What to Do If You Get a Flat Tyre and Have No Spare

There’s nothing more stressful than seeing a notification on your vehicle that indicates something is wrong with your tyres.

Getting a flat tyre is common and can often happen at times when it’s incredibly inconvenient. Whether that’s en route to a family holiday a few hours away from home, or making your morning commute to work on the motorway.

If you’re faced with a flat tyre and don’t have a spare available, then it can feel like you’re facing the end of the world. It may feel like a dire situation and something you desperately wanted to avoid. However, sometimes, it’s going to happen.

Knowing what to do and learning not to panic in these situations is the best way to ensure you get yourself back on the road in no time. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some helpful tips on what to do if you get a flat tyre and have no spare available.

Best steps to take when you don’t have a spare tyre

When you’re faced with the situation of not having a spare tyre available, there are some important steps that you’ll want to take to ensure you get yourself back on the road as soon as possible.

Move yourself to a safe and flat location

The best first step to take when faced with a flat tyre is to move yourself to a safer location if you’re not already in one. Sometimes, a flat tyre can result in having to stop in the middle of a main road, so moving yourself off to the side, preferably somewhere with a flat surface, is helpful.

Check for a tyre repair kit

Unbeknownst to some vehicle owners, a lot of modern cars now come with a compressor and sealant kit. This helps if you need to temporarily seal punctures and re-inflate the tyre. By being able to do this, you can quickly get yourself to a nearby garage to get the tyre replaced safely.

Of course, you mustn’t see this as a cheap and long-lasting fix because it isn’t. You should be driving on a flat tyre or one that’s already compromised, as it can destroy the wheel rim.

This can result in a much higher repair cost if you’re not fixing the problem quickly enough.

Call roadside assistance

You’ll want to contact your breakdown provider if you have one, in order to help or to tow away your car to a garage. Even if you get your tyre repaired, you might not be able to get back on the road straight away. This is particularly in the case where the repair is a temporary fix.

Use a mobile tyre service

A mobile tyre service is always a good option when it comes to needing a new tyre fitted, regardless of the location.

With a mobile tyre service, a lot of them offer 24/7 callouts, meaning that regardless of when you experience a flat tyre, you can always find someone who will come out and sort it for you. Emergency mobile tyre fitting is definitely something to have on your call list.

What to do when using a tyre sealant kit

You might not have used a tyre sealant kit before, but if you have the luxury of one in your car, then it’s worth knowing how to use it so it can provide the temporary fix that you need.

Read the instructions carefully

When it comes to repairing your tyre temporarily with this kit, you mustn’t just skim through the instructions in a rush. Doing this will likely result in you missing key steps, and that might compromise the sealant and its ability to temporarily fix the tyre.

Firstly, locate the kit and read the specific instructions given. Go over these a few times and then have it available to you as you work through the steps.

Remove the object

If there’s an object visible, like a nail or screw, or a bit of glass, then pull it out gently and safely. If you have something like gloves to protect your hands, then that would be ideal.

Inject the sealant

Once the offending object has been removed, you’ll then likely be instructed to inject the sealant. Typically, the bottle will be attached to the value and the sealant will then be injected.

Inflate

Using the compressor, inflate the tyre to the recommended pressure. Again, this is something you want to get right, so make sure you’ve checked your car manual for the advisory pressure levels to avoid over- or underinflating your tyres.

Drive slowly

When driving, make sure to drive slowly for a few miles in order to distribute the sealant. You should check the tyre pressure again, where you can, to make sure that it’s still retaining the air within the tyre and not leaking.