Have you ever bought a new tire for your car, and noticed a red, yellow, or blue line on it? How about colored dots? No? Until recently, we didn’t notice colored dots on new tires, either. This got us thinking, and we decided to look into it.
You may not have noticed colored lines on new tires because they rub off after a few days or even miles of driving. Tire manufacturers print these stripes on tires, but they’re meant to disappear quickly. They’re not meant for the consumer. It all comes down to a code used by the tire manufacturer to help the assembly line, well … down the line.
The stripes printed on the tire are part of a quality-control system implemented by tire manufacturers, and their meaning varies based on who’s manufacturing the tires. Think of it like a barcode. They can be used to denote the size of a tire, its model, or even distribution.
The colored lines also help ensure tire quality
Colored lines on tires are also important for avoiding assembly errors and ensuring tire quality. These markings aid manufacturers and tire assemblers with production. Each set of liknes is matched with a specific model and ensures the assembly workers know which tire is which. The lines take any guesswork out of the job, helping assembly move along more quickly and efficiently.
Here’s the thing: The rubber used to form a tire comes from a slab of tread rubber manufactured to a specific width and thickness. Since thousands of flat tread slabs of rubber are made every day, manufacturers need a system to make sure the kind of rubber is easy to identify, which helps the workers assemble the tires correctly. That’s why multiple stripes of various colors may appear around the tire’s circumference.
So chances are, you’ll never see them after you buy that new tire, and there’s no need to notice them when you’re making the purchase. Just make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck when buying new tires for your car.
