Evening star., 1936-01-12
USEFUL AUTO TIPS
GIVEN FOR WOMEN
One Test Not Sufficient to
Prove Satisfactory Front.
Wheel Alignment.
BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL.

BY FREDERICK g. RUSSELL.
Now that they are taking the choker
of the dash let us hope they are
transferring it to the back-seat driver.
Because official inspections Of cars
must Of necessity be abbreviated,
many thousands Of motorists have
come to assume that just one test Is
sufficient to prove whether or not
front wheel alignment is satisfactory.
There are at least l6 points which
should be separately checked over In
order that an accurate inspection can
be made. Obviously this takes time
more time than can be devoted to .
car that is being run through a testing
line to give officials general idea as
to its fitness for safe service on the
road.
Among the points which the owner
herself should insist upon knowing
are wheel balance, spring sag, condi-
ton of spindle bolts, brakes. shock
absorbers, steering gear assembly, drag
link alignment, king pin inclination.
tracking and frame alignment and
rear-end alignment. She will want to
have the wheels checked for wobble,
Gambler, toe-in and toe-out on curves.
The steering gear itself should be in
spected; likewise the front axle caster.
Bent spindles are also to be con-
sidered. Even before any work Is done
the tire pressures should be equalized.
A recent statement to the effect that
most drivers do not have the skill
necessary to drive a car safely over
IS miles per hour prompted me to
ask an experienced race driver wheth-
er he is tense or relaxed when rolling
over the road at top speed. I was
inuuiring as to his mental attitude.
not when running in the top range
of the average automobile, but at
speeds Of more than two miles per min
ute. He informed me that he Is
always relaxed. He points out that
this has been acquired only at the ex-
pense of years of practice at the wheel.
Any tenseness, he said, would be q
detriment, since he would then be in
clined to do the wrong thing in an
emergency or act before he had had
sufficient time to think wisely.
Tranquility, as Benjamin Franklin
might have pointed out, Is the keynote
of good driving. 1t knows no tense
ness; tolerates no nervous behavior
that might hinder rather than help.
BE not disturbed at trifies or at acci-
dents common or unavoidable" Frank
lin said in his own inimitable wisdom.
1t means being tolerant toward the
misbehavior Of other motorists, un-
ruffied by the mixups in traffic con-
troll and unperturbed by those even-
ualities that have come to be antici-
pated becauss one has been schooled
to meet them.
Still, on the subject Of "drives"
keep in mind that when the wheels
start spinning, regardless Of which
wheels do the powering or where the
engine Is located some means OF i'm
parting the push" to the engine Is
needed. This, in common practice,
springs or through special torque rods
or braces.
1t Is possible for any one with
either a front-drive or a rear-drive
car to obtain some idea of what the
other system is like, even without
trying a car of the opposite type.
When you are backing up with rear
drive car you can obtain something
of the front-drive action because the
wheels that are ahead in your line Of
direction are then "pullers." When
a front-drive car is backing up it is
then something of ''pusher" type.
Do not confuse this matter Of drive
with discussions about rear-engined
cars. Whether today's car or truck
is driven through the front wheels,
rear wheels or all four wheels it usu-
ally carries the engine in front Of the
driver or amidship. The exceptions
are custom built cars in America,
some leading foreign makes and some
of the racing cars. These have en-
gines mounted in the rear.