Lightning tires prone to punctures….???

[Daragh]

In the 35 years I’ve been driving I’ve gotten a total of four punctures that I can remember.

Two of them have happened in the last month on my Lightning. One in drivers front about 3 weeks ago and today in the drivers rear tire! Both in the center of the thread.

Are the tires from the factory made from a softer compound???

Truck only has 3,000 miles on it!!!

I think I’ll be changing out these tires pretty soon!!

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[PV2EV]

I lost one on my gravel road, which was a first for me. Apparently a sharp rock punched a large unrepairable hole in the tread. I purchased full coverage for the replacement and the three remaining OEM tires from Discount tire.

It may in part be due to the the weight of the truck in addition to the standard thinner EV tread blocks for reduced rolling resistance. When I put better tires on my Volt I lost 20% of my electric range, so be prepared for that if you swap them out.

 

[Peddyr]

Punctured by......?

 

[Daragh]

First was unknown, tech said maybe a rock. One today was a shard of metal most likely from construction site.

 

[Tony Burgh]

Did you ever make a magnet from D cell battery and wire coiled around a nail?
You should understand that the batteries in EV are DC and there is plenty of wire and steel in the SS trucks. The result is that your truck attracts nails and screws from the side of the road and the poor aerodynamics funnel them straight to your tires.
The best way to minimize this is to keep the SOC below 10% and never drive under 60mph.
I hope this helps. Let me know if it does.

 

[Daragh]

Aye ok!

 

[Scrappy]

Mine actually came with a punctured tire. I thought the tire was just low so I filled it up. A few weeks later it was low again and I finally noticed a medium sized screw wedged between the threads.

 

[gregoryhcain]

Did you ever make a magnet from D cell battery and wire coiled around a nail?
You should understand that the batteries in EV are DC and there is plenty of wire and steel in the SS trucks. The result is that your truck attracts nails and screws from the side of the road and the poor aerodynamics funnel them straight to your tires.
The best way to minimize this is to keep the SOC below 10% and never drive under 60mph.
I hope this helps. Let me know if it does.

That must be why I have such trouble getting out of the drivers seat; my metal belt buckle is pinning me to the seat...

 

[Tony Burgh]

That must be why I have such trouble getting out of the drivers seat; my metal belt buckle is pinning me to the seat...

I’m lucky that lead isn’t magnetic. I have enough trouble getting up out of regular seats.

 

[TomB985]

The R1T was the first EV truck that came to market, and I remember going through reviews as they came out and being struck with how many reviewers popped tires. I don’t think I’d seen a review of any car before where the reviewer had to deal with a flat. Several of them did, as well as a couple owners I followed on Twitter. A recent Out of Spec video comparing off-road performance of several trucks included the disclaimer that one of the wheels was different than the other three because they popped a tire playing around a bit too hard in the dirt. The R1T is about 3-500 lbs heavier than a Lightning ER.

I think the added weight makes it more likely for some types of punctures like rocks, potholes, and sharp edges. I can’t see it making a difference for screws or nails, though. My truck is 1,800 lbs heavier than my dad’s 2023 SuperCrew STX truck that rides on the same-width tires. Added ground pressure without more rubber is like pushing the knife down just a bit harder.

On edit: Tire choice also may make a difference. My truck rides on Firestone Destination A/T2s which weigh 43 lbs each. The factory 20” tires are the lightest I could find in that size at only 34 lbs. I don’t know where the weight was taken out, but it stands to reason that less tire material is easier to puncture when riding underneath a heavy Lightning.

 

[Calvin H-C]

No puncture, but the Lightning had a tire blowout just under 7000 km (4350 mi). Tread was immaculate (after incident) and tires were properly inflated (before), so we believe it was a manufacturing defect, but it's impossible to prove. Our warranty doesn't cover road hazards, which is the cause when nothing else can be proved.

This was a factory installed General Grabber.

 

[gregoryhcain]

I've had 4 punctures, one on each tire. Three were nails and one was a screw. Two occurred near construction sites, one was on the road and the latest one I was out hunting out in the sticks. Nothing like changing a tire out on an uneven frozen over dirt road in the middle of nowhere; but I did and was glad to have the spare. Got it patched at the nearest Les Schwab once I got back to civilization. There I was humiliated by how easily this 5' young woman, who could not weigh more than 110 lbs, took the my wheel with the flat out of the bed of my truck and flung it around like it was a toy. I am just a few months shy of 70 and for me at 6'1, 210 lbs that wheel was heavy. My back ached for a week after changing that tire. That girl was built Ford tough!

 

[Sneakypetie78]

I've had one within the first 5k miles. I just left Home Depot, and a mile down the road ingot a low tire pressure warning chime. There was a rusty bent utility knife blade sticking out. Luckily it was able to be patched.

 

[rdr854]

I’ve had one puncture in my Lightning, but also punctured tires in several of my other cars over the years. I think it’s just the luck of the draw.

 

[jefrank]

I've had 2 punctures, too, but I just chalked it up to bad luck. First one was a screw that went in at the edge of the tread and ate just enough of the sidewall to make it non-repairable. the second was a tiny screw that was just barely long enough to break through the tread. $225 for the first and $35 for the second.

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