PROLONGING TYRE LIFE

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 58, 31 May 1927, Page 11

PROLONGING TYRE LIFE

PRECAUTIONS AID ECONOMY

ROAD SURFACE INFLUENCES DRIVING

It should always be remembered that the care of tyres involves a dua? regard#»r the welfare of both tubes and covers, and the life depends as much on the driver as on the manufacturer. A faulty tube is a menace to the cover, and a defective cover is a menace to the tube. The function of the pneumatic tyre in relation to a car is, first and foremost, that of a shock-absorber. The inequalities of the road surface would cause severe damage to the axles and chassis of the car, unless the tyres, working in conjunction with the springs, were ready to take those inequalities.

It is, of course, the air-filled tube which provides resiliency; the cover is to protect the tube from contact with the road, and to take the wear and tear of running. Consequently, to secure the maximum resiliency, the cover, although strong, must be flexible. Correct Inflation Necessary. To obtain the maximum degree of shock absorption, tyres should be properly inflated. Insufficient inflation is, to a great extent, responsible for bursts and quick breaking-up of the cover. When a tyre is under-inflated, the walls are continually and excessively bending at a point midway between the rim and the ground, and the result of this continual bending is that the walls become weakened, eventually give way, and burst. Rimcutting, creeping, beating, and puncturing are also brought about by running “soft.” On the other hand, care should be taken not to over-inflate tyres; to have them bard as boards nullifies the property of shock absorption and the resiliency of the tyre is inappreciable. It is all-important to watch for small cuts in a tyre, and to repair them when they are still small. A tiny cut, if neglected, may in time destroy a cover. Inspect the tyres weekly for had cuts, signs of bursts (caused through the fabric lining being rotted by wet) or boils (caused by dust or mud between the fabric and the rubber covering). Remove with a sliarplvpoirited piece of wood—not a knife—£mall pieces of Hint, glass, or other pnatter embedded in the tyre. Small cuts should be filled up at once with a .special preparation obtainable for [this purpose, known as “tyre douglit,” although if the tyre should receive a Jarge cut, or a small cut should have grown large before receiving attention, the repair must be vulcanised. How to Repair Small Cuts. To repair small cuts, the wound should be thoroughly cleaned with u«ing a piece of rag and a small Ktjck, and, when dry, coated with specif* solution. Allow the solution to become nearly dry, and if the hole is ' ar Se, apply a second coat; then fill in ''ith the dough, pressing it down firmni a httle more than enough to ml the cut. Finally, allow the repair 10 ( try as long as possible. ft is a wise precaution to make a Pemodical examination of the inside of ‘he r;m to prevent accumulation of J‘ us t. To effect this, first deflate the ‘>re, and press the bead of the covei inward with the lever. If there are traces °f rust, early opportunity should be taken to have the rim bed scraped and enamelled. • J* Vsrc ** hnovn, but worth repeatn Si that acids, oils, grease, and light r e injurious to rubber. Water, alv harmless to rubber itself. c non Id not be allowed to reach the cord avng of the cover, and for this reason ar:'. should not be washed while the * f*' ar ® deflated, as water may then tnt “ Penetrate. Care should be sen when lubricating wheel parts to

that oii does not come in contact *‘th the tyres.

Correct Alignment. I he life of a tyre depends largely u - e true running of the wheel to men it is fitted. A tyre should be wi!- ) K ettet * *° a Purely rolling action! , a minimum of friction when the} "J ee s run truly parallcd. When a •cel does not run truly parallel, the sustains considerable friction, the direction of travel, which t■» i k- Wears away the tread. To ob-i ® *gh tyre efficiency, the alignment »e wheels should be checked and if required. The front wheel* more likely to lose their paraland should, therefore, be closely examined. in the wheel rims must not be dam rCd ’ as they are liable to cause age to the bead and the side of the hA* Steps should be taken without rp ,. to have them attended to by a to J rCr - Uu st should not be allowed taovef? 1 ?, 1 ? ° n a . r * m * It can be rcthe aid of emery paper and c rim then painted with nm paint. T On Unrolled Roads, is down running expenses, it drir*n lrab,c to nurse the tyres when on flinty, rough, or unrolled 8 * It is quite easy to give a car

at 20 miles an hour over a stretch of unrolled or partly rolled metal, but it has to be paid for. At 20 miles an hour tlie treads of the tyre may be cut all over and deep incisions caused which in time will let in wet and mud; while at eight or 10 miles an hour there will hardly be a scratch on the tread. When effecting repairs, “more haste less speed” should be the order of the day. Care is necessary, and the few additional minutes required to do the work satisfactorily is well repaid. Before putting, a tube into position, powdered chalk should be springled around inside the cover; a handful thrown in results in the chalk caking In the rims and damaging the tube. To secure the best results, then, the following is a summary of the safeguards necessary:—Tyres should always be kept sufficiently inflated. They should he inspected daily, and emheded flints, etc., removed. Cuts should he repaired, and no water allowed to enter, otherwise the fabric of the jacket will become rotted. The rim beds should he kept free from rust. It is better to w r ash tyres than to allow mud to dry slowl\ r on them. The brakes should he judiciously and not abruptly applied. With vehicles other than friction-driven, the clutch should he let in very gentlj' when starting from rest. Bad road services should he traversed carefully and not at a high speed. The chassis should be kept in good order; particularly does this apply to the alignment of the road wheels. The steering gear should he kept free from hack-lash, as backlash allows the front wheels to wobble when the car is running. High speed and overloading quickly affect the tyres; indeed, one real case of overloading is sufficient to ruin a set of tyres, and although the injury may not be apparent at once, damage to the jacket will, nevertheless, have occurred and will be revealed sooner or later. The foregoing hints on the care and (maintenance of motor tyres, if conjstantly carried out, will be the means of saving many anxious hours of worry, will curtail very considerably the running expenses, enhance the value of a car, and provide a maximum of pleasure, comfort and efficiency. In a word. it is simply a question of exercising care.

“Billy,” the two-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Ceneirulo, of Lodi (U.S.), promises to be a "st.ron.2r man” when he reaches manhood. When his mother backed the family car out of the garage ••Billy” was in the way. When his mother alighted and investigated she found a rear wheel resting on his chest. Neighbours helped lift oft the car. At the hospital it was found he was suffering from bruises only.

There are 11 makes of cars selling below £l5O in Great Britain, and three of these are £IOO cars. Yet another £IOO car is expected shortly. * * * A.C. Cars Ltd. were recently sold up by order of the court in England. Mr. E. Edge was the buyer at £135,000. The original capital was £ 330,000 and the deficiency was £362,795.