Evening star., 1926-01-31
No. 134-Bearing on Bumpers.

|
! Now and again Smith stumbles ovel
a good idea by analyzing the new cars
he sees on the streets. The last time
! he tried this he went home fully cor
| vinced that what he needed was new
set of smart-looking bumpers.
| Bumpers make the Swift Six" he
| told me. There's no reason why
can't spruce up the old car the same
way
provided you install the right kind
of bumpers" i stipulated. 1T isn't
| going to be such a simple job. You
and expect results in keeping with
your dreams of an improved car.
| You've got to consider a number OF
| important points,
'1ll just order the kind on the Swift
| Six" he said.
| And you think you can do in 10
| minutes time what factory engineers
have spent days thinking about" I
| retorted Well. Smith. it looks to
me as II you had better get your mind
off the Swift Six for a few minutes
and see how many cars carry the
wrong kind of bumpers
Sermon in Collision.
The busy boulevard was an excel
lent place to observe this fact. Hardly
had we decided to investigate before
investing In a new set of bumpers
than two bumper-equipped cars col
lided. There was damage to the fend-
ers Of both. and. what is more, it was
necessary to call for assistance to un-
lock the bumpers. The situation de-
veloped a result of the variation in the
heights Of the bumpers. One rode over
the top of the other
That looks like a lesson not to have
the bumpers too low" Smith com.
mented
You're wrong there" replied.
Don draw conclusions too hastily.
Majority Of cars now are built
very low. owners with high cars
should equip with lower bumpers, but
even If they don't YOU must figure
that the chances Of colliding with a
low car always are greater. In seek
ing bumper protection it is best to
figure on the most likely eventuali-
ties"
Just then we heard a commotion as
driver. in backing into a parking
space. ripped Off one of these so-called
side bumpers. 1t had been protrud-
ing about inches from the edge Of
1he rear render. the owner apparently
ngurlng that the overhang of the
bumper would be further protection.
lnSteau, 1t became hazard stick
ing out in such a way as to catch in
the bumpers or tenders of other cars.
little farther on we examined q
bumper that had been through a col.
lision. The force of the impact had
pushed 1t back not more than 3
inches. and Vet the back of its cross.
bar had touched the cross-tube of the
frame. 1t was obvious that the
y1n vo1n
able role.
Fittings Found Fragile.
We found wide variety of bumper
fittings. With some Of them il wa
apparent that in event Of an tmpact
the bumpers would come loose from
their moor1ngs. With others we were
surprised to find that in a collision the
car might actually be damaged by rea-
son OF the bumpers. In other words.
the httlngS We're such as to cause dam
age TO the apron. frame. shackles and,
in some instances, the spring control
devices
Then there We're the bumpers use
ful merely for decorative purposes.
They We're made of poor materials and
priced accordingly. Even if properly
fitted they would go to pieces under
the strain of a collision. On the other
itdLu, lnere were many Well built, we'll
attached and well selected bumpers to
be seen.
The best ones were those with dou-
BILE bars, since they took care of the
variation in car heights to better ad-
vantage and also provided a larger
humping area. We favored the rear
bumpers that went all the way across,
and saw no good reason why a motor
list should expect his spare tire and
the tire carrier to handle the work
that can be done so much better by a
bumper.
Well equipped cars had bumpers
with what is known as deep shock
Space'-that is. there was plenty of