Bloudraad a fix-all
Every now and again a driver overestimates his abilities and that of his wheels. Here’s what happens next…
We went on holiday with family to Namibia last year and among others drove from Ruacana all along the Cunene River to Epupa. Thereafter we drove over Van Zyl’s Pass and returned south all along the Marienfluss.
Just outside Ruacana we deflated the tyres of both vehicles for the route ahead. A mere kilometre further, over a hill, the wheels of our Cruiser hit a dip in the road at a speed of about 50 km/h and started sliding.
Within seconds the Cruiser lay on its side – fortunately, the trailer prevented it from rolling further.
We quickly radioed for help and within minutes the front Cruiser turned back. My son has a winch on his Cruiser and used it to pull our Cruiser onto its wheels again.
Fortunately, the Cruiser could still go. We only topped up the oil, water and gearbox oil. The bolts of the towing hitch had broken off completely and we fixed it with bloudraad (galvanised wire). The trailer’s towbar was also bent and it was also secured with bloudraad.
The bloudraad plan worked all the way to Windhoek – we only had to tighten it from time to time at night in our campsite. In Windhoek the towing hitch was repaired with new, thicker bolts, and the workshop also fixed a new towbar to the trailer.
Only 170 km from Windhoek the towing hitch’s new bolts broke off again. We then had to use the bloudraad again – and this plan worked till we reached home.
This happened to Jean Engelberts from Villiersdorp.
