Evening star., 1922-07-16
THE OWNER.DRIVER'S
COLUMN.
by L. G. HEIMPEL.


The car owner who buys shock alb
sorbers is usually the fellow who never
oils his springs. Springs must give and
bend in order to do the work they are
intended for. Most springs are made Of
six or more leaves and every time the
spring bends all these leaves must slide
over each other. Let these leaves get
dry. or. worse still. let rust spots form
between them. and the sliding Of the
leaves over one another cannot take
place. The spring cannot bend readily.
the car rides roughly and the owner,
instead Of taking the springs apart and
dousing them with grease and graphite,
goes to his garage and buys a set Of
shock absorbers.
market Of motor car accessories. but
we are on the wrong track II we try to
make them take the place Of grease be-
tween spring leaves. In our garage ex-
perience 1t was always the cars with
dry springs on which we were asked to
more readily when dry than when well
oiled.
1t took a long time for the motoring
public to learn the lesson that springs
need Oil as we'll - the engine. FIVE
years ago only the expensive cars had
on the market spring covers Of all sorts
and for all makes Of cars. what Is
more. they are being sold, which shows
that we are waking UP to the necessity
Of oiIing the springs.
If lubri-gaiters or any other spring
covers are beyond you. puIse purse % aon fo isek b0s
up the body Of the car. one end at q
time, loosen the spring clips and take
the springs apart. II necessary. wash
them in kerosene, rub the rust spots
with emery cloth, and finally before
putting them together asain: give 'hem mem
which a liberal helping Of fake graphite
has previously been mixed. You'n be
s,rnrised and delighted how easily your
car win ride after this treatment.
drumming In- q New Car.
In a new car all working parts are
wei, fitted and sometimes little
tight. If made to run fast wnen III
this condition. these parts Will ce-
come warm and this causes expansion
and may cause seizing. For TINS rea-
son the manufacturer asks that 1oi
the first 500 miles or so the new car
should not be driven over twenty
miles per hour. Yet how many OF
us do this? Frequently we see 2
younsster in q new car hitting up
pace twice that recommended
The private owner Is not the only
one who Is to blame for this sort OF
times within the last couple OF
months we have seen parties OF
"driye-aways', of half q dozen cars
each. OF different makes. speeding
along at a clip far too fast for the
welfare of . new engine.
,Ah NJ
zine too fast is liable to cause seized
pistons or bearings. or IL likely 70
cause scoring Of either of these parts
New machines always run harder
than they do after the hrst 500 miies
hence the engine must work haIoeI
to drive the mechanism when It Is
new. This has a tendency TO cause
overheating, which 10 not tne case
after a car is run in.
Keep Track Of Mileage.
Talking to a salesman the other
day about the matter of adjustments
of guaranteed tires, the salesman
said: rHardly any car owners have
the faintest IDEA how far their tires
have gone" He said further: 1--WE
generally take their word for the
number of miles they think their tires
have gone, because we think 1t pays
to do So" But that is not the case
. small log book, which can readily
Be kept in the pocket of the car door
it is possible to get great many
facts and figures which it is impossi-
BILE to get any other way. With too
many, of US the matter of changing
\ tire consists of a routine of dirty
work which we like to have done
with as quickly as possible. We
throw the tools back in the box and
try to forget about the incident. Why
not stop few minutes longer. take
out the log-book. IN which there is a
p4ge set aside for each tire. look at
the tires number. find that tires pare
in the book and make the necessary
entry? Enter the reading of the
speedometer and the job is done.
A few years of this kind of book
keeping and one can decide for
make of tires give best satisfaction
Are coYds worth the difference IN