Sometime in July 2025, I lamented the high cost of tyres. By extension, I drew attention to the high price of owning a car that meets minimum safety standards. If you read the piece, you will recall that changing four tyres, which is the ideal recommendation, shook the foundation of my finances, yet I had no choice because, in my estimation, my life is worth much more than the price of all the tyres in the world.
For the record, I did not inform you that before that time, I suffered the ugly experience of waking up daily to either a flat tyre that required a change or one that required inflating. Daily, my routine was either ordering my staff to change the tyre or driving a short distance to a nearby vulcanizer. Again, if you read my piece on ‘Musings on tyre blowout’, you will recall that one piece of advice I gave was with respect to gauging/pumping your tyres at the right time. Mornings are the ideal time.
So, before you drive off, gauge your tyres and if there is a need to pump, slowly drive to the nearest vulcanizer. If you are the type that leaves home early, weekends may be the most convenient time. When hot, tyre pressure increases. Any action (gauge, pump) you take when the tyres are hot would be misleading and could be fatal. Unfortunately, most people gauge and pump tyres when the tires are hot. Never do so. If tyres are hot, leave them for about 30 minutes to cool down.
So, I ran afoul of my own counsel on one or two occasions, especially on my way to Church. It was on one of those periods that I stopped over at a nearby vulcanizer to inflate my front tyre. This vulcanizer, by all standards, was, as is the case with some of them, not literate but could communicate in pidgin English. When I pulled over after the usual pleasantries, I requested that he check my front tyre, which had my spare. It was when he got up that I realized that he was physically challenged. Selfishly, I was only engrossed with my predicament and not his physical frailties that require empathy.
After checking my tyre with his pencil gauge, which I could not confirm if it was authentic, I requested him to keep inflating, which he obliged. There and then, I decided to further test his competence by insisting that he adds more. As a willing seller to a willing buyer, he kept doing my bidding by adding more pressure until I asked him to stop.
When he was done, I pulled out a thousand Naira note to pay him, only for him to politely tell me not to bother to pay. Instantly, I said thank you for being generous. But immediately I drove off, I had a conscience check. Guilt suddenly ate me up. I kept on saying to myself, ‘guy, you just messed up’. I questioned myself for not giving him the one thousand Naira note as a gesture of goodwill for his kindness.
To make up for my blunder, I drove past him a couple of weeks later, pulled over at his place, and politely offered him some crispy Naira notes as compensation for my folly and in appreciation for his kind heart despite his physical frailties and economic condition. To be candid, Mufu (not his real name) exemplifies the true Nigerian spirit of care, love, sincerity, and consideration despite his economic status. I doff my hat for this Nigerian spirit in him, yet it reminds us of some notable inadequacies among vulcanizers.
These reminders about vulcanizers and tyre blowouts should make up for their inadequacies and keep us alert. Shockingly, the tyre problem is compounded by the grim picture painted by vulcanizers as they use the worst type of pressure gauges—the pencil gauge that malfunctions easily when subjected to heavy usage. Besides, they use the same gauge for all tyre pressures, and this is a big blunder. This is why motorists are advised to own a personal gauge and get conversant with the right pressure for their vehicle’s tyres. Never rely on the roadside vulcanizer’s gauge. Most of their gauges are outright inferior, have been overused/abused over time, and may have improper measuring units.
In fairness to the vulcanizers, however, they may not be aware of these shortcomings with their gauges.
You are also advised to install a high-profile automatic tire monitor. This is a state-of-the-art device that uses sensors and wireless monitors to monitor your tires on a 24-hour basis. It alerts the driver well in advance about an impending tire blowout or failure. It pinpoints the exact tire so that the driver will take appropriate measures to deal with the situation. It also effectively takes care of premature tire wear.
When I wrote about tyre blowouts, I recall drawing your attention to incorrect tyre inflation, especially under-inflation, which was what I suffered before encountering Mufu, the vulcanizer. Tyres, you must note, are the most important part of a vehicle. That is why manufacturers specify the correct tyre gauge and expiry date, both of which are usually stamped on the side of the tyre.
It is very easy to find out the expiry date. Just check the side, and you will find a four-digit number stamped on it. This number indicates the week and year of manufacture, and the expiry date will be four years after. Manufacturers also indicate the maximum allowable inflating pressure for specific tyres. Different tyres are designed for different pressures.
Unfortunately, most of us are careless about this vital information and have become victims of quacks masquerading as vulcanizers. For your information, under-inflation causes two things that ultimately lead to tyre blowouts. First, it causes undue flexing of the tyres as the vehicle speeds along the undulating surface of the road. This causes a separation between the internal materials used in making the tyres and the rubber flesh that holds the materials. This separation weakens the tyre.
Secondly, it causes an increase in what is known as rolling resistance as the vehicle moves. The increased rolling resistance generates a tremendous amount of heat, which, together with the separation of the internal materials, leads to an explosion.
Like I told you before, incorrect tyre inflation could also cause crashes in other ways. When a tyre is incorrectly inflated, it makes partial contact with the road surface and so does not have a firm grip on the surface.
With over-inflation, the edges of the contact patch (the part of the tyre that should be in contact with the road surface) do not touch the ground. In the case of under-inflation, the crown (the middle portion of the tyre) of the contact patch does not touch the ground. Either way, you have an imperfect contact of the tyre on the road surface and so less grip. The imperfect contact could cause a crash since the tyres don’t have a firm grip on the road surface.
This increases the stopping distance (the total distance a vehicle travels from the moment a driver perceives a hazard to the moment the vehicle comes to a complete stop) when the brakes are applied in an emergency and could make the vehicle crash into the object the driver wanted to avoid. Please note that the stopping distance differs from the braking distance, which is the distance a vehicle will travel from the point when its brakes are fully applied to when it comes to a complete stop.
It could also lead to loss of control of the vehicle when speeding. This is more common with overinflated tyres. High vehicles like trailers could lose their balance when they hit a bump, pothole, or while descending a sharp bend. This situation can be likened to someone with one leg shorter than the other.
