Tires: Tire Mounting, Tire Balance, Tire Run Out

Question
I was told that a new tire should be mounted with the"Paint Dot" on the sidewall lined up with the "stem" on the rim in order for proper balancing of the tire.Is there any truth to this?

Answer
Liz,

Some tire manufacturers put a dot to indicate the high point of the run out of the tire - some don't.  Some rim manufacturers put the valve hole at the low point of the run of the rim - some don't.  

If the high point of the tire and the low point of the rim are matched up, then the combination is "rounder".  However, if either the tire manufacturer or the rim manufacturer don't do this - for example, the tire manufacturer use a mark for a different purpose - then it doesn't matter.

And just for the record - run out is different from balance.  You can have a tire with a bad run out and it will still have good balance - and vice versa.