A flat tire usually happens in one of two scenarios: You walk out to your car in the morning, open the door and spot it—your tire sagging on the ground. Or you’re driving and you notice the flap, flap sound of an airless tire. When you discover you have a flat tire, what you do next is critical to ensuring your safety.
Gently run your hands along the back and front of the tire to see if you can spot any foreign objects such as a nail or an industrial staple in the tread or sidewall. If you can’t see anything, your tire might just be low on air.
Either way, it’s best not to patch it yourself. Just get your spare on and drive to a service centre for repair because you can do more damage to the tire’s casing and integrity.
If you don’t hear your tire going flat, you’re going to feel it. When you have a flat tire and you’re driving, it’ll feel like your vehicle is being pulled to the side of the flat tire, and it’ll feel like you can’t accelerate.
Get as far to the edge of the road as you can, hopefully in a shoulder area with a bit of extra space. It’s important to give yourself as much room as possible so you’re not at risk of being hit by passing vehicles. If you have safety cones, set them down behind your vehicle to give other drivers an extra warning.
No matter what, don’t drive on that tire. If the cause of your flat tire was a puncture, we can probably repair it by patching and plugging it. If the flat was caused by something else, that tire will likely need to be replaced.
At Sprinter Towing, we’ll get you back on the road as soon as we can!