Whether a repair is possible is decided by where the damage is. The tread area that meets the road is thick and the casing is supported there; a nail or screw hole in that zone can be closed from the inside with a patch-plug. The sidewall, by contrast, flexes constantly — no repair holds there, and one carries a blow-out risk at speed. The shoulder counts as borderline. Diameter matters too: beyond roughly 6 millimetres a repair is no longer safe. A plug hammered in from the outside without removing the tyre is not a lasting fix either, because nobody has seen what the damage did to the inner surface. Repairing a tyre that cannot be repaired costs far more than the repair itself, so when it cannot be done we say so plainly.
- Puncture in the tread area: repairable
- Sidewall damage: not repairable, not safe
- Damage larger than about 6 mm: not repairable
- The tyre comes off and the repair is made from the inside
Common questions
There is a nail in it but it is not losing air — should I pull it out?
Do not. The nail is usually plugging the hole, and the tyre deflates fast the moment it comes out. Leave it as it is and call.
Can I drive at the same speed on a repaired tyre?
A proper repair in the tread area does not lower the speed rating of the tyre. Even so, check the pressure once within the first hundred kilometres.
Can it be done at the roadside?
Yes, it is the job we do most often. The vehicle just needs to be somewhere safe; the rest is handled with the equipment in the van.
What we do
