Flat tires are a frustration that almost every driver encounters from time to time. Modern car tires have no inner tubes, instead containing their pressure inside the reinforced walls of the tire itself. This means that any hole put through the tire wall will result in a flat. Although most roadside solutions involve swapping the tire for a spare, there is no need to throw out the punctured tire. A good repair job with a tire repair kit will be as strong as the rest of the tire.
Jack the car up if the tire is on a rim still attached to a wheel. Park the car on a level surface. Place the jack under the frame of the car near the punctured wheel. Insert the jack handle and either turn or ratchet the handle. When the wheel is off the ground, use a wrench to loosen the lug nuts holding the rim to the wheel. Remove the nuts and take the tire and rim off the wheel.
Release any remaining air from the damaged tire by unscrewing the valve cap and pressing down on the pin inside the valve with a screwdriver.
Work the tire loose from the rim by prying it up inch by inch with a screwdriver. Pull the valve out from the valve hole in the rim and set the rim aside.
Feel along the inside and outside of the tire for the hole you need to repair. Once you find the object causing the puncture, pry it out of the tire using a screwdriver or the insertion tool provided with your tire repair kit. Scrape out the hole made by the puncturing object until the insertion tool can enter the hole freely.
Apply rubber cement from the patch kit to the insertion tool and spread it around the inside of the puncture hole. Use the tool to work the bonding cement around until the tool slides easily around in the hole.
Place a rubber plug from the kit on the tip on the insertion tool and cover it in bonding compound.
Insert the rubber plug into the hole. The tool will stretch the plug as it inserts it, allowing it to expand into place once released in the hole. Leave about 1/16 inch of the plug sticking out above the surface of the tire and remove the insertion tool.
Patch the inside of the tire. The tire repair kit will contain either a hot patch that is glued into place and then heated to bond, or a cold patch that you will need to sew into place on the inner liner of the tire. Once this is in place and the adhesives have dried, the repair is complete.
Put the tire back on the rim, re-inflate it with an air pump, and fit it back onto the car wheel.
