Flat tyre no spare? What to do on the M9 or a local road
No spare wheel is normal now. Here is what the sealant kit will and will not fix, how far run flats go, and what to do on the M9 versus a back road.
Flat tyre no spare is one of the most common things typed into a phone from a hard shoulder, and it used to mean someone had taken the spare out. Now it means the car never had one. Open the boot floor on most cars built in the last ten years and you find a compressor, a bottle of sealant and a lot of polystyrene. Some have run flat tyres and nothing at all. So a puncture now depends on where you are, what the damage is and what kit you have.
This is the honest version of what that sealant kit can do, how far a run flat will really take you, why the answer on the M9 is different to the answer on the road to Inistioge, and what we can do at the roadside across Kilkenny.
Why your car has no spare wheel
Weight, mostly. A spare wheel and jack weigh fifteen to twenty kilos, and removing them helps a manufacturer's fuel consumption and emissions figures. It also frees up boot space and saves money per car, and in electric cars the space under the boot floor is often taken by battery or cabling. A space-saver is sometimes an option when buying new.
Go and look now, before you need it. If there is a wheel, check it has air in it, because a space-saver that has sat untouched for six years is usually flat. If there is a kit, check the sealant bottle's expiry date, because an expired bottle may not seal.
Tyre sealant kit: how to use it and when it will not work
The kit is designed for one situation: a small hole in the tread, roughly the size of a nail or screw, with the object still in it if possible. Screw the bottle to the valve, run the compressor, inflate to the pressure on the door label, drive a few kilometres straight away so the sealant spreads, then check the pressure again. If it holds, drive on at reduced speed (usually 80 km/h, the bottle will say) to a tyre place.
It will not work on a sidewall cut, a hole bigger than about four millimetres, a tyre that has come off the rim, or a wheel that hit a kerb or pothole hard enough to bend the rim. If the tyre went down fast with a bang rather than a slow loss, it is probably one of those. Sealant also usually finishes the tyre. Most fitters will not repair a tyre full of it, and the pressure sensor in the wheel needs cleaning or replacing. So the kit buys you a trip to the garage, it does not save the tyre.
Run flat tyres: how far and how fast
Run flats have stiff sidewalls that carry the car's weight for a while with no air inside. The usual manufacturer figure is about 80 kilometres at no more than 80 km/h, less with a full load, in hot weather or on rough roads. You often cannot feel it, so the pressure monitor is the warning. From Kilkenny city that range gets you to any tyre place in the county, but it does not get you from Mullinavat to Dublin.
A run flat driven on flat is generally scrap afterwards, because the sidewall has been carrying the car's weight and its structure is compromised. Most cars on run flats also have no jack, no kit and no spare, so if the tyre is destroyed rather than just deflated, the only option is a flatbed.
Flat tyre no spare on the M9: what to do
Do not change a wheel, use a sealant kit or do anything else on the hard shoulder of the M9. Lorries pass within a metre or two at 90 km/h and people are killed on hard shoulders every year doing exactly that. Get the car as far left as possible, hazard lights on, everyone out through the doors away from traffic and behind the barrier. Do not put out a warning triangle on a motorway. Note the junction you passed and your direction, then ring. If the car is in a live lane or anyone is hurt, ring 112 first.
We recover first and fix at the next junction, every time. For a flat on the M9 the car goes on the flatbed and comes off at Junction 7 Paulstown, Junction 8 Kilkenny North, Junction 9 Danesfort, Junction 10 Knocktopher or Junction 11 Mullinavat, whichever is next, and we deal with the tyre there. From Threecastles we are usually on Junctions 7 to 9 within twenty to thirty five minutes. If you have breakdown cover, ring your insurer first, because cover usually only pays for recovery they arrange. If you have none, or the wait is too long, ring us. You can also tell the Motorway Traffic Control Centre on 0818 715 100, so the overhead signs can warn traffic.
Flat tyre on a local road
On the N10, the N76 to Callan, the R700 down to Thomastown or a lane outside Freshford, the advice changes. If you have a spare, the ground is flat and firm and you are well off the road, change it. If you only have a kit and the hole is small, use it. If you are on a bend, a hill, a soft verge or it is dark and raining, do not. Drive slowly on the flat to the next gateway, lay-by or village rather than stop somewhere you cannot be seen. A tyre is cheaper than a car.
Most of our puncture calls in the county are from people with no spare, no faith in the kit, or a space-saver and no idea where the locking wheel nut key is. A lot of these are a roadside fix.
Space-saver wheels and locking wheel nuts
A space-saver (the thin spare on a steel rim) is a temporary wheel with real limits printed on its sidewall: typically a maximum of 80 km/h and a short distance, enough to reach a tyre place and no further. The car will brake and steer differently with one fitted and the traction control may object. Fit it, drive gently, get the proper tyre sorted within a day or two, and do not head up the M9 to Dublin on it.
The locking wheel nut key is the small adaptor that fits one nut on each wheel. Without it, the wheel does not come off. Check now that you have yours, usually in the glovebox or with the jack, and that it is the one for your car, because cars change hands with the wrong key surprisingly often. If it is lost or rounded off, we have removal tools at the garage, but it means a recovery.
Pothole damage and claiming from Kilkenny County Council
A lot of winter punctures around the county are pothole strikes, and some of those take out the wheel and suspension as well as the tyre. If it happens, photograph the pothole with something for scale, note the exact location and time, keep the tyre and the receipts, and report the pothole to Kilkenny County Council so it is on record. The council has a process for claims for damage caused by road defects, and the roads section will tell you how to submit one.
Be realistic. In Ireland a council has generally not been held liable simply for failing to repair a road, only where its own work created the hazard, so many pothole claims are refused. You lose nothing by submitting one with good evidence, but do not plan around it. On a national road the authority is Transport Infrastructure Ireland rather than the council.
Mobile tyre service in Kilkenny: what we can do at the roadside
Kilkenny Recovery Truck is a recovery service first, not a tyre shop, but we carry what is needed to get most punctures sorted on the spot: a trolley jack, a wheel brace, a compressor for a slow leak or a tired space-saver, and the tools to fit your spare. If you have no spare and the kit will not work, we lift the car and bring it to a tyre place, a short run from anywhere in the county.
Ring 087 288 2280, say where you are and what you have in the boot, and we will tell you whether it is a roadside fix or a lift. Price agreed before we leave, no call-out fee.
Questions people ask about this
Can I drive on a flat tyre with no spare?
Only a run flat, and then no more than about 80 kilometres at 80 km/h. An ordinary tyre driven flat for more than a few hundred metres will be destroyed and can damage the wheel, so stop somewhere safe and ring for help.
Does tyre sealant ruin the tyre?
Usually, yes. Most tyre fitters will not repair a tyre that has had sealant in it, and the pressure sensor needs cleaning. Treat the kit as a way to reach a garage, not a repair.
Should I change a wheel on the hard shoulder of the M9?
No. Get everyone behind the barrier, note the junction and direction, and ring for recovery. We lift the car and deal with the tyre at the next junction. Do not use a warning triangle on the motorway.
How fast can I drive on a space-saver spare?
Usually no more than 80 km/h, and only far enough to reach a tyre place. The limit is printed on the tyre. Braking and handling are worse with one fitted, so drive gently and get it sorted quickly.