Walked back to find a flat at the NEC, Ventura Park or Tamworth services after an M42 trip? Leave it where it sits and we come out to judge repair or replacement.
A flat is often discovered after the drive, not during it. The car has sat overnight in a hotel car park by the airport, or a slow leak picked up between Redditch and Solihull has emptied the tyre while you were at the NEC. Every yard driven on a flat folds the sidewall against the rim, and a hole that was mendable becomes a scrap tyre by the A45, so leave it parked.
Ring with where the car sits, which bay or which drive, the size and, if possible, a photo of the tread. Jacked up and unbolted, the flat is then examined from both faces. A pinhole mid-tread gets a BS AU 159 repair; anything outside those limits is replaced with a tyre brought up on the van. Repair or new tyre, each figure is set out on that first call, before the M42 run starts.
On run-flat tyres? They behave differently once deflated, so check the handbook's limits and read our page on run-flat tyres; we fit replacement run-flat tyres at the car near the M42 as well.
Other jobs we do at the car include broken tyre replacement on the M42 and locking wheel nut removal on the M42.
Flat tyres are handled where the car is parked: airport hotel car parks and NEC bays off J6, Shirley and Solihull off J4 and J5, Coleshill retail estates near J9, Tamworth services or a home drive.
| Road | M42 Birmingham eastern orbital |
|---|---|
| Operator | National Highways |
Feel a tyre going soft near the Bromsgrove end of the M42? Signal, exit at the junction and look for a proper place to stop, such as a road off Bristol Road South, the A38, towards Rubery, or towards Barnt Green. Frankley Industrial Estate is another spot with room to pull in. With hazard lights flashing, everybody should stand well away from the side road traffic, and ring from there.
Found flat in an M42 car park? Look at all four, not just the obvious one. On the soft tyre hunt for a screw head, a valve that leans or has cracked, or a grey kerb scuff from a Shirley roundabout. Rolling it to an A34 garage, even a few hundred metres, crushes the sidewall on its rim. Space-savers suit low speed over short hops and have no place on the M42 itself. So the car stays put, in Shirley or at Tamworth services by J10.
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Flat tyre after an M42 trip? Keep it parked and call us out.
