The wheels on the truck go…

Have you seen yellow and red dots on new tires? These dots identify characteristics impacting balance of the tires. Companies which do not balance the tire/wheel assembly may use the dots to determine where the valve stem should be placed, for example. This practice places additional weight at the lightest point of the tire/wheel assembly.

The yellow dots represent the lightest point on the tire. This is typically the point you want aligned with the valve stem. The value stem will be the heaviest point on the assembly, especially if a Tire Pressure Monitoring System is present.

The red dot should be aligned to the dimple on steel wheels, it represents the highest point on the tire. The dimple on the wheel notes the lowest part of the wheel, so aligning the red dot keeps the weight balanced for the assembly. If both dots appear, use the red and ignore the yellow with steel wheels.

On all dual wheel installations, the valve stems are set 180 degrees apart to maintain a weight balance. Of course, OEs who balance tires add weight to the wheels to compensate for the material discrepancies, so the dots are a less important guide to the mounting process. The lack of colored dots is not an indicator of material uniformity.

It's in the mix….

Have you always wondered if buying premix 50/50 antifreeze is a good idea as compared to purchasing concentrate and mixing yourself? The 50/50 solution provides protection down to temperatures of -34F/-36C. If mixing yourself, you will want to buy a half-gallon of distilled water and add it to a half-gallon of Ethylene Glycol to arrive at the correct concentration. If you chose this route do not use hard water. Also note that Ethylene Glycol is considered an industrial waste, so it must be disposed of properly.

Propylene Glycol in a 50/50 solution protects for temps of -27F/-33C and is considered non-toxic. A 60% concentration, or more Glycol, reduces the cooling system performance since the solution becomes excessively viscous at low temps (hopefully, you don’t need protection down to -63F). To properly check the protection levels of either, use an Optical Refractometer as opposed to a Hydrometer.

Waterless antifreeze is another option. Lookup Evans Antifreeze on the internet for more information.

There are three main ethylene glycol formulations today:

• Silicate based – green coolant

• Organic Acid Technology (OATs) with no silicate and can last up to 5 years

• Hybrid Coolants which combine small amounts of silicates and organics, also in the 5 year range

If Silicates are left in the system, there is contamination build up inside the radiator. Silicate dropout occurs after the coolant is “spent” and the inhibitors drop out of the solution, causing metal components begin to deteriorate. Flushing the system will help remove these particles.

A word to the fans