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Show ALIGNMENT OF MOTOR CAR MOSTHVIPORTANT Watch Wheels, Engine, the Transmission and Clutch j for Signs of Trouble. EXPERT GIVES ADVICE To Function Properly, All Auto Mechanism Must Line Up Straight. The average motor car owner realizes something of the vital importance of proper lubrication, but few of them understand un-derstand the equal necessity for similar perfection of alignment. If we could perfect per-fect these two conditions, if the various parts of the mechanism always ran true and never touched, the modern automobile automo-bile would never wear out. When a part is out of alignment, it is not running parallel or in correct relation to the other parts. When the car first comes from the maker, all parts are correctly al gned, but a careless driver can very quickly destroy de-stroy this condition by improper handling of the vehicle. . One of the commonest cases of misalignment mis-alignment occurs in the front wheels, and it is made manifest by excessive wear of the tires on those wheels. . When Uie, wheels are out of aUgnment, it Is not difficult dif-ficult to see that the tires have a drag- : ging movement as well as the ordinary and proper rolling forward. This drag over the ground results in very rapid wear, so F much so that a brand new casing may l I ruined in a few hundred miles of travel. , The alignment of the front wheels Bel- 1 fected by the steering system, the front c axle the bearings and various other fac -1 tors. The alignment of the rear wheels r will depend somewhat on the condiUoctl of the rims, the bearings and the axl! tc Every car owner ought to make it a poi'scl to have the alignment of the wr checked up three times a year, eis here no accident lias occurred to ma.uy solo emergency chocking imperative. , minor accident as a severe curt- .XHgg to for vour wheels out of aiigtrK q0 ' The Rear Axle. . Another common seat of out ment trouble Is the rear axle. F: .j maintain proper lubrication conditiony tho rear axle will result in mechaii-. derangements that will throw the pan out of alignment. Mistakes of judgment in driving will have a similar effect. An instance: If the ear is started with ObJj hand brake on, tho breakage of the dif ferential ring gear or an axle shaft tfia! quite likely follow. This simply means that tho weakest part takes the great proportion of the strain and distorts, Ed driving over a rough road. If tho brakes happen to bo applied while tho rear-wheels rear-wheels are in the air. the. wheels will bo locked when they strike the ground Rjri'n and the driving pinion will probably snap under the strain. These instances Hfuva been cited simply as showing how oasy it is for careless driving under unfav Diablo Di-ablo conditions to twist various parts of the mechanism out of alignment. The trouble may not be apparent at once.; but; i sooner or later the gears will begin -to growl. The owner assumes that the- part 1 simply needs more oil; perhaps, but agalnj j there may be a serious out of alignment that demands the help of the service station. Kuppo.se we examine the various jtrob- able locations of misalignment. In 1 Uie j engine it is quite poneible to throw .-; connecting rod out ot alignment aa- re- f, Kards the craTtkshaft. In this easo, .the : piston, Instead of moving up and down in lite cylinder, rubs against ono Hide ol j the cylinder, which is worn uneven! resulting re-sulting In its becoming an ovul. nccdinp; reboring. Tim ot-ankshafl itnelf ia like- . ly to drop out of alignment through on due bearing wear. If thlH happeTiB moat of tlte roda will be thrown out uith It. h tho bearings will wetir unevenly am . rapidly. There are many minor shafts abour thr engine, where misalignment may deyeloi ( with unpleasant results. If there i a J magneto, failure tq oil the beartngrtn or which the armature runs will induce on cesslve wear, so that tho pari will droj out or alignment, with disastrous results. Failure to oil tho, bearings of the genera-l tor armature will result In the same trouble. trou-ble. If the clutch is to continue to functlor as efficiently as It usually does, lit pit of the indifferent treatment it usually re ceives, II must be, in accurate allgnmcn-with allgnmcn-with tho flywheel. Out of alignment :' ot either part will result in immediate trou bio. If tho rear crankshaft bearing It worn or the shaft fits poorly, the clutel will be thrown out of alignment. Clutch and Gears. The same condition holds true of th ( transmission. Here is a purt consisting of sets of getirs placed on parallel shafts j If. for any reason, one of these Kets ou l b of exact parallel with Its fellow, clashing 1 and growling of the gears will result. Th I' fact that tho shaft la out of line pro 1 vents the gears from meshing accurate!; l! I and chipping or actual breakage of tb teeth may result, in fact, will result,'-1, the condition gets bad enough. If th, ' bearings on which these shafts rest weft unduly, misalignment will reBull. Th cause of most of these transmission trou bles in tlte first place Is lack of prope lubrication. It. often happens that ; transmission shaft has been sprung on of alignment because the cast- itself ha sprung. Now, In this Instance, the re placement of the shaft will not correc the trouble, for the new part is immo liatcly sprung out of its proper plane h, the faulty case. Similarly, when a car is involved In a accident which springs the frame out o alignment, straightening the frame ma not be more than the beginning of plauln the car in running condition again, fo it Is quite likely that the accident to th frame also sprung some of the indlvldlla parts of the mechanism out of allgnmen and until they are lined up again re storing the. frame will avail ljttlc. From what we have r-J the reade will get some Idea of the vital importanc of correct alignment of parts in the gen eral functioning of such a mechanism a the motor vehicle. The service station pay rigid attention to this In cars sub mitled to them for repair and overhau This also brings out the Importance o giving one's repair work tp the relia'-' shop, that understands the Importanc- alignment nntl does not permit any v A to leave its workroom untir this vltal-i tor has been checked u and found ft correct. |