# Red paint on bolts...



## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Just curious.....

On each wheel of my motorhome there is a small red blob of paint on one bolt per wheel, the other four bolts don't have it. Why the paint and what does it mean?

pete


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## Jented (Jan 12, 2010)

Hi.
One simple reason is that perhaps on PDI,someone dots a wheel nut to say they have checked them,first thing that springs to my mind,having said that,you should check them regularly yourself.
Gearjammer.


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## wackywyco (Apr 30, 2007)

I think it is the one to remove if you want to remove the wheel trims.


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Thanks for the replies, there may be something in the wheeltrim idea, although the wheels have been off a few times since new so the bolts have probably just put back on randomly since.
I'll check that next time a wheel has to come off.

Pete


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## bigfoot (May 16, 2005)

Red paint on wheel nuts/bolts on Ministry Land Rovers used to indicate a split rim fitted,these made repairing tyres in the field a doddle and usually puntures were repaired with an inner tube as a get you home,


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## drcotts (Feb 23, 2006)

Is there a mark of some sort also on the wheel inner rim this lets the person refit the wheel in the same place each time after balancing. The whell will have been balanced on the vehicle when the van was made and this allows the fitter to put the wheel back iin the same place each time.

Phill


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## dbar (Jul 16, 2011)

Small paint marks, or witness marks, usually indicate that somebody has checked somebody else's work. In this case I would expect that the torque of the wheel nuts has been checked, probably at the factory, although it could have been at the dealers as part of the PDI as previously suggested.


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## colpot (Jun 9, 2008)

We had a puncture repaired at the weekend and the red marks were the bolts which actually did not hold the wheel trim on (contrary to what the Dealer told me). It allows the fitter to locate the wheel on the two locating pins and then put the bolt in without the wheeltrim. The wheels trim has one hole larger than the rest which fits over the bolt, then the rest are put in. (Thats how it was on ours, anyway)


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Thanks colpot, that further confirms wackywyco's theory.

Pete


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## JockandRita (Jun 1, 2005)

peejay said:


> Thanks colpot, that further confirms wackywyco's theory.
> 
> Pete


Yes, thanks from me too, and thanks to you Pete for asking the question. I also wondered what the red marks were for.

Cheers, 

Jock.


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