Can a Tire with a Nail Puncture but No Air Leak Continue to Be Used?
2 Answers
Tires with a nail puncture but no air leak should not continue to be used. This situation only indicates that the nail has just punctured the tire and is lodged firmly enough to prevent immediate air leakage. However, as the vehicle continues to be driven, gaps will form at the puncture site, leading to eventual air leakage. Tires are circular elastic rubber products mounted on various vehicles or machinery to roll on the ground. They often operate under complex and demanding conditions, enduring various deformations, loads, forces, and temperature extremes during use. Therefore, tires must possess high load-bearing capacity, traction performance, and cushioning ability, along with excellent wear resistance, flex resistance, and low rolling resistance and heat generation.
This situation where a nail punctures the tire without causing immediate air leakage is actually quite dangerous. I've seen many similar cases. Even if the nail doesn't cause air loss temporarily, it has already damaged the internal structure of the tire. A tire contains multiple layers of cord fabric and an airtight layer - a nail puncture is like planting a time bomb inside the tire. I once encountered a car owner who said a nail had been in their tire for a week without issues, only to experience sudden blowout on the highway (fortunately at low speed). Once a tire is penetrated, even if there's no immediate air leakage, continuous driving with bumps and rising tire temperature will gradually expand the damage. Especially during high-speed driving, the drastic changes in tire pressure make sudden loss of pressure a constant risk. Honestly, risking your life to save a few hundred dollars on tire replacement isn't worth it - getting it professionally handled at a tire shop is the right thing to do immediately.
