STEADY THAT "WOBBLE"

NZ Truth, Issue 1197, 8 November 1928, Page 20

STEADY THAT "WOBBLE"

Shimmying Gan Be Giired— Damper Does The Trick

"WHEEL wobble," or, as it is sometimes termed, "shimmying" or "dithering 1 ," is one of the. most annoying 1 things a driver can be called upon to suffer.

SOME cars seem cursed with a tendency to wheel wobble from birth,; others develop it gradually, and still others have it thrust upon them incontinently. ■ ' For '-months' they run steadily, then one day -wheel wobble' commences without warning, and ever .afterwards they are wobblers, lop-fiided brutes whose, only aim seems to be to tear the arms out of drivers and emulate the crab m its sideway gait, In many instances wear of the various joints m the steering" gear is the cause of the troublei and^ suitable attention will cure iti ; Wear, however* is by no means the • oause. An. incor- ._= rectiy balanced chassis, or'.wro^g '; design or setting of front springs, can be responsible for wobble of the worst type. ;" In cars where the tendency to this trouble seems inherent, a cure can be effected at reasonable cost by fitting a damper between the front axle and the

track rod, which connects the wheels. This damper must be of the doubleacting or constant friction type simiVufto the. Hartford shock absorbers. ' When correctly tensioned, the fitting of a clamper will completely revolutionise the steering of. a "wobbly" car. All tendency, to sway and snatch is .destroyed "the mpment it develops or tends to develop, and steering on the roughest roads becomes a pleasure. The car also is safer and far more amenable to control, and the -strain of handling the wheel is lightened. . • •■ In order to make the best of the device the da'niper must be of variable type, the tension being altered by means of a friut on the outside plate." Any good mechanic should be able to make such a damper, incorporating: two outside steel plates, two asbestos fabric friction plates, and the middle plate with an extension piece to take the arm leading to the track rod.