A bulge in a sidewall is not a bruise and it will not settle down. It is the shape of a broken casing: the cords that give a tyre its structure have snapped, generally from a pothole or a hard kerb strike, and only the rubber skin is holding the air in now. Nothing repairs it. The part people struggle with is that such a tyre often holds pressure perfectly and may have nearly full tread.
Most of what we get called to inspect around here is less clear cut than that, which is exactly where a straight verdict is worth having. Squeezing past parked cars on the streets off the High Street scuffs alloys constantly and the tyre underneath is usually untouched. Fine cracking along the sidewalls of a car that spends most of its life stationary is a different matter entirely. We look at it properly, inside as well as out, and tell you which of the two you have.
"It still drives fine" is true of almost every dangerously damaged tyre we replace. We do that where the car is parked, in Swiss Cottage, South End Green or anywhere in between and fit the correct replacement on the spot if that is what it needs. Ring at 3am from Gospel Oak and someone answers; Belsize Park at noon is no different. A 4am Belsize Park call and a noon Swiss Cottage call reach the same fitter. South End Green, Royal Free Hospital and the streets around Gospel Oak are minutes apart.
Broken tyre replacement in Hampstead is part of our wider 24-hour emergency callout cover. For broken tyre replacement in Hampstead, call 07717 389637 or get a price for your tyre.
Between the potholes and the granite kerbs on the tighter roads towards Highgate, damage assessment is a big part of what we get called out for in NW3. We will come to the car, take the wheel off if that is what an honest answer requires, and tell you plainly whether it needs replacing or not.
A clang, then a lump the size of an egg on the inner sidewall the next morning. Cords broken, casing finished, tread barely worn. Replaced that day because a bulge like that can let go without any warning at all.
Used for a fortnight's holiday each year and otherwise parked near the Heath. Tread looked new. Both front sidewalls were crazed with fine cracks from age and sunlight, which is a genuine reason to change tyres even when the depth is fine.
Somebody had scraped a wheel badly on a narrow stretch and assumed the tyre was ruined. It was not. Rubber marked, structure sound, and we told them to spend nothing. That happens more often than people expect.
No, and anyone offering to is wrong. The damage is structural and inside the tyre, not on the surface where you can see it.
Sometimes. A kerb squeezes the rubber hard against the rim edge on the way over, and the injury from that sits on the inner face where you would never spot it.
Then age is the deciding factor, not depth. Hardened, cracked rubber has lost its grip properties, which matters a great deal on wet hills.
Yes. Sometimes the outcome is that we tell you nothing needs doing and go away again. That is a legitimate result of the visit.
If there is a lump you can see, or anything deep enough to expose the cords, we would sooner the car stayed put. That is precisely why the assessment happens at your end.
★★★★★ 4.9 from 151 verified Google reviews.
Read all 151 reviews on Google →Prefer a callback? Send your details for a broken tyre replacement price in Hampstead.