JACKING SYSTEMS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 136, 30 August 1927, Page 7

JACKING SYSTEMS

AS STANDARD FITTING.

PNEUMATIC APPARATUS

At least half-a-dozen patent jacks for permanent attachment to the car have been offering in Great Britain, and some of the builders of better class bodies have selected one of these devices as a standard fitting. The simplest form of attached jacks are secured to the running hoards. A set is installed on each side of the car about midway between th/f front and hack wheels. When it is decided to jack up the wheels, the lifter portion of the jack* is dropped into a vertical position. A convenient winding handle is then fitted into a socket ana both hack and front wheels on one side ot the car are lifted clear of the ground. Another form consists of a species of large cam which is attacked to each axle. When it is desired to lift a wheel a cam is dropped until it touches the ground, and if the car is given a light touch on the clutch it will lift one side clear of the ground on the high edge of the cam. The most novel jacking system vet evolved is a pneumatic apparatus attached near each wheel. In appearance the devices are like four common hydraulic jacks. The greatest feature is that the jacks can be brought into operation from the driver’s seat bv a remarkable array of soda siphon sparklet hu.*bs containing compressed gas. On the instrument-board a magazine of eight bulbs is fitted, and tubing connects the jacks. The operation of a jack is very similar to the aeration of a soda siphon. By pressing a lever the driver releases the gas into any chosen jack. A light car will require only one bulb, hut a second is needed for a heavy vehicle. It is surprising what energy is stored in the sparklet bulbs. After the operation the pressing of a lever returns the plunger to its barrel and the bulbs are renewed. The system costs about £l2 10/for a large car.

PARKING UNDERGROUND Paris and London are considering the plan of having- garages, car-parking spaces, and cab stands beneath the city parks. The idea was introduced by the Automobile Association, which has been ui-ging the Government to take up its suggestion for underground parking places. The plan would be to make a cellar garage, with four subways, providing two entrances and two exits, under each park. As London has 365 public squares, there would be room for tens of thousands of cars. Government officials have held back on the project, it is said, because they said the cost would be so high that it would not pay.