What Causes a Rental Car to Have a Flat Tire?

[DelCali]

Here are the specific reasons why a rental car might experience a flat tire: 1. Low Tire Pressure: When tire pressure is too low, the wheel's sinking amount increases, radial deformation increases, friction between the tire surface and the ground increases, rolling resistance rises, and the internal stress of the tire body also increases, leading to a rapid rise in tire body temperature. This softens the tire surface rubber, accelerates aging speed, and causes local delamination of the tire body and increased wear on the tire surface. Under these conditions, if the car is driven at high speeds on a highway, the above reactions accelerate, significantly increasing the likelihood of a flat tire. 2. Overinflated Tires: Excessive tire pressure increases the tension of the tire body cords, accelerating the fatigue process of the cords. Especially when driving with overinflated tires while overloaded and speeding, the internal stress of the cords increases further, tire temperature rises rapidly, rubber aging speeds up, and fatigue strength decreases. This results in severe wear in the center of the tire surface, sawtooth-like wear on the side tread patterns, and cord layer breakage, leading to a flat tire. 3. Incorrect Tire Installation: Wheel Imbalance. Due to uneven mass distribution across different parts of the wheel, when the wheel rotates, a significant impact force is generated in the wheel's rotational plane under centrifugal force, causing the wheel to bounce and sway. This increases the tire's wear rate, subjects the cord layer to periodic impact loads, reduces the cord's fatigue resistance, and especially at speeds above 100 km/h, the wear caused by wheel imbalance becomes extremely severe, ultimately leading to a flat tire.