New-York tribune., 1921-03-13
1t May Not Be
LubricatiOn That
Your Springs Need
Sometimes They Are So
Soft That Friction Should
Be Induced to Make the
Car Ride Comfortably

That fabrication Is not necessarily the
thing for automobile springs Is the
companying article on motor car up
keep. 1t IS from the pen of III. c.
syohaw s,oo seshnisa' director OF the
schools.
Automobiles mostly are divided into
two kinds, those with springs that are
too stiff and those with springs that
are too soft. Either can be very un-
comfortable. Here and there, of course,
there is car with springs that really
spring without springing the occupants
of the car against the top.
Automobile instruction books, car ex-
perts and all the wiseacres of the fra
ternity advise you to lubricate the
springs regularly. If the springs need
it, that is very good advice, but it
some times happens that the lubrica-
springs need. If you could work a lit
tie rust or gummed oil between the
spring leaves and thus retard the
Spring action it might be endurable.
Of course, this is when the springs are
too soft and spring too much. lndis-
criminate advice as to the care OF
springs may be theoretically correct,
but when it coNes to practical usage
no two sets of springs require the
same medicine. Therefore, before fol-
lowing any ones advice to lubricate
the springs it were we'll to discover
whether they need it.
Soft springs, so flexible that they
yield easily to road unevennesses, are
inclined to compress too readily when
they drop into q he or hit bumr.
Very good, SO far, but that is not all.
They fly back into normal position, sag
down again and after a while cease
vibrating. MEANWHILE you are bounc-
ing around like rubber ball. Now to
oil such 8 spring merely intensifies all
this. You do, not need the exercise
acquired by the oiling process. You
will get all you need riding in the car
without it. Such spring needs fric-
tion between the leaves rather than
fabrication. Friction slows the mo-
tion of the spring and steadies the car.
Now, almost every one will tell you
that friction between the leaves makes
the car ride hard. Probably the first
time you heard any one say this and
thought your car was not particularly
easy you oiled the springs and went
from the frying pan into the fire.
However, this complaint is not as
general as that where the springs,
utterly neglected and rusted together,
have lost a large part of their re-
siliency, so that the car rides like a
farm wagon. In such a case lubricat-
ing the spring leaves is the greatest
little first aid to comfort. A quarters
worth of graphite grease and a liberal
quantity of elbow grease work wonders
for a stiff spring. Usually that ends
the uncomfortable riding, although if
the car be a heavy one and is much
underloaded the springs do not get
full action and the car will ride hard.
Overlooking, of course, will produce a
similar result by making the springs
too lively, so that the passengers get
a good jouncing.
Springs really do need a great deal
of attention, if it be intelligent atten-
tion. They should be taken apart at
least twice year and cleaned and
fabricated we'll. There may be OBJ
tained fabrication inserts to go De-
tween the leaves of the springs, which
: the springs have been we'll designed
they. will not need extra attachments
to make the car ride easily, but 8
seven-passenger car will not ride as
easily with two persons as with it's nor
NAL load. The point where the springs
are attached to the body and the sus-
pension point on the axle or frame need
frequent inspection and fabrication
regularly at the points indicated in the
car instruction book. Spring shackels
will wear quickly unless fabricated,
rendering a breakdown much more
likely.
Spring clips should be frightened
every little while, and where there are
rebound clips these should be watched,
for almost invariably they become loose
and produce rattle.
Therefore, it is strictly proper to say
that it is always spring time with the
automobile. If the car rides too hard
it may be that the springs are too hard
and need fabrication, or too soft and
need assistance. Your particular case
must be studied on it's merits and its
ills be diagnosed before any remedy
can be had, and the problem for the
most part is an individual one.