Dec 22, 2004
Tire Repair -- Nigerian style
Phew... what a semester. Nothing like having a newborn and deciding to buy a new house to make finals extra-interesting. Just in case anybody was actually wondering why I haven’t posted in a while (aside from Ralph Luker, anyway) those are the reasons, in a nutshell. So, to get back into the swing of things, I’m choosing a somewhat offbeat topic: tire changing.
Hardcore blog-watchers may have noticed my dear brother actually blogged during a tire change a little while back. Of course, being the blog-o-maniac that he is, that is hardly a surprise. But, anyway, this is something of an example of brotherly synergy, since I have, for a while, been planning to do an essay on the differences between tire changes in the US and West Africa. Indeed, eventually I plan to write a book on West African car culture, but other commitments mean that will be a few years down the road (so to speak). In particular the whole tire change process seemed to me to highlight the contrast between life in these two global regions. Since most readers will be familiar with tire repair in the industrialized world, I won’t go into how tires are repaired in that “place.” Just note that you can usually sip free coffee, sit in climate-controlled comfort, and perhaps even Blog while somebody uses mega-expensive powered machinery to fix your tire. In the end you will pay anywhere from $10 to $30 for a plugged or patched tire.
First and foremost, flat tires are WAY more common in West Africa than they are in the US. For a region short of machine tools and their products, West African roads seem unusually well blessed with nails, screws, and other pointy paraphernalia. I once suffered a flat tire at the hands of an unusually large (and not very sharp) C-clip. Also, almost all West African tires are mounted using tubes. For those too young to remember the days of tubed tires, this means that when something pokes a hole in your tire it goes flat RIGHT NOW – not a few hours or days from now. No doubt the prevalence of tubes is a major contributing factor to the high rate of traffic accidents and fatalities on West African roads.
Given the frequency of flats (one a month is nothing odd, and I have gone through a couple of spells where I had several flats in a single week), tire repair establishments, known as “Vulcanizers” are also common. In a town or city one can be found on almost every block. Get a flat in town and you will almost certainly have a Vulcanizer come to you or an enterprising young lad will offer to run to one in return for a tip (“dash”). They are usually a two-man team, consisting of senior vulcanizer and an apprentice/assistant who is often a young boy or teenager. Their equipment generally consists of a scavenged AC compressor attached to a small motor to inflate tires, a really heavy bar used as a bludgeon to “break the bead” between the tire and wheel, and a lever-and-fulcrum assembly to pry the tire off the rim, if necessary. Usually, however, once the bead is broken, the tube is slipped out on its own so it can be patched.
The process of repair is undertaken by melting a patch over the section of the tube that has been punctured. Once the hole is located, the patching material is placed over the offending (offended?) section of the tube, and then both tube and patch are cranked tight between a board and an upside-down flat-topped piston. Kerosene is poured into the piston and set alight – thus producing the heat to melt the patch material – “vulcanizing” the patch into place. Within about 20 minutes the tube has a new patch (I’ve seen tubes with a couple of dozen such repairs). The tube is then slid back between the wheel and tire, the motor/AC Compressor is fired up, and the tire is re-inflated. Once the assistant has placed the wheel back on your car, you can pay the Vulcanizer for the work. In Nigeria this now runs about 20 to 30 Naira – or about 15-20 cents US. Then, off you go!
Of course, the question is why don’t West African drivers forego the use of tubes? The trick lies in the amount of air pressure available. To “seat” a tubeless tire on the rim requires a goodly volume of air delivered at about 100psi. The locally-produced compressors used by Vulcanizers simply can’t deliver such pressures. Tubes are thus considered a necessity. Mind you, there are upscale auto dealers in West Africa (Mercedes, Toyota and Nissan, mostly) who have equipment just like what you would find at a tire shop in San Diego or Tokyo, but the costs are also like those found in the industrialized world – putting tubeless tires out of the reach of most Africans.
I did, however, come to know one Vulcanizer who had a system for seating tubeless tires with his existing equipment. I had mentioned to a Nigerian friend (a mechanic) my desire to avoid using tubes in my tires. He then took me to a said Vulcanizer. I watched in amusement and admiration as he sent his assistant out for several servings of Gari – a casava-based foodstuff that has the consistency of really thick mashed potatoes. He then smeared the Gari around between the gap between each rim and tire... creating a seal tight enough to allow the tire to seat despite the slow delivery of the air. Within an hour or so I had four tubeless tires mounted and a spare in the hatch. The process cost about three times the normal rate (perhaps two dollars for the whole service), but I was most pleased with my increased security on the road.
Hardcore blog-watchers may have noticed my dear brother actually blogged during a tire change a little while back. Of course, being the blog-o-maniac that he is, that is hardly a surprise. But, anyway, this is something of an example of brotherly synergy, since I have, for a while, been planning to do an essay on the differences between tire changes in the US and West Africa. Indeed, eventually I plan to write a book on West African car culture, but other commitments mean that will be a few years down the road (so to speak). In particular the whole tire change process seemed to me to highlight the contrast between life in these two global regions. Since most readers will be familiar with tire repair in the industrialized world, I won’t go into how tires are repaired in that “place.” Just note that you can usually sip free coffee, sit in climate-controlled comfort, and perhaps even Blog while somebody uses mega-expensive powered machinery to fix your tire. In the end you will pay anywhere from $10 to $30 for a plugged or patched tire.
First and foremost, flat tires are WAY more common in West Africa than they are in the US. For a region short of machine tools and their products, West African roads seem unusually well blessed with nails, screws, and other pointy paraphernalia. I once suffered a flat tire at the hands of an unusually large (and not very sharp) C-clip. Also, almost all West African tires are mounted using tubes. For those too young to remember the days of tubed tires, this means that when something pokes a hole in your tire it goes flat RIGHT NOW – not a few hours or days from now. No doubt the prevalence of tubes is a major contributing factor to the high rate of traffic accidents and fatalities on West African roads.
Given the frequency of flats (one a month is nothing odd, and I have gone through a couple of spells where I had several flats in a single week), tire repair establishments, known as “Vulcanizers” are also common. In a town or city one can be found on almost every block. Get a flat in town and you will almost certainly have a Vulcanizer come to you or an enterprising young lad will offer to run to one in return for a tip (“dash”). They are usually a two-man team, consisting of senior vulcanizer and an apprentice/assistant who is often a young boy or teenager. Their equipment generally consists of a scavenged AC compressor attached to a small motor to inflate tires, a really heavy bar used as a bludgeon to “break the bead” between the tire and wheel, and a lever-and-fulcrum assembly to pry the tire off the rim, if necessary. Usually, however, once the bead is broken, the tube is slipped out on its own so it can be patched.
The process of repair is undertaken by melting a patch over the section of the tube that has been punctured. Once the hole is located, the patching material is placed over the offending (offended?) section of the tube, and then both tube and patch are cranked tight between a board and an upside-down flat-topped piston. Kerosene is poured into the piston and set alight – thus producing the heat to melt the patch material – “vulcanizing” the patch into place. Within about 20 minutes the tube has a new patch (I’ve seen tubes with a couple of dozen such repairs). The tube is then slid back between the wheel and tire, the motor/AC Compressor is fired up, and the tire is re-inflated. Once the assistant has placed the wheel back on your car, you can pay the Vulcanizer for the work. In Nigeria this now runs about 20 to 30 Naira – or about 15-20 cents US. Then, off you go!
Of course, the question is why don’t West African drivers forego the use of tubes? The trick lies in the amount of air pressure available. To “seat” a tubeless tire on the rim requires a goodly volume of air delivered at about 100psi. The locally-produced compressors used by Vulcanizers simply can’t deliver such pressures. Tubes are thus considered a necessity. Mind you, there are upscale auto dealers in West Africa (Mercedes, Toyota and Nissan, mostly) who have equipment just like what you would find at a tire shop in San Diego or Tokyo, but the costs are also like those found in the industrialized world – putting tubeless tires out of the reach of most Africans.
I did, however, come to know one Vulcanizer who had a system for seating tubeless tires with his existing equipment. I had mentioned to a Nigerian friend (a mechanic) my desire to avoid using tubes in my tires. He then took me to a said Vulcanizer. I watched in amusement and admiration as he sent his assistant out for several servings of Gari – a casava-based foodstuff that has the consistency of really thick mashed potatoes. He then smeared the Gari around between the gap between each rim and tire... creating a seal tight enough to allow the tire to seat despite the slow delivery of the air. Within an hour or so I had four tubeless tires mounted and a spare in the hatch. The process cost about three times the normal rate (perhaps two dollars for the whole service), but I was most pleased with my increased security on the road.