At this year’s Mid-America Trucking Show, visitors who stopped by the Goodyear booth were invited to drill nails into a Goodyear DuraSeal Tire. 367 attendees drove nails into a Goodyear G394 SST wide-base trailer tire, using a popper, “a device that enables users to pierce the tread area of a tire by pulling down on a handle.”
As the nail enters the tire and reaches the inner liner, DuraSeal surrounds the puncture and seals off the leak.
According to Trucking Info, DuraSeal is a yellow, gel-like rubber compound that instantly seals punctures up to 1/4 inch in diameter, in the tread area of the tire. (It does not seal sidewall punctures.)
“if the nail is popped out, DuraSeal can instantly fill the hole and keep air from escaping,” said Tim Miller, Goodyear marketing and communications manager.
*The tire used to showcase DuraSeal’s capabilities was not bearing the weight of a load.