How to Reinflate a Tire During an Emergency

In this time of distress where we are stuck inside our homes due to the COVID-19 virus, most of us can’t go anywhere and drive our cars as we abide the authorities to stay at home and finish the community quarantine period.

And if you do park your car for days or even weeks, the most likely damage our cars can get is a flat tire.

But I will make this post more realistic. Assuming that you have just gone to a grocery store or watched a film with your family. When it’s time to go home, you are surprised to see one of your tire is flat.

What will you do in this emergency situation?

Well, most car enthusiasts know what to do in cases like this as they are quite knowledgeable of which equipment to use to reinflate a flat tire.

But if you are a newbie or let say a woman with no idea about car maintenance and repair, this post will help you get through this ordeal easily without breaking a sweat.

Reinflate Your Flat Tire in Minutes

There are few reasons why you experience flat tires from time to time. First and most common reason is by running through a sharp object such as nails, glass, metal fragments, bolts and many others, puncturing your tire.

Other reasons include tire bead air leaks, over-pumped tires, rim leaks, or someone vandalizing your tires to purposely letting the air out.

So how do you reinflate a flat tire yourself?

First off, you should not try to drive your car home with a flat tire. It will greatly damage your suspension, wheel hub, rim and of course, your tires, making it unusable and replacement is your only option.

The question should be like this, what is the right equipment for this job that I can use for this type of emergencies?

Well, the simple answer is to buy yourself a Portable Air Compressor Pump, compressor for short. Amazon has a wide range of this product online, ranging from 12 volts to as high as 20 volts, which are designed for car tire use.

These portable tire air compressors are specifically manufactured to provide any car requirements, such as electric cords (some goes as long as 15 feet), nozzles, auto-shutoff feature and many others.

Just plug-in the compressor to your cigarette socket or through your car’s auxiliary power outlet. Then insert the air nozzles to your tire’s valve stem and turn on the compressor.

Most products will do the job for you in minutes, others are even in just seconds (fast inflating compressors).

So having this equipment in your car, all the time is a must.

Another alternative is to use a CO₂ tire inflators. This wonderful solution have no mechanical or electrical requirements, packed in a simple cartridge and can quickly reinflate your tires.

Motorcycle riders use this device for years. For cars, you can reinflate tires by simply using more cartridges (because car tires are much bigger than motorcycle tires).

My Tire is Inflated, What Will I Do Next?

Now that you have successfully resurrected your tire all by yourself, you are actually just a half way done.

Your next action is to know why your tire just got flat and fix the problem right away. First thing to check is for puncture marks.

Look for nuts, nails or any metal fragments that may have damage your tire. If you can’t see any traces of punctures, then you need to take the wheel off your car and check it thoroughly by spraying water and soap.

If you don’t know how to properly remove a tire, then my video tutorial below will show you how (Tagalog language with English subs).

Tire reamer with T-handle plugger is one the best tool for emergency flat tire situation. It easily fix any punctures without the hassle of going to a tire shop. Of course, reamers are neither the only, nor the best solution, but tire patches are still the most ideal fix for flat tires.

And if you don’t know how to use tire reamers, then you have no choice but to go to your nearest tire shops and have it fix for good. At least, you were able to drive your car home safely.