Anyone needing a new set of Billboards?

[Donunder]

Originally Posted by elmariachi

I will bet that in fact GY does want them mounted directionally per Silverback's diagram earlier and the distributor is responsible for shipping sets that can be mount that way and they are the ones making the notations on the tires. This would explain why these new ones I have that came directly from GY through Nick weren't marked.

Look guys, the last thing I want to do is to cause any type of ruckus over whether these tires are directional or not, it's not of any great concern to me, but the statement above that it is the distributor, and not Good Year themselves, that puts the oil pen markings on the tires leaves me mystified and raises a few questions.

Why, if indeed they are directional, are not the tires so identified as they come from the factory? Clearly and unmistakeably? As is the case with every other directional tire I've ever seen?

What mysterious additional information is made available to the distributor on which to base his decision to declare a particular tire is "directional" one way or the other?

Who provides this information? Is it available to you and me?

For instance where would Nick take this new batch to to have them examined, certified and then marked as to which way they should be mounted and facing on a car?

It all sounds a bit suss to me. From my admittedly limited knowledge of these tires, it's safe and practical to mount 'em, drive 'em and then once they've been broken in, ensure that they only travel in that same direction for the rest of their lives.

I have observed in some better tire fitting shops, that the fitter will mount a tire on a rim and then go to balance it. If the machine indicates that a large weight is necessary to balance the combination, the fitter will often strip the tire off the rim and move it around a little to try to improve the balance as much as possible so as to have to resort to as light a weight as possible. When there are numerous rims and tires of the same size lying around during this process, the fitter will often make a small mark to identify which tire goes on which rim in which direction and in which position on the rim the optimal balance was achieved before adding weight.

Could the markings be down to something as simple as this?