The Washington times., 1913-11-29
LIVES OF TIRES ARE
DEPENDENT ON CARE
Wheels Should Be Kept Care
fully Aligned, Says Head of
Goodyear Company.

Two factors contribute to the life
OF pneumatic automobile tire" says
F. 4. Henderson. manager of the ad-
iusting department of the Goodyear
Tire and Rubber Company. The first
is tire well made and of good ma
terial: the second is the tire care neces-
sary to obtain from this tire the mile
age which its maker has already done
all he can to make maximum.
The tire is purchased by dollar-and-
cents consideration. Tire care needn't
be purchased: its avilable to every
motoriSt who cares 10 apply il. And
that IT pays and pays big is what every
motorist who has tried it knows.
An important is the air pressure
carried. 1t is just as important as the
tire containing it. 1t preserves the body
of the tire-its fabric. Next in import
- ance is the care of the tread-the tires
protection. These two precautions pre-
vent the more common causes of tire
trouble. Having observed them and
made maximum mileage a possibility.
the motorist will wish to go further
and make ii a certainty. To discuss
the means of reaching this end, is the
purpose of this article.
The most damaging wear to which a
when used on a wheel that is not run
ming parallel to it's mate, a condition
designated by wheels out of true This
occurs on the front wheels.
! May Hurt Alignment.
AN accident, improper adjustment of
steering apparatus. or even hitting the
curbstone diagonally. may throw the
wheels out of line so that they point
inward or outward, as the case may be,
instead of paralleIing each other along
the road. Tires used on wheels in this !
condition instead of rolling over the |
ground with a minimum of friction as |
they should, are compelled to slide over |
the ground diagonally. the sideHise 1
component of this motion grinding off |
the rubber from the tread as effectlNetH |
as an emery wheel /
'.The remedy for this trouble is OBJ !
rious: straighten the wheels. Any gar
age man can do il. Before beginning
a trip, the motorist usually inspects the
machine to see that everything is in
good shape. Extending this inspection
TO the wheels will quickly detect any
such condition. This can be tested ap-
proXimately by adjusting one of the
front wheels so that when you kneel
down in front of it and sight back, it
just lines up with the rear wheel on
the same side.
"The other front wheel. then. ought to
line up with the corresponding rear
wheel. If it doesn't the wheels aren't
true. more exact method is measur-
ing with a tape line the distance from
the inside of the rim on the wheel on
one side to the inside of the rim on the
wheel on the other SIDE, using points at
distance from the ground equal TO the
height of the hub. The distance IN
front of the axle ought to equal the
distance behind; IL it doesn't. the wheels
aren't true.
May Be Crooked.
I'm the same way, a demountable rim
put on crooked or the end of an axle
bent causing the wheel to 'wabble, viii y
wear off the tread too rapidly.
the brakes and sliding Or skiddins the
directly to its elasticity. is that It can
easily be ground or fled while if simply
rolled over even a rough surface-the
treatment a tire ought to receive when
in service-it will last almost Indefinite
u. For this reason. suddenly locking
the brakes and sliding or skidding the
tires, will in few feet distance wear
them as much at one place as several
hundred miles OF service. 1t doesn't pay
20 lock the brakes anyway for they are
effective and stop the car quickest when
the wheels, instead of sliding, still grip
the road As locking the brakes there
fore is a practice with nothing to recon-
mend 1t. the importance of avoiding it
can't be too strongly emphasized. It's
also well. frequently 10 make sure that
both brakes are binding equally for If
they aren't the wheel with the tighter
hand, is bound to wear out its tire too
soon.
Wear Tires Faster
Speeding and the use of stoned roads
wear the tires faster than moderate
driving on sandy roads. But there are
two kinds of roads it pays to avoid |
one is the road with deep ruts The
sides of the ruts chafe the tires sidel
walls and lay bare the fabric The ,
other road to avoid is the wet or
muddy road over which the last nights s
frost has formed a thin crust of ice. ,
The car. in passing over. breaks
through the crust and the sharp edges
OF the ice badly lacerate the side walls.
Similarly. driving in car tracks Jr
agafnst curbs centers the wear on the
side of the tire. The remedy is simple ,
avoid car tracks and curbs.
Sometimes the fender becomes loose.
so that as the car passes over bumps
rhe fender is urged down so that il
gorges into the tire. This soon cuts the ,
tire at the place the metal fender hits ,
il as the tire spins around. To avoid,
simply make sure nothing touches the
tires as they revolve.
1T also goes without saying that oils
and grease are to be avoided. They act
chemically on rubber and cause its
rapid deterioration