What To Do If I Find a Nail In My Tire?

Waking up to your car and seeing the dreaded nail poking out of your tire can really put a damper on your day. But seeing a nail or a tire light on the dash does not always mean an instant flat tire. There are a couple of things you can do before immediately assuming it is game over for your tire.

Check your "flat tire" warning light for signs of a future flat tire.

If the nail in your tire is starting to leak, its likely that it will have trigged a tire light. A flat tire generally triggers the tire light after about a variance of 4-7 PSI. If you find that the tire light has not come on yet, it’s possible the nail has not actually gone all the way through the tire.

If you do not have a flat tire warning light, you can always use an air pressure gauge to check your tire for signs of a slow leak. If one of the tires seems significantly lower than the other three, it’s possible that the nail punctured the tire. If either one of these quick tests indicate a flat tire might be in your future, call the professionals at Nashville Mobile Mechanic Pros or your local tire shop to help you get your tire back to working condition.

Use soapy water to find a leak that may turn into a flat tire.

Did you know you can simply spray the tire with soapy water to check for a potential flat tire? When you mix the bubbles with water, it is more likely that any air coming out of the tire will actually make the soap bubble up making it super easy to tell if your tire is leaking. If you do not have soapy water available, you can also listen for a leak. If you jiggle the nail without removing, you can sometimes tell if the tire is leaking. This is not always the case, but it is a good easy check when looking for signs of a potential flat tire.

Do not remove the nail or screw from a tire

If you have decided that you may not have a leaking tire, do not remove the nail because the nail itself could be clogging the leak. We highly recommend making sure that a competent flat tire repair tech is near before removing the nail. You may get lucky and not have to worry about a tire repair if the nail does not puncture all the way through.

Give Nashville Mobile Mechanics a call to get your flat tire fixed today.

Our mobile flat tire techs are more than happy to get your flat tire back on the road. We will remove the tire from the rim, patch it from the inside, and make sure the puncture never causes a flat tire again. Give us a call to get your car back on the road.