How to fix a flat tyre in five easy steps

Flat tire is the unending pain of all the drivers and car’s owners out there. Imagine this, when you are going on a long road in the middle of nowhere, with no repair shop in sight, suddenly, the road gradually becomes bumpier. Syke! It is not the road, it is your car’s tire has been deflated by a nail or metal pieces.

The nail or metal pieces impales the tire, hits the inner tube and cause the tire to release all the air within.  What to do now? Pushing the car toward seems like a great option, but not recommended. So, to end this misery, you should prepare a pack of tools and especially, a spare tire, take them all out, roll up your sleeves and deal with this freaking nightmare.

Every car drivers or owners should always remember to have at least two things in your car, a jack, and a wrench. They can be your heroes. Don’t be too tight-fisted, instead, you should go buy a good jack. Hydraulic one is the best choice you can ask for, which could give the car the necessary stability when being fixed. If you have a spare tire in your car, that’s great, you just need to take out the punctured tire, loosen all the nuts, install the new one and tighten it. Then take it to the repair shop to have it fully done within 3 days. But, in case you don’t have any spare tires, then you must have tire plugs, pliers, probe tools and an air bumper. Here is the proper process of fixing a flat tire. However, remember that this is a short-term solution, you still have to deal with it properly afterward.

Read more: 

• How to Handle and Prevent A Tyre Burst or Blowout

Step 1: Lift the car and remove the deflated tire

Of course, you have to take off the tire first to have it checked. Loosen all the nuts by the wrench but don’t remove them yet. You need to place the jack at the right point to lift your car up with it. Keep in mind that you must check the brake first, or else, the car will roll. Moreover, do it on the level ground, a steep street can be extremely dangerous for yourself, cars and other road users. Once the car is lifted up, now you can completely remove all the nuts from their bolts and take off the tire.

Put the jack into a proper position to lift up the car and fix the flat tire

Step 2: Find and locate the leaking hole

After completing step 1, you need to find where and why the air leaks. If the object was still stuck on the tire, you can easily see it and identify what it is, whether it is a nail, a piece of glass or something sharp and then, pull it out with a pair of pliers. In case, the leak is so well-hidden, don’t get frustrated, you can locate it by listening to the sound of the escaping air or slowly move your hand around the tire to feel it. If those two methods won’t work, you can try with soap and water mixture, spray it on the tire, the hole will constantly cause bubbles

A soapy water can help to locate the hole by checking for bubble

Step 3: Take care of the hole

When you’ve done locating the hole, check if it large enough to put your plug in, you can use pliers to make it a little large, just a little, because overdoing can lead to wasting all your hard work. You can also add some glue, tape or something sticky to make the plug fully fill up the hole, please use a 3- or 4-inch plug to guarantee that plug is long enough not to fall out with a remaining 1,5 or 2 inches sticking out from the tire. Afterward, you wait for them to dry out and cleanly cut that extra part away. Don’t do it by hand, instead, a saw is recommended.

Bandages can hardly help, but a plug can do the trick

Step 4: Make sure the plug is tight

You can easily check it with an air bumper: Compress the air into the inner tube then check if there is any air leaking out by listening and feeling the tyre surface or even using soapy water in step 2. Repeat plug-inserting step if luck is not on your side.

Step 5: Reinstall the mended tire

After a long process, you only need to reinstall the tire. Install the tire into the bolt, make sure they fitted perfectly, tighten the nuts but not too much, just enough to keep the wheel in place, and then, lower the car, take out the jack. After that, you can tightly wrench all the nuts. Everything is done! You can drive your car now.  

You only tighten the nuts all the way once the tires hit the ground

For one more time, please remember that this is just a temporary way, you have to find a repair shop or an automatic shop to totally replace the damaged tire with a new one. Don’t be lazy or you will suffer the pain all over again. A new tire is better than a plug.

Find more tips and guides on safety driving from IndianAuto:

• How to change oil in 4 easy steps

• How often should we polish car?