The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1935-05-24
TUNE UP BEFORE YOU TOUR
BY C. w. Wood
National Service Director
Chevrolet Motor Company

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vice that, if followed, will do more
than any other one thing to make a
motor trip real pleasure trip.
Soon millions of motorists will
take to the open road for vacation
trips. Some will start with no pre-
liminary preparation of their cars,
others will make sure beforehand
that all is well mechanically. The
chances of enjoying 100 per cent
pleasurable trip are strongly with
those who tune up before they tour.
Thousands who use their cars
daily for only few miles in their
regular routine, with never any
trouble, do not realize that car
that seems to work well in the city
may be quite unfit to undertake long
distance high-speed trips. Little
faults that need correction remain
unnoticed through months of. ordin-
airy driving; when the car is sudden
ly called upon to work at full power
over long periods, these little faults
may develop into bigger faults that
detract largely from the fun of
motoring.
Both safety and pleasure are at
stake when vacationists start out
without having their car carefully
inspected and it's faults corrected.
The principal safety items, of course,
are brakes and steering-and in most
cases simple adjustments are all that
lhey require. Good tires are re-
CURED for both safety and pleasure.
All lights should have good bulbs,
and headlight beams must be prop
erly adjusted. New windshield wiper
blades are not costly, but are of
much value when they are needed.
For comfort and uninterrupted
pleasure, everything should be done
that will guarantee continuous travel
without enforced halts. A motor
tune-up is one of the best of precau-
tionary measures. The battery
should be checked carefully, and the
generator charging rate adjusted for
long distance running at good speed
A complete change of lubricants in
crankcase, transmission and rear
axle ais recommended and, of course,
thorough greasing of the chassis.
Shock absorbers always are subject
ed to severe use on vacation trip
over strange roads, and should be
adjusted before the departure.
For some strange reason, vacation
motorists are always greatly sur
prised to find that cars that have
seemed all right at home cheat up"
as soon as they get out on the open
road. They have overlooked the
fact that the faster the run and the
heavier the pull, the more heat the
engine develops, and that the cooling
system that was good enough for
runs to the Office and the country
club may not be up TO the job of
carrying off several times as much
heat on a long climb in the noun
tains. To function properly, the
cooling system must allow free cir
culation of the water, which calls for
a clean radiator and good rubber
connections, with renewed or tight
ened pump packing. Highly import
ant, too, is the proper adjustment of
the fan belt, which on long, fast runs
must carry far greater load than
in city driving.
Incidentally, bodies that seem
dead silent on city boulevards often
reveal an astounding variety of
squeaks and rattles when the car
really gets going. 1t will add lot
to the vacationist's happiness if he
will have the body bolts frightened,
door hinges and catches frightened
and oiled, and everything made snug
There will be lot of motor tour
ing this year. And there will be a
lot of pleasure for millions of tour
ists-especially for the drivers who
keep their car always in the best of
condition, throughout the year, and
for those who carefully groom their