You cannot avoid punctures since sharp and pointed objects are everywhere on the roads. You do not know when an iron nail or screw will pierce the tread part of your tyre. Therefore, you need proper preparation. If you are not ready for punctures on roads, you may struggle to even change your Tyres Southampton in the future just because of a tiny hole in the tyre tread.
In this blog, we will tell you about proper preparation to face punctures in car tyres.
Avoiding ideal situations for punctures
You may not avoid sharp objects on roads completely. However, you can avoid situations that increase the chances of punctures.
For example, you actually invite punctures if you drive your car on bald tyres. A thicker tread rubber protects the tyres from punctures. On the other hand, bald tyres have a worn and weak wall of rubber and a sharp object may easily damage it.
Always drive your car with proper air pressure in your tyres. Low air pressure may create a perfect condition for punctures. A large contact area with lose rubber will easily allow an iron nail to make a tiny hole.
Slow down your speed when you drive your car on irregular road surfaces. The chances of punctures are higher on these surfaces.
When your tyre has a puncture
You may follow the ideas given above but avoiding a flat tyre completely is not possible. Punctures will take place on roads. Therefore, you must have the required skills to handle the situation. Since you are handling a large moving machine on roads, a lack of knowledge would not make you a wise driver.
Sometimes, you will notice the presence of a puncture. On the other hand, blowouts can be extremely dangerous on the road. In fact, a blowout is the severest form of a puncture.
When you have a puncture realize it as well, you have to take the following steps:
Slow down the vehicle:
Slowing down smoothly should be your first priority at the time of a puncture. Hitting the brakes may come to your mind as the first idea but it is the wrong approach.
Keep both hands firmly on the steering wheel and switch on the hazard lights to let other know about the problem.
Find a safe place to park your vehicle:
Now, you have to look for a safe place to stop your vehicle. You need to stop your vehicle as soon as possible. Driving on a bald tyre will increase the severity of damage.
Assessing the damage:
If you are comfortable at the place, you may assess the condition of your tyre. Signs of a blowout are often quite visible. If your tyre has a slow puncture, you would not be able to detect the place of puncture.
Find the solution:
If your tyre has a small hole, you can repair it with the help of a tyre puncture repair kit. Moreover, you may replace the flat tyre with the spare that you already have in your car.
Calling a mobile tyre fitting service is also a good idea. Nowadays, many garages offer this service. When you call the service, a mobile vehicle comes to your place to fix the problem.
Repairing the tyre with the help of a tyre puncture kit is not a permanent solution. Therefore, you need to visit a garage after you comfortably reach home. You also need to visit a garage to repair the flat tyre if you have replaced it with a spare tyre.
Is your tyre repairable or not repairable?
When you visit the garage for repair work, your mechanic has to check whether the tyre is repairable or not.
A flat tyre is repairable if it is in the main tread and it is less than 5mm in size. On the other hand, the tyre is not repairable if it is on the sidewall or it is wider than the size of 5mm.
The mechanic will also check the physical condition of your tyre. Treadwear, several repair works, bulges and cracks on the sidewall make the tyre not repairable.
Final words
Punctures may take at any time because of the impact of sharp objects. Therefore, full awareness of this issue is necessary for every car driver. Learning skills like changing the tyre and using the tyre puncture repair kit are required for car drivers. Waiting with an innocent face in the middle of the road is sometimes useless. It is possible that other drivers help you but you must not depend on others to fix the issue.
At least you must have some number of garages that offer mobile tyre fitting . It is really convenient to see a mechanic at the place of your choice. A number of Mobile Tyre Fitting Southampton services let you call them to book a service in advance as well. It means you may call them in normal situations as well if you want something related to your car tyres.