Real Namibia: Changing a Flat Tyre

“Tell everyone to get safely out of the way, but allow them to take photos for prosperity. Even if they aren’t doing the work, they are sharing the adventure. If you have some deck chairs, put them out and charge everyone for watching the show.”

Although this appears to be a tyre spanner, it is actually a cunningly disguised piece of gym equipment that gives a magnificent arm, back and shoulder workout combined with the effects of a sauna.

In some countries, changing a light bulb or a tyre is regarded as something that needs a particular set of skills. If your light stops working, you call in an electrician who is trained to work with electricity. If you have a flat tyre on the freeway, you walk a couple of hundred meters to a telephone and call a mechanic.

It is slightly different, here in Namibia. If a light bulb stops working, we go to the shop, buy a light bulb (bayonet or ‘screw-in’), climb on a chair and change it ourselves. With a little bit of luck, we remember to turn off the light switch and tell everyone not to turns on the light while we are changing the bulb. As there are no emergency phones every few hundred meters, indeed, not even every few hundred kilometers, we also change our own tyres.

If you are visiting Namibia, expect to change at least one flat tyre or ‘flat’, unless you have a guide, in which case, you can watch him or her changing the tyre. If you are driving yourself, it may not happen that you need to do it, but expect to do it anyway, certainly if you are traveling on gravel roads and especially if you are traveling on the sort of dirt track that doesn’t show up on the standard map.

Don’t worry about changing light bulbs. The hotel or lodge will do this for you.

One local tour operator suggests that you go to your local branch of the Automobile Association and ask them to show you how. Even if you don’t, you can still do it on your own, as long as you keep your head.

Before you leave, make certain you are prepared. You should have at least one spare tyre, if not two, depending on the route. Check with your local operator on how many you should take for the route. You will also need a ‘jack’, the tyre spanner, and the vehicle’s manual. Check that you know where all of this is located in the car, before you pack your luggage. If you know where all the equipment is, you won’t have to unpack the whole car in order to find it.

If you are driving a vehicle with high ground clearance, you should have a ‘high lift jack’ which will get a higher vehicle off the ground.

You would also do well to check the tension on one of the bolts… but more about this later.

Before leaving wherever you are staying, every morning, check the condition of the tyres. If they are worn, or not properly inflated, you could have a bad accident.

The first sign of a flat tyre is when the vehicle pulls to one side as you drive. Drive carefully to the nearest piece of level ground, get out and take a look. If you have a flat, consider yourself lucky: the adventure has begun!

Get out the jack, tyre spanner, spare tyre and manual. Take a cold drink and go and sit in the shade while you read the manual. The manual will have a section on changing a tyre. Although you may already know how to change a flat, the manual will show you where to position the jack so that you don’t damage the chassis or body. It will also tell you how to assemble the jack.

Make sure that the handbrake is on. Now find a flat rock or a piece of sturdy, flat wood, especially of the ground is stony or soft. You don’t want the jack slipping or sinking into the ground. Place the jack in the correct position under the car, according to the manual, with the stone or wood under the foot of the jack. Make sure that the jack is upright and not skew.

Tell everyone to get safely out of the way, but allow them to take photos for prosperity. Even if they aren’t doing the work, they are sharing the adventure. If you have some deck chairs, put them out and charge everyone for watching the show.

Now remove the hub cap and loosen the bolts half a turn, but don’t unscrew them. If you checked the bolt before leaving, you will know how much pressure is necessary. If it refuses to budge, it may be that sand has jammed up the threads. In this case, give the wheel a few gentle but firm taps with a stone or the wheel spanner to loosen up the sand. If this doesn’t work, hit it harder. Just bear in mind that the rental company will charge you for any damage.

Once the bolts are loose, start using the jack, sweating a lot and swearing from time to time. When the wheel is about two or three centimeters of the ground, unscrew the bolts and remove the tyre. Place the new tyre on the wheel and screw the bolts on. Screw each bolt on until they are firmly on, but not tight. Make sure that all the bolts are screwed on equally.

Now do the whole process in reverse. When the car is firmly on the ground again, tighten all the bolts properly.

Throughout all of this, be careful. Having a car fall on you is guaranteed to ruin your travels. If the car looks like it is wobbling or moving, step back and allow it to come to rest. When it stops moving, cautiously begin to lower it. Once the car is on the ground, reposition the jack, this time making sure that it is in the right place, upright and won’t slip.

Pack the car again and chuck the hub cap in the back. Now go back to the patch of shade and have another cold drink.

Congratulations. You have experienced another Namibian adventure.