Great Falls daily tribune., 1919-11-09
Barney 0ldfleld ED says:

Difficult steering is an inherent defect
In some automobiles, but the majority of
cars are made to steer hard because the
owner neglects the steering altogether.
He also forgets that taking care or the
steering systems means more than pol
ishing the wheel.
The steering system comprises the
wheel, the post, gears, connecting INK
age, drag link, tire rod. steering knuckles
and bearings, wheels and wheel bearings.
This entire train of mechanism with
which we might include the entire front
axle assembly is one of the most vital
parts of your car. Failure of any one
part may mean destruction of the car and
serious injury to the passengers. The
ideal steering system should not require
that the owner tug away with all his
might when a sharp turn is to be made.
A woman of little muscular strength
should be able to steer a car without
any more effort than it takes to turn
baby carriage around.
The three important considerations in
taking care Of steering are fabrication,
alignment and adjustment. There are at
least nine places in the steering tram
which need fabrication, some Of them re
quiring daily attention. OF course, the
average owner doesn't give these parts
daily attention and that is why excessive
wear takes place and steering is hard,
also why there is SO much play IN the
steering wheel. ! know great many
persons who judge a car by the play in
wheel. If there is little they say the
car has received good care, if there IS
much. the car has been pounded to death
The gear case at the bottom of the
steering post must always be packed
with ordinary grease or graphite grease.
If the case goes dry the gears will bind
and you have tightness at the very be-
af m nT1a
packed the gear case remains so for
nearly six months, because the parts do
not get very hot and, therefore, the
grease does not melt and flow out. Some
cars have the steering reduction gears
exposed. In this case it is hard job
trying to keep them fabricated with any
thing at all. Heavy oil is best and this
should be applied daily. Wise owners
encase these exposed gears by means of
leather or cheesecloth and use grease
for fabrication.
When there is excessive play in the
wheel it is not always caused by wear
between the reduction gears; in fact. it
usually is caused by freedom in the drag
link joints. There is in every steering
system means of adjusting the gears
which usually is accomplished by turn
ing a serrated nut.
The drag link is the rod attached to
the steering post arm and runs forward
to the front axle There is q joint at
each end of this link. These joints must
be packed with grease all the time.
Where the joints are not covered it will
pay the average owner to buy leather
boots if for nothing else than to keep
out dirt. These drag link joints are
adjustable simply by removing q cotter
pin and turning a slotted nut. Any
owner can see how it is done by glancing
at the ends of the link. When there is
much play in the steering system the
link is the part to suspect If You can
not take up all the play except a slight
amount, new springs in the drag link
ends will help Some times the old
springs are compressed too much or are
broken.
The tie rod which connects the two
steering. knuckle arms must be lubri-
Gated daily, for the moving parts at each
end are constantly wearing and also are
a source of play which exhibits itself at
the wheel
The king pins or steering knuckle
pins must be oiled daily. The oil cups
or grease cups must not be permitted to
get covered with dirt as this in time
gets to the wearing surface Of the pins
and cuts it. Wheel bearings must al
ways be packed. This done three times
a year and done right, will be sufficient.
The front wheels must be in alignment
or steering will be hard and in addition
tire wear will be increased. The front
axle itself must not be cooked over to
one side, but exactly at right angles to
the frame. Very often case of diff
cult steering cannot be properly analyzed
because the owner does everything he is
told to do and still the steering is hard.
BY placing wedges under the spring seats
and thereby fitting the front axle back
slightly, this usually is overcome. You
have to experiment little to get ex-
actly the right tilt.
Bent tire rods or drag link are a COM
mon source Of trouble. Often the left
front wheel in turning strikes the drag
link and a rasping sound is heard. The
wheel stop must be adjusted or the
turning must be done slowly so the drag
link is not touched by the tire.