2019. Worst. New Year's. Ever
Let this be a warning to all who service a vehicle, change tyres, shocks or any other mechanical work just before a long trip. Don't do it.
Conventional wisdom says to make sure the vehicle is safe, and in good order before a trip. Agreed. It's the timing that is an issue. We have seen many vehicles pulled over the side of the road en route to somewhere wonderful with less than wonderful car trouble, often arising from a loose bolt, lack of grease or ill-fitted last minute something that was rushed and missed.
In 2019 we planned a road trip through the Eastern Cape, and had new shocks fitted to the bakkie the day before we left. Actually, we had to delay our journey by a day as "the guy who knows how to work on a 4x4" wasn't at the dealer. Can you see that shape on the horizon? Yes, it's a pear.
Nevertheless, off we went, winding our way from Johannesburg. We planned a couple of stops along the way, before heading to Baviaanskloof.
Our journey included a stop off at Nieuw Bethesda to stroll through the Owl House which included a very bumpy gravel road with a sheer drop on the way into town, and a glorious, tarred highway afterwards. After refuelling at Willowvale, we made our way to Baviaans, losing cell signal shortly after turning off the tar. It’s a very quiet part of the country. We passed only one other vehicle, a green Golf that was stopped on the side of the road to change a flat tyre. We offered to help, but they assured us they were fine. Further along, we too pulled to the side of the road but to admire the view. Everything was lovely, and then it wasn’t.
As we eased the brake off to continue our journey, the steering wheel pulled dramatically to the right and the vehicle lurched forward and nosed down. Handbrake on, and out the car to see what had caused us to list on a flat road revealed that the front right wheel was standing askew, half collapsed under the car. After some discussion and checking a map (an old school paper map is very handy at times), we determined that it was a shorter distance to our campsite than to try and return to Willowvale. We reasoned that they would have a phone and if need be, we could call a tow-truck.
The tyre scraping and grinding against who knew what was a horrid sound, as we limped our way along. It was mid-afternoon and very hot. It was also extremely quiet in the cabin as we contemplated the possibility that our trip was over, and the costs of getting one fully loaded bakkie, one small dog and ourselves back to Johannesburg. Best guess was that we were 17kms away from our campsite, and each of those felt like an eon. The green Golf puttered past and asked if we were okay. They knew the camp we were headed to, so they promised to let them know of our troubles and that we would be arriving late.
As luck would have it, the owner of Uitspan is also the local tow-truck operator, so when he heard of our misfortune, they drove out to meet us and see if they could assist with a quick and dirty fix. Sadly not, but they said we should just carry on slowly and they would be waiting for us at the camp. By now it was getting darker as we were in the shadow of the mountains, but with the worry about our vehicle, it was quite eerie, and we didn’t really appreciate the beauty around us. After what seemed like hours – because it was - we finally saw the Uitspan gates.
At this point, it should be noted that campers and especially 4x4 people are fantastically supportive of each other. Realising that we would probably not make our designated campsite further up the hill, the owners had a word with the people in the site closest to the gate, helped them pack up and moved them so that we could freewheel in and stop at the first available spot. We were profoundly grateful and also somewhat embarrassed at inconveniencing these kind strangers. We made short work of putting up the tent, making some food and turning in early. It was arguably the worst New Year’s Eve we had ever had.
The first day of 2020 dawned and we finally took a good look at what was wrong. After jacking up the car and removing the tyre if was clear that when the new shocks were fitted, they had removed the control arm bolts and never replaced the nuts, or simply didn’t tighten them. With the vibration of the gravel roads we had been on, those nuts had worked loose causing the control arm to give way, and the wheel to sit at its awkward angle. Thankfully the bolts were still there but we needed to find the right size nuts for a 20-year old Colt. We searched our spares, and other campers brought their bags of nuts and bolts and nothing. It was our host who saved the day with an extremely well stocked workshop, and some old farm equipment which was raided, the nut filed clean and presented to us.
As our fellow campers came past throughout the day to check on us, offering advice, support and a beer, my dear man struggled with a hammer and shifting spanner to put everything back in place. What a wonder the Colt was, other than a small oil leak from the damaged shock, nothing else was broken. Once the control arm and wheel were safely attached in the correct way, it seemed that we would be able to continue with our trip as planned. We took an exploratory drive further into the Baviaans to see if all was well with the car, which it was, and we could finally pay heed to our surroundings and take it all in.
Two days later we packed up and finished our journey, traversing the Grootrivier Poort, and venturing into the Kouga mountains, just outside Joubertina. Despite an immensely stressful start, this was, and still is one of our favourite trips.