During this year’s Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky., a Goodyear G394 SST wide-base truck tire on display in the tiremaker’s booth absorbed 367 punctures – without any impact on tire inflation.
Show attendees drove the holes into the tire using Goodyear’s “DuraSeal Popper,” a device that enables users to pierce the tread area of a tire by pulling down on a handle. (The tire was mounted on the DuraSeal Popper but not under a load at the time.)
“The results were eye-popping,” said Tim Miller, marketing communications manager, Goodyear Commercial Tire Systems. “DuraSeal technology is the industry’s first and only built-in tire sealant, and is designed for multiple punctures while maintaining tire pressure.”
DuraSeal is a yellow, gel-like rubber compound that instantly seals punctures of up to 1/4-inch in diameter in the tread area of the tire, according to Goodyear. (It does not seal sidewall punctures.) As a nail enters the tire and reaches the tire’s inner liner, DuraSeal surrounds the puncture to seal the leak.
DuraSeal technology is available in drive and trailer tires for over-the-road applications, plus in all-position tires for mixed service and waste-haul applications.
