Why you shouldn't pull it out
While the nail sits in the rubber, the tire is pinching the hole shut around it. Once it's out, nothing is left to hold the hole closed, and the air can escape fast. Pull a screw out in a parking lot with no air supply and no spare, and you've turned a slow leak into a tire you can't drive on.
It also tells whoever repairs the tire exactly where the hole is. That's easier to see with the object still in place than after the air has gone and the tire is down on the rim.
Check how fast it's losing air
Use a tire gauge if you have one, or look at the tire's pressure on the dash if the car shows it. Compare it with the number on the sticker in the driver's door jamb. If the pressure is close, mark the tire with chalk or tape so you remember which one it is, and check it again in an hour.
- Holding steady or dropping a little: it's a slow leak. You can usually drive a short way to a repair, if you go gently and check again before you leave.
- Dropping noticeably, or you can hear air hissing: don't drive on it. Put the spare on or call for help.
- Visibly low or flat: treat it as a flat. Driving on it will ruin the tire.
Where the nail is matters
A nail in the middle of the tread is usually repairable. A nail near the edge, in the shoulder or in the sidewall isn't, because that part of the tire can't be safely repaired and the tire will need replacing.
Construction debris lands on roads in any fast-growing metro, so a nail or screw in a tire is one of the more common things a DFW driver finds. Look at the tires when you park, especially after driving through a work zone.
If you can't tell whether the object is in the tread or the shoulder, look at the tire straight on from the front of the car. The tread is the flat part that meets the road. Anything in the rounded corner or the side of the tire is outside it, and that matters for whether the tire can be fixed.
How we handle it
TRA's stuck screw service takes the object out and makes the tire safe in the same visit, so the hole is never left open. It's $70, plus a $19 dispatch fee charged once per job. If the tire turns out to be damaged beyond repair, the driver tells you on site, and your options are your spare or a replacement tire.
Common questions
There's no safe number of miles. If the tire holds its pressure, a short, gentle drive to get it repaired is usually fine. A tire that's losing air shouldn't be driven at all.
No. Plenty of nails sit in the tread for days before the tire loses much air. But the nail moves a little with every rotation, so the hole doesn't improve with time, and it's best not to wait.
If the screw is in the tread and the hole is small, usually yes. If it's in the sidewall or the shoulder, no. Your driver tells you which it is.