Two 255/30/19 Continental sport contact 5 Tyres on a Mercedes e class convertible

New customer called to say that both of his back tyres had punctures and needed to be replaced.

Took the details of the tyres he already had on (Continental sport contact 5 tyres 255/30/19) and loaded them on to the van. Time to head off to the customer.

Got to the customer and the car had 1 flat tyre and the space saver on the other hub. Got the keys off the customer and opened the boot to get the locking wheel nut and the other wheel out of the boot. The tyre on the wheel in the boot had been totally destroyed, the inner tyre wall had totally broken away from the tyre leaving just a small strand of rubber (the bead) on the wheel. The first thing to do was remove the remains of the tyre from the wheel. Got the main part of the tyre off the wheel but the strip of bead that was still attached to the wheel was stuck solid. As the bead was so small the bead breaker could not get a purchase on it to loosen it, bit of lateral thinking needed.

The equipment we have has an assister arm as part of the equipment, part of the assister arm is an arm with a wheel on the end that is normally used to press the tyre down into the wheel well, and this is great for fitting run flat tyres that are very stiff. I put the wheel on the turntable and then slowly pressed the assister arm wheel down on to the strip of bead rubber, this and a liberal amount of tyre soap pushed the bead down into the wheel well that allowed me to then remove it. Checked the wheel for damage (as the tyre had been run flat for some time the wheel could have been cracked) but none found so mounted the new tyre on the wheel and balanced it. Jacked up the car and swapped the space saver for the new replacement tyre.

now to the other flat tyre, jacked the car up and removed the wheel, the tyre on the side also had damaged to the inner tyre wall but it had not yet fully broken away (still only had about 6 inches of rubber holding it on. Managed to break the bead using the bead breaker and then removed the tyre from the wheel, checked the condition of the wheel as this tyre had again been run flat for some time. The wheel was ok so mounted and balanced the tyre and put the wheel back on the car. All bolts tightened up to the correct torque and locking wheel nut back in the boot.

Customer said that the traction control light had come on, not really surprising as the car had no grip from the rear tyres.

Quick check of the front 2 tyres to make sure they are legal. Tread depth was good but both tyres had bulges in the side wall, booked 2 more tyres for the next day.

So if your traction control light come on and the road it is not slippery then check that you have air in your tyres. Also check that your tyre side walls do not have any bulges in them.

For tyre replacement at your home or office call Hometyre on 0800 783 93 10 or 0333 444 54 54 and we will come to you.