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View Poll Results: Have your rear tyres got punctured more often?
Yes, definitely. 16 25.40%
No, not really. 31 49.21%
Can't say for sure. 16 25.40%
Voters: 63. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 19th April 2019, 11:57   #16
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Re: Are rear tyres more susceptible to punctures than the front ones?

At this point, over 50% of respondents have opined based on their experiences that it is not true that only the rear wheels get punctured more often or always.

There is a consensus that this might be true with 2 wheelers though.

I am thankful for never having had to contend with a flat front wheel so far (regardless of 2 or 4 wheels) and was convinced that there was a method to this madness. But maybe those of us who've only experienced rear tyre punctures were just fooled by randomness, borrowing this phrase from Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

But why does this seem to ring true with 2 wheelers though for so many of us? Maybe we just need to have more people voting on this before this notion is dispelled as well!
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Old 19th April 2019, 12:34   #17
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Re: Are rear tyres more susceptible to punctures than the front ones?

Quote:
Originally Posted by locusjag View Post
There is a consensus that this might be true with 2 wheelers though. But why does this seem to ring true with 2 wheelers though for so many of us?
Weight distribution? More weight acting on the rear wheel, especially with a pillion?

It seems to be a common enough phenomenon, even with bicycles:

https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/q...-my-rear-wheel
https://forum.bikeradar.com/viewtopic.php?t=12608769
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/rear-flats.html
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Old 19th April 2019, 12:37   #18
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Re: Are rear tyres more susceptible to punctures than the front ones?

Although there is no definitive pattern for punctures, I would rather say the front tyres in a Car are relatively more susceptible to punctures than the rear ones. Reasons are,
1. For any nail / glass / sharp object that is laying on the surface the possibility of front tyres coming into contact first and picking it up is very high unless the car is reversing or in a turning manoeuvre.
2. With Engine in the front, the front tyres are normally under more load than the rear ones. The possibility of an object piercing through the rubber under heavy weight is usually higher than that under lighter weight.
Having said that, the occurrence of punctures depends directly on these factors,
a. Tyre compound (the MRFs installed earlier on my car were puncture magnets and picked 1-2 cuts each month. The Yokohamas presently installed have picked up none while running on same roads).
b. Age of the tyre (old ones tend to be more prone than new ones).
c. Level of thread wear.
d. Thread pattern.

Last edited by King_pin09 : 19th April 2019 at 12:38.
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Old 19th April 2019, 13:15   #19
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Re: Are rear tyres more susceptible to punctures than the front ones?

I do not think there can be any data to prove either ways mathematically or logically.

This is similar to saying Right eyes are more susceptible to dust compared to left eyes. There can be opinions, experiences or facts for few people on this forum. A hypothesis can not be framed based on either of these because, there can be other people (Out of this forum) who have exactly opposite experiences.

So, mere statistics cannot prove the point either ways in this case.
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Old 19th April 2019, 14:58   #20
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Re: Are rear tyres more susceptible to punctures than the front ones?

There are many practical Car Guru, who aren't into social media & definitely not a member of Team Bhp.

Ever since this thread came up, I asked few of them I know with vast experience (both age & KM's driven).

One interesting point highlighted by most of them.

They all agreed about their experience of having rear tyre punctures more often than front. But this is also true that most of them replace tyres in need basis where oldest & weakest tyres are sent to rear while new tyres are in front (Due to FWD cars & for better steering grip)

So according to them yes the rear tyre punctures are more because most owners/drivers send their weakest tyres to rear while keeping the healthy pair at front.

But this trend is now getting obsolete. People are buying ever nicer car & replacing those with newer models far quicker than before. People are also well informed, mainly because of the strict adherence of maintenance rules at A.S.S & availability of well equipped tyre shops. Tyres are also much better compare to what they used to be 10/15 years ago & due to availability & competition, prices are also good. So now a days most people are swapping their tyres as in full set compare to a decade ago when usually they used to buy in pair.

Thanks.

Last edited by NaXal : 19th April 2019 at 14:59. Reason: Added some more information
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Old 19th April 2019, 15:53   #21
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Re: Are rear tyres more susceptible to punctures than the front ones?

Quote:
Originally Posted by NaXal View Post
There are many practical Car Guru, who aren't into social media & definitely not a member of Team Bhp.....Ever since this thread came up, I asked few of them I know with vast experience (both age & KM's driven).
Thank you for making the effort to ask them!

Quote:
They all agreed about their experience of having rear tyre punctures more often than front
Aha! So there are many people "out there" who feel so as well.

Quote:
So according to them yes the rear tyre punctures are more because most owners/drivers send their weakest tyres to rear while keeping the healthy pair at front.
I think there's a felt need to keep the best tyres at the front even in RWD cars to prevent a blowout and lose steerability. Plus there's the fact that braking forces are higher at the front.

But in my experience, even with uniformly new tyres all around, it's only my rear ones that are getting punctured.
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