Potholes and Puncture Repairs - It's Autumn Already!

The nights are starting to draw in, potholes are creeping back onto the roads and thorns, nails and bolts are still ever present. Puncture repairs make up the bulk of our business and help get motorists back onto the road. However, some people unfortunately hit potholes whether it be hidden under water or unavoidable. But how do these form?

The most sever damage, a blowout, happens when the cords in the sidewall are broken. As these cords are the only structural component of the sidewall, once one is broken, the others are sure to follow as the immense pressure of the tyre forces its way out. This cascades and can soon become a blowout, or at best, a bulge in the tyre.

On the other end of the spectrum is a puncture repair. For some, they can go years without ever encountering one. For others, they can be a weekly occurrence! Most punctures we come across are nails (especially in rural Shropshire) which can be repaired if they are within the central three quarters of tread. For a puncture repair, we firstly find the offending area by inflating the tyre and then spraying it down with a solution of soap and water. This area that is leaking area will create bubbles which can easily be identified. If this is within the central three quarters of tread, we remove the tyre, remove the object and then drill the hole out to 6mm. The area surrounding the puncture is then cleaned back using an alcohol cleaner, roughened up to create a good surface bond and then the puncture patch pulled through. Rubber cement is used to cover the area to ensure the best bond possible. As we have removed some of the tyre's inner lining, we then use a flexible rubber glue to seal the area. The wheel is then re-balanced, inflated and tested again to ensure everything is perfectly fine.