Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-05-27
Experimenting With Car
Is Not Advisable

''If you would have the most enjoy
ment out of your car don't be a tink-
err" said Charles Ensminger, local
bort distributor. There are certain
things every man should know about
this car, and attend to himself relig-
iously; but there are other things that
should be left to the experienced me-
chanic and the less the owner has to
do with these the happier he is going
to be-"
THE owner who is continually ex-
perimenting with his car usually has
his hands full of trouble There are
some men who are naturally of a me-
chanical turn of mind, and these men
keenly enjoy working about their cars.
They are capable and they do not get
themselves into trouble. but the aver
age owner who attempts fine adjust
ments. experiments, rear axle, motor
bearings, valve tappets, etc, usually
wishes he had let his car alone before
he is through.
AN example of the grief tinkering
can cause both owner and dealer was
very strongly brought to my notice
several years ago. The owner in ques-
ton attempted an adjustment on his
| front wheel bearings. AS luck would
have 1t he got one of them too tight.
The bearing quite naturally got hot
and was badly scored. It was replaced
at about ten dollars expense, (bearings
cost more in those days than they do
now), and the owner went on his
way.
About two weeks later as he was
turning a corner at low speed, one of
his front wheels dropped off. He was
quite indignant at the happening and
blamed it all on the car. L fixed him
UP without charge and sent the
broken spindle to the factory for Gre
dit. Imagine my surprise when / re-
ceived letter from the service man
at the factory refusing this and claim
ing that the crystalization in the spin
die was obviously due to it having
been overheated at some time Well,
l put two and two together and on
askin gthe owner few questions
found that the spindle that had broken
was the same one which carried the
bearing he had burnt up. That bear
ing had simply got so hot that it had
burnt the spindle too.
Now just see what tinkering had
| brought down on this fellow He had
burned out a bearing at q cost of
about ten dollars and he had been
actually taking his life in his hands
every moment he had been driving his
car, for If he had been going at twenty
miles an hour when that spindle broke
and let the wheel drop off, his car
would certainly have turned over with
him, and perhaps fatally injured him,
and added to 1T all 1 had been obliged
to pay for new spindle for him and
listen to his abuse of the car.
When we sell a bort we always
impress upon the owner the simplicity
of its construction and we warn him
against experimenting. We point out
to him the things that he should at
tend to himself and those things he
should come to us about. Most own
ers appreciate this and we have very
little trouble. AS a matter of fact our
cost of giving service to bort owners
doesn't amount to enough to speak
about. The men who build the bort
have provided against practically every
contingency of hard service and rarely
are we called upon to make any more
than the minor adjustments, which are
necessary to every car no matter how
well built, unless the owner has given
his car out and out abuse of the worst
sort, and no car will stand up under
| that"