News

You’re driving along and suddenly you hear a bang, or you feel the vehicle start to drive a little funny, and next thing you know you hear the “flap flap flap” that means a flat tire. Or, you come out to the parking lot after work to find that one rim is resting on the ground after your tire has lost its air.

You want to get the most out of your tire dollars, so do you repair or replace that flat one?

That all depends on the type of damage to the tire. Often when a tire fails at highway speed, it can result in a tire that’s too shredded or otherwise damaged to have any hope of an effective repair. If you’re lucky, though, maybe the puncture is just on the tread surface. A nail hole or puncture that’s up to ¼” in size can usually be repaired using an internal patch and a special cement. At one time, tire shops  would plug a damaged tire, but plugs are now considered unreliable and few shops will apply them.

If the damage is to the tire’s sidewall, sorry to say you’re out of luck.

There’s no effective way to repair a tire sidewall or shoulder, and damage to the shoulder or sidewall means that you’re going to be replacing that tire. Sorry!

Here are a couple of things to remember:

• If you have a flat while driving, don’t panic-stop, but pull off to the side as soon as you can. Even driving a short distance on a flat tire can damage it beyond repair.
• If your tires have a tread depth of 2/32” or less, they can’t be repaired and you really shouldn’t be driving around on them anyway.
• Make sure your spare is good –spares can age and lose air just sitting in the trunk.

We hope you don’t have a flat anytime soon…and that when it’s time for new tires or auto repair, that you ‘ll come to us at Family Tire Distributors! Make an appointment with us today!