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Show STEERING CLEAR OF CAR TROUBLE Plenty of Oil and Grease, Tight Joints and Alignment Align-ment Are Needed. (By ERWIN GREER. President Greer Col-leee Col-leee of Automobile Engineering.) The motorist who neglects to inspect, lubricate and tighten the various parts of bis car is either lazy or reckless. And sooner or later something happens. hap-pens. Then The steering gear of an automobile comes nearer to being standardized than any other part. With reasonable care it will outwjar all the other working work-ing parts. But for safety's sake the front tires should be always inflated, the joints well lubricated, every part kept tight, and proper wheel alignment. align-ment. How to ascertain these conditions? First, some elbow grease ! Locate Loose Connections. To locate loose connections or worn bearings, jack up one wheel at a time, grasp the tire with both hands, and work the wheel back and forth, noting not-ing what places have play. Naturally, you will expact to find some looseness in the ball-and-socket joints, on the drag-link between the steering arm and the knuckle joints for these must be free to move, but there shouldn't be any play in them. A little looseness loose-ness in each joint will cause a lot of play in the steering wheel. The upper bearing of the steering-post steering-post should lie given n few drops of oil every thousand miles. The steering steer-ing wheel should always be kept tight in its tube. The worm-gear and ball-arm only-need only-need occasional oiling. A "shot" from your grease-gun every three months is enough. Above and below the worm-gear worm-gear are the thrust-hearings.. These must always be kept tight. If the steering gear is of the full worm type the worm can be turned a quarter circle, cir-cle, provided the eccentric bushing will not keep it in proper adjustment. Lubrication Required. The drag-link requires lubrication at the ball socket on each end. Grease or oil them every five hundred miles. Keep the ball sockets tightly adjusted, but not too tight, as they might bind in certain positions. The spindle lie-rod requires lubrication lubrica-tion and adjustment only at the forks at each end, but these should be checked once a week for alignment. If they are bent it will throw the front wheels out of line, wear the front tires, and make steering extremely difficult. The steering knuckles also require oiling every five hundred miles. These should be kept just tight enough to prevent lost motion, but not tight enough to hinder their turning freely. Ordinarily , the front-wheel bearings need tightening and adjusting about once a season. The wheels will seldom sel-dom wabble of themselves. However, If the demountable rims are not put on properly the tire cannot run true. Tills also causes hard steering and wearing away of tires. Summed up, the foregoing shows: piontv of nil and irrease. tight joints and proper alignment. If you can't do tills work yourself get your "service station to do it for you. And then you won't be listed in the newspapers under un-der the head of "Accidents." |
