i noticed these about a month ago. there is one spot on each wheel. the first one i noticed was perfectly round and centered on one of the spokes so it looked like it was supposed to be there (second picture) but when i looked at the rest of the rims all 3 of the other spots were off center and 1 had even dripped a little before it dried(third picture). whatever it is, it is under the coating. does anyone else have these? what do you think it is? i think its odd that i have it one all 4 wheels.

 

 

Yes I do! One drop of "Paint" on each rim.

I meant to ask about it.

 

Yup,
I heard they are for tire balance.
Good news is you can scrape it off carefully as it is on top of clearcoat. Thought the first one was ST Mist drip.

I did the first one with fingernail and other three with razor blade.

 

I complained about this in a post a couple months ago and asked if anybody knew how to elliminate these alignment markers on the rims. Nobody responded and the dealership is no help. They didn't even know that the marks were there ! And, after looking at them they told me that the only way to remove the marks would be to resurface the rims !!!

 

im in a 2k and i got those on my rims

 

i had them too. Of course the dealer had no clue what they were. They eventually wore off afther regular washings with a little help from a finger nail.

 

My GXE has 'em too. I think I know, but can't be sure so I'll throw it out to see if it draws flys... it's a mark to show either the maximum or minimum diameter of the wheels. When mounting a tire, they're supposed to align that mark against a mark on the tire indicating the heavy (or light) spot of the tire, making for a better balance. Check your tires... they may have had a small spot marked on them too. May not be there as I don't think all tire mfr's pre-balance their tires, but by now it could be washed off.

BuddyWh

 

Ya my tires have red and blue spots on them... but i had already scratched off the paint drop with my nails

 

I think they are for tire balancing and alingment on the rim.

 

the tires and rims are 'balanced' separately. when the dots are lined up, they will require little of any wieght.

 

got a couple of em too!!!

 

I have these on my I30t rims, and used my fingernails on all of them. There was one spot on each rim.

 

you all keep saying you used your finger nails to get them off. i tried it. seemed impossible. i think i was born with whimpy finger nails

 

yep yep...i have these same "spots" on my 2001 GLE...ive also been wondering about that, and meaning to ask someone at my dealership about it. but yeah i think most of us if not all have those little spots.

 

damn.. u people got way too much free time.

 

whats that supposed to mean?

 

I got those in the same color on my AE rims. Even though they are darker, I still have the light colored dot. Could it be from a type of primer coat?

 

I guess that answers that, cuz I was wondering too...

 

I've always wondered too. I knew they weren't casting marks because they were in random places. The weird thing is, I have them on my '02 Max's 17" alloys, and had them on my '00 Max GXE's 16" alloys, but don't have them on my Alty's 16" alloys. Maybe the difference is that the alignment weights on my Alty go on over the outer lip of the rim, whereas on the Maxima alloys (both years) they mount to the inside surface of the wheel (behind the spokes).

 

They are not essential... in fact, I don't know if a lot of tires come pre-balanced with the marks on them.

A tire shop with hunter GSP9700 wheel balancing set up doesn't need these marks at all. When used properly, this machine measures wheel and tire run out and suggests optimum mounting combination (amongst the four wheels and four tires) as well as tire/wheel orientations. If there isn't one for that tire/rim combo the dealer is supposed to get another tire and/or rim, depending on what you are buying, from stock. Once mounted, the balancer simulates road force to help account for sidewall and wheel flexure variations.

Excellent setup... by all means highly recommended when getting very good tires mounted to very good rims.

Check it out at www.gsp9700.com

Buddywh

 

I scraped them off with my fingernail right after I got home from the dealership. I, too, thought at first it was a paint drip. After I got the first one off, I then noticed that all the other four wheels had it.
Oh, well, I know it can't be for balance. Heck, when you pick up a large pebble in your tire...that doesn't cause a wheel imbalance.
It would be nice if NISSAN would shed some light on this. No matter what, the spots sure look like crap on those beautiful wheels.

 

i dont think they meant that the spots actually help to balance the wheel. just that the spots are used for reference in the balancing process.

 

Newman, does that now mean that they won't be able to balance them properly in the future? If so, NISSAN should have told us that. After all, those paint spots are ugly (imagine them on chromed wheels).

 

i dont think it will be a problem. but im the one who started this thread so i am on the same level as you. check out the first page of the thread and ask on of the guys who answered my question. specifically TimW.

 

Newman, there had not better be a problem in the future. I think that if those "paint dots" were that important, it would have been included in the "orientation" of the car I received when I picked her up for delivery. Also, it seems that with time they wear off anyway...so, it can't be that important...but I would still like to get the real story on this...straight from NISSAN.

 

yeah, i agree with you. i dont think they're that important.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Mark S.
I think that if those "paint dots" were that important, it would have been included in the "orientation" of the car I received when I picked her up for delivery\


After I discovered the rim spots I contacted service & sales at 2 Nissan dealerships ( 4 service writers / 2 sales people ) to inquire about how to remove these spots. None of the people that I spoke with even knew that these spots existed ! I finally found a service person that did know about these spots because he personally owns a Maxima with these spots. He said that Nissan has been doing this on Maxima wheels for years. He didn't have any suggestions as to how to remove them.

 

I've always wondered about those "dots". Didn't think they were all that important so I just ignored them. I haven't done the "fingernail" upgrade, so I guess my wheels are still stock.

 

I thought it was a little strange when I found them on my rims too. Never put too much thought into them, I just picked them off like everyone else seems to have done.

 

A windshield ice scrapper (plastic) works pretty good.

 

Your fingernail and a bit of persistence will get them off...of course if they've been baked after sitting outside for year or so...you may need something a bit stronger.