Semis, tractors, and 18-wheelers, open 24 hours

Semi truck tire repair, roadside

Steer, drive, or trailer position. The van comes to the truck with the tire, the jack, and the compressor, and you hear repair or replace before anything gets touched.

(408) 466-2844

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Semi trucks, truck tractors, commercial trailers, dump trucks, garbage trucks, and box trucks. New and used tires in all common commercial truck and trailer sizes, loaded for each call. Every wheel torqued to spec before we leave.

24 hoursOpen 24 hours, every day

Steer, drive, trailer

Which axle the tire is on decides what we can do with it. Tell us the position when you call.

Steer tires

One tire each side on the front axle, carrying the steering and the engine weight. A steer failure at speed is the dangerous one, so the rules are tighter. An injury anywhere in the shoulder or sidewall means replacement, no exceptions. A small puncture in the center of the tread on a sound casing can be repaired within the tire maker's limits, but many fleets do not run repaired steers at all. Tell us your policy and we follow it. When one steer is replaced, we check the other for size, tread pattern, and depth so the pair still tracks straight.

Drive tires

Duals on the drive axles, deep lug tread, and the most common repair we do. A nail or bolt through the tread on a drive tire is usually a patch from the inside and you are rolling again. Inside dual means pulling the outside wheel first, so it takes longer. The repaired or new tire gets matched against its mate before it goes back on. More on duals below.

Trailer tires

Same repair rules as drives, with more shallow rib patterns and more run-flat damage, because a trailer tire can go flat miles before the driver feels it. Dropped trailers, reefers, and chassis are on the trailer tire page.

White service van seen from behind with one rear door swung open, parked on a paved lot beside a chain-link fence — The van at a yard, doors open. Jack, compressor, and the tires for the call ride inside.

Repair or replace

We follow the tire maker's repair limits. The rules are short, and we show you the injury before the call is made.

Repairable

A puncture in the tread area, up to about a quarter inch across, going straight in.
A sound casing: no cords showing, no separation, no wrinkle in the sidewall.
A clean inner liner, no marbling and no rubber dust from running flat.
Room for the repair: not on top of an old one, not close to another injury.

The repair is done from the inside with the tire off the wheel. The injury is drilled clean, filled, and covered with a patch. A plug pushed in from the outside with the tire still on the wheel is not a repair, and we do not call it one.

Replace

Any injury in the shoulder or sidewall, on any position.
Driven flat. Even a short run with no air breaks the sidewall down from the inside.
Tread separation, a bulge, or a belt edge you can see or feel.
A puncture wider than a quarter inch, or an angled injury that tore the cords.
Bead damage from a bad mount or from running low.
Worn out. The federal minimum is 4/32 on a steer and 2/32 on every other position, and we tell you which one you are at.

What happens on a call

You call or text. We ask where the truck is, which position, the size on the sidewall, loaded or empty, and whether it can roll. You get an arrival estimate and the service call price before we move.
The right tire goes in the van. We load your size at the yard before we roll. If we cannot get your size, we tell you on that first call, not on the shoulder.
We park behind you and set up. Van angled as a shield, cones out, wheels chocked. You stay behind the barrier.
We look before we touch. Where the injury is, how deep, whether the tire ran flat, what the mate looks like. Repair or replace, and the total, get said out loud before the jack goes under.
Jack, pull, break the bead, dismount. The inside of the tire gets inspected under a light. A repair is patched from the inside. A replacement is mounted, the bead seated, and the tire inflated to your spec or the sidewall pressure with a clip-on chuck, standing clear.
Wheel on, torqued to spec. Star pattern, torque wrench, the wheel maker's number, not the impact gun's guess. Recheck the nuts after the first 50 to 100 miles.
You pay what you heard on the phone. Service call plus the tire if one went on, plus sales tax and the California tire fee on a new one. Cash, Zelle, Credit and debit cards.

Inside the van: a gas compressor, a floor jack with a long handle, a stack of truck tires, a blue portable air tank, a tire iron, and a red strap bag — Compressor, air tank, jack, tire iron, and tires. Nothing waits on a second trip.

Duals: inside, outside, and the mate

Outside dual. Straightforward. One wheel off, one on.

Inside dual. The outside wheel comes off first to reach it, so budget more time. The outside tire gets a look while it is off.

Matching. Duals share the load only when they are the same size and close in tread depth and overall diameter. Put a new tire beside a worn one and the taller tire carries more than half, runs hotter, and wears fast. We measure the mate with a depth gauge, tell you the number, and let you decide: replace one, replace both, or move a better match in from another position.

The mate after a flat. When one dual loses air and the truck keeps rolling, the other one has been carrying the whole corner. We check it for heat, a soft sidewall, and belt damage before you leave. Finding it now is cheaper than finding it on the Altamont.

Torque to spec

A wheel that comes off is the failure everyone remembers, and it starts with lug nuts that were guessed. Every nut gets a torque wrench, in a star pattern, to the wheel maker's spec for that wheel and stud. Hub-piloted and stud-piloted wheels take different numbers, and we know which you have.

Nuts seat in over the first miles of driving. Have them rechecked after the first 50 to 100 miles, at your shop or any tire shop. One minute in the yard.

Sizes we load

New and used tires in all common commercial truck and trailer sizes, kept at the yard. Read us the full size off the sidewall when you call, something like 295/75R22.5 or 11R24.5, and we load it before we roll.

What to tell dispatch

Dispatch wants the same six things we do. Send them once and nobody has to call you back for the unit number.

Unit and trailer numbers.
Location the way a tire van can find it: highway, direction, last exit or mile marker, which shoulder. In a yard, the yard name and the gate.
Position: left or right, steer, drive, or trailer, inside or outside dual. "Right rear outside drive" is enough.
The size on the sidewall.
Loaded or empty, and whether the truck can roll to a wider spot.
Who is coming and when: our number, (408) 466-2844, and the arrival estimate we gave you.

If your carrier needs a PO or an authorization number before work starts, get it while we drive. We can talk to dispatch directly if that is faster. Give them our number.

Copy and send

Unit 4521, trailer 7710. 880 north past Hegenberger, right shoulder. Right rear outside drive flat, 295/75R22.5. Loaded, cannot roll. Tire service called, (408) 466-2844, ETA as quoted.

Then triangles out, get behind the barrier, and keep your phone on. We text when we are close.

Semi and big rig tire questions

Can a steer tire be repaired on the roadside?

Sometimes. A small puncture in the center of the tread on a steer tire with a sound casing is inside most tire makers' repair limits. Anything in the shoulder or sidewall is not, and a steer that has been driven flat gets replaced. Many fleets do not run repaired tires on the steer axle at all. Tell us your policy when you call and we follow it.

Do I need to replace both duals or just the flat one?

Usually just the one, if the mate is close in tread depth and diameter. A new tire next to a badly worn one carries more than its share and both wear wrong. We measure the mate, tell you the number, and you decide. If the flat was run for miles, we also check the mate for heat damage, because it was carrying double.

Do you bring 18 wheeler tires with you?

Yes. We keep new and used tires in all common commercial truck and trailer sizes at the yard and load your size before we roll. Read us the full size on the sidewall when you call, something like 295/75R22.5.

Can you change a tire on a loaded truck?

Yes. Tell us loaded or empty when you call so the right jack comes. On a loaded truck we lift the axle end, block it, and pull the wheel. We do not ask you to unload.

The tire was driven flat for a few miles. Can it be patched?

No. A tire that has run flat, even a short distance, has flexed on its sidewalls with no air in it. The inner liner shows the damage as marbling or rubber dust. That casing can fail later without warning, so it gets replaced, and we check the mate on a dual.

Do you torque the lug nuts?

Yes, with a torque wrench, to the wheel maker's spec, in a star pattern. Have the nuts rechecked after the first 50 to 100 miles, at your shop or any tire shop.

Flat on a big rig right now?

(408) 466-2844

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Not urgent? Text us with where the truck is and the tire size, and we call you back.