[locusjag]

I can only remember having had my rear wheel tyres punctured. Whatever I have owned over a span of 25 years - Bicycles, 3 motorcycles, cars (a hatchback, 2 compact SUVs). And this seems to be true regardless of wherever I have owned them. Moving on to experiences of others, I have only ever seen a live front tyre puncture suffered by a friend in his TVS Victor motorcycle near Murdeshwar, off the Arabian sea coast - and that's that. The countless other punctures I've seen others suffer have almost all been on the rear tyres.

I Googled this thought of mine, and look what I found-

Random internet source #1 - https://www.motorcycle.com/ask-mo-an...ear-tires.html

Q: Yes, I have a question that’s, weirdly enough, only now occurred to me after 20-plus years of riding, as I contemplate yet another sheet metal screw embedded in my almost new rear Dunlop Q3 Plus tire. Why do nails and screws always wind up in the rear tire? Is it because it’s the most expensive one and the harder one to change? Do rears have thinner carcasses? I can’t remember ever having a hole in my front tire. Help me understand!

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A: This is one of those pieces of moto knowledge handed down from the ancients, which, after you’re enlightened, seems so self-explanatory. Without this wisdom, it’s so easy to blame fate and the gods, to develop an unhealthy persecution complex, to begin to mistrust and hate one’s fellow beings. This is why your rear is always the tire with the nail in it: Your front tire rolls over the nail or screw lying there benignly on its side in the road, and kicks it up at occasionally just the right angle and timing for it to insert itself into your rear tire.

The only time you’re going to get a nail in your front tire is if you’re following the roofing truck just as the one with your name on it falls off and is still bouncing merrily along.

Random source #2: https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/q...-my-rear-wheel

Q: I get probably five times as many punctures in my rear wheel as opposed to my front wheel. I run a good pressure and don't get obvious pinch flats. Does anyone have a logical reason why this could be happening?

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A: The front tyre can disturb something lying flat on the ground, flicking it up ready to cause a puncture on the rear

A: In the past year, have gotten 5 rear flats and 0 front, while riding in bike lanes. 3 flats were caused by small metal pieces, 1 by a thorn, and 1 by a screw. Suspect that the front wheel lifted up these items and the rear wheel rode over them at a puncture angle (straight into the tire). This must be happening since the metal items would normally lay flat on the ground, explaining why flats are on the rear. Am riding 20+ mph, which means the rear tire passes over where the front was very quickly.

Does this sound rational enough to you? I think it makes sense that the front tyres could kick up benign nails lying on their side on the road and make them penetrable onto the rear tyres. Why, it's almost poetic; who would've thought that the front and rear wheels could be enemies?
Anyway, in 14 months of ownership of my TUV 300, I've had 3 rear tyre punctures now. The one that went in this morning has done so at an angle and am worried that the affected tyre will leak out all its air quickly. Before I run off from office to the nearest puncture shop, I thought I'd post this query. Let me know what you think!

OT Fun fact: A lot of puncture shops are mis-named as "puncher shops", and are listed as such even on Google maps

[SmartCat]

Moving thread from Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

I have added a poll question.

[am1m]

Can recall only one instance of the front tyre getting punctured on a bike. All the others (and there have been several) have been on the rear. So yeah I do think this applies for bikes. Cars? Not so sure, can't recall the distribution percentage even vaguely, but I'm sure I've changed a few front tyres as well as ones on the rear because of punctures.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

I have added a poll question.

Thanks for creating the poll! The thought to create one didn't strike me.

And let's say we receive a sizeable number of votes the way I expect it to turn out, it'll probably make a stronger case for regular tyre rotations. My rear wheels have 3 sealed punctured spots now while the front tyres don't have any!

[mukeshgoel]

I don't think that rear tyres get punctured more often. In fact all my recent punctures (3-4 punctures in last 2-3 years) have been in the front tyres.

Theoretically also, if a nail or sharp object is there on the road, your front tyre will go over that first.

This is my experience while driving cars. I left motorcycle driving 22 years ago.

[NaXal]

The statement is true for my two wheelers. Overwhelming majority of the punctures are in the rear tyre.

However for my car, punctures are really rare & they don't have any specific pattern.

Mind you, I always avoid getting off from the tarmac and into the shoulders. Unless it's absolutely necessary, I am more than happy to spend time in traffic jam or following the slower traffic in front rather getting down into the pavement. This one move makes punctures really rare for me.

[boniver]

I've had one puncture on my bike in the 2 years that I've been riding, and that has been in the rear tyre.

Started driving in December '18 and since then I've had two punctures, both in the front right tyre. Later discovered that the rim was bent, and got it replaced.

[swissknife]

I have had punctures on front and rear wheels, both on two and four wheelers. From my experience, a puncture on the rear wheel are better to have than on the front wheel, both on two and four wheelers.

I haven't voted, since I am not sure what to vote on.

Options such as Yes, No and Both front and rear, would have helped.

[GTO]

Not really the case, at least with cars. I've had more or less an equal number of front & rear tyre punctures.

That said, thanks to better quality tyres & roads, punctures sure have become a thing of the past. I don't remember the last time any of my cars had a puncture. None in the last 3 - 4 years .

[Sheel]

From what little I can recall and figure out, FWD's are more prone to puncture in the front tire/s and RWD's in the rear tire/s.

Now, don't get me started on what would happen with AWD's .

[Malyaj]

For me most of the punctures (or nails embedded in rubber, I would say) have been in the front tires. I don't think there is a pattern to it. I may have noticed it more in front tires due to them carrying more load because of the engine bay.

[IshaanIan]

Definitely not the case with cars, but in my personal experience, it does seem to be the case with bikes. Perhaps it is due to the wider rear tyre? Because I have had 4 punctures in my limited riding experience on my RC390, and all of them were on the rear tyre. Odd considering the forward weight bias on my bike.

[voldemort]

Originally Posted by locusjag

I can only remember having had my rear wheel tyres punctured.

And I can only remember having our front tyres punctured, on all the cars we own or have owned in the past

Originally Posted by Sheel

From what little I can recall and figure out, FWD's are more prone to puncture in the front tire/s and RWD's in the rear tire/s.

Now, don't get me started on what would happen with AWD's .

I can see where that theory comes from because it makes intuitive sense to me. But my dad's RWD Mercedes has had two front tyre punctures, and a front tyre bulge.

I think it's equally likely that front or rear tyres can get punctured. That aforementioned tyre bulge could just as well have been on the rear if we had done a tyre rotation right before the bulge developed.

[Venkatesh.H]

Punctures are rare now a days thanks to the good quality tyres.

I remember more puncture on rear wheels than front. The approx ratio is 3:1 in my case.


Venkatesh.H

[rayjaycleoful]

almost all of the punctures I've experienced, across different cars, are always at the rear!