Outdoor听enthusiasts are more subject than most to having to deal with a vehicle breakdown in a remote location听where听immediate help may not be available. Since tire punctures are by far the most common problem a vehicle will experience鈥攁nd something听more likely to happen on dirt roads鈥攁nd since you can鈥檛 always count听on your spare tire, it makes sense for us to arm ourselves with the tools and knowledge it takes to repair them ourselves.听Here鈥檚 how.
How Do You Know You鈥檝e Got a听Puncture?听
On a paved road, if your steering wheel starts to wobble vaguely in your hands, or if you hear a loud thumping sound that coincides听with your wheels鈥 rotation, then you鈥檝e got a flat tire. Off-road, at lower speeds, you鈥檒l likely hear that thumping before you feel it. In both cases, avoid risking further damage to the tire or vehicle by finding the first safe location to pull off the road or trail.
Don鈥檛 Rely on听Your Spare
It鈥檚 become less and less common for new vehicles to come equipped with a full-size spare tire. Space savers, or donuts, are only designed to get you a very short distance听at very low speeds鈥攁cross town to the tire shop, basically. You should avoid using a space saver on a dirt road or trail if at all possible.
And even if you have a full-size spare with a matching tire and wheel, it鈥檚 still possible to puncture more than one tire at a time. And man, that鈥檚 going to cause a big problem if you鈥檙e not prepared听or if it happens听somewhere you can鈥檛 easily call for help.
What You Need
The tools you should have to fix a flat tire听yourself don鈥檛 cost much more than getting a tire plugged at a tire shop. And they鈥檙e hundreds of dollars cheaper than calling for a tow. They鈥檙e also small听and light. There鈥檚 really no excuse for not carrying this stuff in your car or truck.
The best tire-repair kit I鈥檝e found 听and costs $38. Like other kits, it includes rope plugs and the tools you need to install them, but this one goes above and beyond by including items like needle-nose听pliers, spare valve cores, and a folding razor blade.
You will also need a compressor. That鈥檚 what you鈥檒l use to听reinflate your tire after you fix the puncture, or how you鈥檒l air back up to road pressures if you鈥檙e airing down for off-road driving. If all you need is an emergency option,听. It plugs into your cigarette lighter (or 12-volt听outlet), so you don鈥檛 even need to open your hood.听You don鈥檛 want to rely on something like this if you鈥檙e regularly inflating oversize听off-road tires, but that鈥檚 a story for another time.
I also stick in every car my family owns, plus those of most of my friends. Fix-a-Flat includes both a sealant and compressed air in a single can, allowing you to take care of听the kind of small punctures caused by a screw or nail without even removing the wheel. And that capability makes it a unique tool in your arsenal鈥攐ne that can come in handy for even complicated repairs where it鈥檚 not safe to to try and remove a wheel听or where gaining the ability to roll the car a few hundred yards can make the situation much safer (think: a steep slope off-road听or the side of a busy highway, with trucks rushing past just feet away).
Everyone should also carry . Use it to check the pressure of your tires听once a month, and adjust them to factory-recommended settings if they鈥檙e off. Ambient temperatures, elevation, and just time can all cause a tire to lose or gain pressure, and when it does so, it can harm your fuel economy, handling, and performance.
Avoid Trouble
Regularly inspect your tires听and replace them before the tread wears to 2/32nd听of an inch deep. An easy way to check this is to insert a penny upside down into the tread (Lincoln鈥檚 head first). If the tread reaches past Honest Abe鈥檚 hairline at his forehead, you鈥檙e good. If not, order new tires. Tires worn to or past 2/32nd听of an inch of tread will be much more prone to punctures听and won鈥檛 provide the same grip as a tire in good condition.
Tires also have a maximum life span of six years. To determine how old your tires are, look for the tire identification number on the sidewall: it听begins with DOT,听is 11 digits long, and ends in four numbers. The first two digits of those last four numbers represent the week (of 52 in a year) the tire was manufactured. The last two are the year.
If your tire shows any signs of cracking or听tearing, or if anything white or metallic has worn through the rubber, replace it immediately.
You also need to make sure you鈥檙e using an appropriate tire for the conditions you鈥檙e facing. If you鈥檙e traveling off pavement,听a quality all-terrain tire will help you avoid punctures both in the tread听and, more importantly, the sidewall.
Make sure any vehicle you鈥檙e driving has all of the necessary tire-change听tools present and accounted for. You鈥檒l need a lug wrench听and a jack at a minimum. Don鈥檛 be that听person who听forgets to put them back into a听car. I even check for these things听in rental cars before driving off鈥攖hey鈥檙e that essential.
Step One: Find the Puncture
Once you鈥檙e in a safe place, hop out of the car, and find the flat tire. Try to听identify the source of the puncture. Sometimes听a foreign object will be very obvious at just a glance. Sometimes听you鈥檒l need to roll the car a foot or two to expose the problem.
If you are able to see that there鈥檚 obviously a nail or screw embedded in your tire鈥檚 tread, that鈥檚 good news. If the nail or screw is strongly embedded into the tire鈥檚 tread, there鈥檚 no need to remove it at this time.听Get out your can of Fix-a-Flat, follow its听directions to connect听it to your tire valve, and empty the entire contents of the can into the tire. You should see the tire visibly inflate. If it returns to normal, drive off immediately, go a few miles, then stop and check your tire pressure, adjusting it if necessary. If the tire seems to be holding air, you鈥檙e good to continue driving, but take a look at the tire any time you stop. When you get back from your trip听and have the time, go ahead and follow the rest of the steps here to repair the puncture with a plug.
If you can鈥檛 find the source of the puncture,听if it鈥檚 an exposed hole, or if you don鈥檛 have a can of Fix-a-Flat, you鈥檒l need to take the wheel off.
Step Two: Remove the Wheel
First, remove your spare (even if it鈥檚 a space saver), and place it under the frame of your vehicle听in front of the front tire or behind the rear tire. That way, if your vehicle falls off its jack, it will fall onto the spare, minimizing injury to you and damage to听the car.
Loosen the lug nuts听before you raise the vehicle. Remember: lefty loosey.
Next, follow the instructions in your owner鈥檚 manual to locate听and use the jack accordingly.
Once the wheel is off the ground, finish removing the lug nuts.听Put them somewhere safe. Pull the wheel out toward听your body. Be careful鈥攚heels听can be heavy.
Step Three: Evaluate the Puncture
If you have a hole in your tread, it can be fixed. Tires in good condition won鈥檛 experience more than a simple hole in that location. If the hole is in your sidewall (the portion of the tire that rides roughly vertical), you just need to mount your spare听and have the tire replaced at the first possible opportunity.
If the hole is in the tire鈥檚 tread听and can鈥檛 be taken care of听by simply dumping a can of Fix-a-Flat into it, roll the tire听around to the back of your vehicle where tools are听and where you can safely work away from traffic. Look for holes and foreign objects as you roll it. If a hole is small and the tire is no longer leaking air, it may be a good idea to mark the hole for easy reference later.
Step Four: Remove the Problem
If there鈥檚 a foreign object in your tire, and the tire can no longer hold air, remove it. In the video, I used a screw gun to put the screw in the tire, meaning its threads engaged with the rubber and steel belts. Most roads听don鈥檛 have their own screw guns, so the puncture won鈥檛 engage the threads in the same way, and it should be easier to pull out听using your needle-nose pliers.
I鈥檝e seen tires punctured by everything from a steel bar听to a particularly nasty cactus barb. Organic objects like tree branches can leave residue behind. Try and get all of that out of the way.
Step Five: Enlarge the Hole
If the hole is larger than a pencil, skip this step. If not, grab your tire-repair kit鈥檚 reamer, and use it to enlarge the hole until it is roughly the size of a pencil.
If you have a very small hole, this will be difficult at first.听Install the reaming tool by slowly screwing it into the tread while applying downward听pressure. Otherwise, just push the tool into the hole all the way up to the handle, then听yank it out. Repeat until the hole is large enough that you can insert and remove the tool without much effort.
Step Seven: Install the Plug
Remove a rope plug from the plastic wrapper, flatten one end with the needle-nose pliers, and push it through the eyelet on the installation tool. Grasp the protruding edge of the plug with the pliers, and pull it through the eyelet until equal lengths of the plug protrude from both sides.
Grab a finger of lube from the kit, and apply it to the plug and leading edge of the tool.
Place the tool tip down on top of the hole in the tire, grasp the tool securely with both hands, and force it through the tire until the depth guide is flush with the tread. Then听yank the tool straight out of the hole as hard and fast听as you can. The rope plug should pass through the eyelet听and remain inside the tire.
If you have only a small puncture, one plug should do. If not, you may need to install a second or third. If you must install multiple plugs, then plan on taking that tire to a shop the first possible opportunity, where it can be听evaluated听for safety. You may have to replace it. But most of the time, that single plug will be enough. Use the razor to trim the excess length flush with the tire tread.
Step Eight: Reinstall the Wheel
Use your air compressor to inflate the tire to the recommended pressure. (You鈥檒l find that listed inside the driver鈥檚 doorjamb.) Once inflated, reverse the tire-removal steps described above to reinstall the wheel. First, install the lug nuts by hand to secure the wheel to the hub.听Then, once you鈥檝e lowered the vehicle back down and removed the jack, use the lug wrench to make sure all the lug nuts are as tight as possible. Tighten them in a star pattern, so the wheel snugs back to the hub evenly. Remember: righty tighty. Check these again later that day.
Return all your tools, the jack, and the lug wrench to their proper locations. You鈥檇 don鈥檛 want to misplace this stuff.
And that鈥檚 it. No tow truck. No hiking out a dirt road in search of help. No waiting on AAA while sitting on the side of a busy highway. No huge expense. And no more than a few minutes of hard work.