Global OBD-II Scan Tools
june2021 - A5
june2021 - A6
june2021 - A7
june2021 - A8
june2021 - A9
june2021 - A10
june2021 - A11
june2021 - Scan Tool Spec Guide: Professional Diagnostic Scan Tools
june2021 - A13
june2021 - A14
june2021 - A15
june2021 - A16
june2021 - A17
june2021 - A18
june2021 - A19
june2021 - A20
june2021 - A21
june2021 - Scan Tool Spec Guide: Products
june2021 - A23
june2021 - A24
june2021 - A25
june2021 - Scan Tool Spec Guide: Heavy Duty Diagnostic Scan Tools
june2021 - A27
june2021 - A28
june2021 - A29
june2021 - A30
june2021 - A31
june2021 - A32
june2021 - A33
june2021 - Scan Tool Spec Guide: Company Directory
june2021 - A35
june2021 - A36
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