Mobile Tyre Fitting Questions, Answered
The things drivers actually ring up and ask, in one place. What to do while you are waiting, what you pay and when, how to read a tyre size off the sidewall, and what happens when a van gets to you. If your question is not on the list, ring and ask it.
In an emergency
I have a flat on the motorway. What should I do while I wait?
Get the vehicle as far left as you can, hazard lights on, and everybody out by the side furthest from the traffic. Then get behind the barrier where there is one, well back from the vehicle, and stay there. That is Highway Code Rule 277, which also tells you not to attempt a repair. If you cannot get out safely, or there is nowhere safe to wait, stay belted in with your hazards going and ring 999 for the police. Once you are safe, ring us with the junction or marker post.
More on what happens when you ring from the roadside, and what happens when we arrive
Is the space-saver spare in the boot any use, or the can of sealant?
Treat a space-saver as a get-you-home wheel and nothing more. It is narrower than your other tyres, the wheel itself is marked with the speed limit that applies to it, and it is not meant to stay on. A sealant can is more limited again: it may hold a small tread puncture long enough to move the car, and it will do nothing at all for a torn sidewall. Plenty of newer cars carry neither, because they are on run-flats.
How soon can somebody get to me?
It depends where you are, because the coast is not one distance, so the window is set area by area rather than quoted as a single number for all of it. The one that applies to you is on the page for your own area, and the surest version of it comes from the call. When you ring you speak to the technician, who can tell you what to expect for where you are standing and what the M27, M3 and A31 are doing at that moment.
What it costs and how you pay
Do I have to pay anything before you arrive?
Nothing. You pay when the work is finished and you are ready to drive away, never before we arrive, and nothing over the phone. There is a card terminal in the van taking contactless, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Visa and Mastercard, and bank transfer or cash are both fine. What the job comes to is agreed on the call, before a van sets off, and if what we find is not what was described on the phone, we stop and tell you what that changes before carrying on.
Is there an extra charge if my locking wheel nut key is missing?
Getting a locking nut off without its key is extra work with specialist sockets, so a charge may apply for it. You hear that on the phone, before a van is dispatched, rather than finding it added at the end with your wheel already off. There is no figure on this page because it depends on the state of the nut and on what else the vehicle needs. Say on the call whether the key is lost, snapped, or simply no longer gripping.
Can I choose which tyre goes on?
You choose. We supply premium brands including Michelin, Pirelli, Continental, Bridgestone, Goodyear, Dunlop and Yokohama, alongside mid-range and budget options such as Nexen, Hankook, Firestone and Kumho. Give us the size or the registration and we will go through what can be supplied for your vehicle, because what is on board in your size is settled on the call rather than read off a brand list.
What the premium brands are, and when the extra money is not worth spending
Tyres and wheels
How do I read my tyre size off the sidewall?
It is moulded into the side of the tyre and reads something like 205/55 R16 91V. The first number is the width in millimetres. The second is the sidewall height as a percentage of that width. R is the construction, and the number after it is the wheel diameter in inches. The last pair is the load index and the speed rating. If you cannot read it, your registration is usually enough, and a photo on WhatsApp works too.
What is the legal tread depth in the UK, and how do I check it?
For cars and most light vans the minimum is 1.6mm, across the central three-quarters of the tread and around the whole circumference. Below that is an offence and an MOT failure. The quick check is a 20p coin: push it into a main groove, and if the outer band of the coin is still visible the tread may be at or below the limit. Check in a few places across the tyre and around it. That is a rough check, not a measurement.
Can my tyre be repaired, or will it have to be replaced?
Sometimes. Three things decide it: where the object went in, how big the hole is, and whether the tyre has been driven on while flat. A clean penetration in the central tread area stands a good chance. Damage to the shoulder or the sidewall does not, because that part flexes constantly and repairs there are not permitted. It is also why driving on a flat matters so much, since that is what turns a repair into a replacement.
My tyre pressure warning light has come on. What does it mean?
That the system has seen a pressure it does not like in at least one tyre. Some cars have a sensor inside each wheel; others work it out from the wheel speeds. A light that comes on steady usually means low pressure, and a slow puncture is the common cause, though cold weather on its own can drop pressures enough to trigger it. A light that flashes first and then stays on usually points at the system itself.
I hit a pothole and the steering shakes now. Is that the tyre?
It may be the wheel rather than the tyre. A hard pothole or kerb strike can knock a balance weight off, put the wheel out of true, or crack an alloy where nothing shows from the outside. A shake that builds with speed, a slow leak around the rim, or a tyre that keeps going down all point that way. A cracked or badly buckled wheel is not something to keep driving on.
What can and cannot be done about a damaged wheel at the vehicle
Your vehicle
Do you fit tyres on electric and hybrid vehicles?
Yes. An electric car is heavier than the petrol version of the same shape and sits low over a battery pack running across the floor, so the vehicle maker specifies particular lifting points and we carry low-profile EV-safe jacking equipment to work to them. Hybrids differ from one another: some carry a floor pack and want the same treatment, others are lifted like any petrol car. Say which you have when you ring and the van sets off with the right kit on board.
Do you cover vans, pickups and other commercial vehicles?
Yes. A laden van sits far heavier on the corner being lifted than any car, so we carry heavy-duty commercial jacks for them. Tell us the vehicle, whether it is loaded, and where it is standing when you ring. Work vans, pickups and light commercials get the same hours as everything else, which tends to matter most when a vehicle off the road is costing you the working day.
Van and commercial tyre fitting, wherever the vehicle is stood
What happens if the wheel will not come off?
There are two usual reasons and they are different problems. One is the locking nut: the key is lost, snapped, or no longer gripping a head that has been rounded off, and that wants a hardened extraction socket rather than force. The other is corrosion, where the wheel has bonded itself to the hub over the years and will not release. Both are ordinary work, and both are worth mentioning on the call so the right kit comes out with the van.
Where we come, and what happens there
Do you really work at night, at weekends and in the rain?
Yes. We run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and that takes in nights, weekends and bank holidays. Rain and darkness do not stop a tyre being fitted. What matters is somewhere safe, firm and reasonably level to work, and on a fast road in the dark that changes the order things happen in rather than whether they happen. We will ask you to stand well clear while the work is done.
Where do you need to park? Can you do it in a car park or on my drive?
Wherever the vehicle is standing, as long as a van can get near it and there is room to work at that corner. Driveways, works car parks and kerbsides are all ordinary. Two things worth mentioning on the call: whether the vehicle is on a slope or boxed in nose to tail, and whether it is inside a multi-storey, because a height barrier stops a fitting van at the entrance. Sometimes moving a few yards is all it takes.
Do you balance the wheel, or do I need a garage afterwards?
We balance it there and then. There is dynamic balancing equipment in the van, so the wheel goes back on balanced rather than needing a second trip somewhere, and that is what keeps a new tyre from shaking through the steering at speed. Any old weights come off before anything is measured, because balancing on top of them only hides what is really there. The nuts are then torqued to the correct setting, and every pressure is checked and set before you drive away.
Why a wheel needs balancing, and how it is done at the vehicle
Do you take the old tyre away?
Yes. The damaged tyre leaves with us when we go, so you are not left with it rolling around the boot or propped up in the garage waiting for a trip to the tip. It is part of the job rather than something extra for you to sort out afterwards, and it makes no difference whether we are on your driveway, in a works car park or on the hard shoulder.
Question Not on the List? Ask It
Ring and ask. You do not need the tyre size worked out, or the sidewall read, or anything else sorted before you call. Tell us the registration, where the vehicle is standing and what it is doing, and you get a straight answer from the technician who would be driving out to you. Abu Bakar or a skilled mobile technician heads out from Southampton, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
24/7 Urgent Roadside Dispatch Aiming to arrive within 45–60 minutes