IMPROVEMENTS IN BRAKES

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 3, 5 January 1937, Page 14

IMPROVEMENTS IN BRAKES

REDUCING - ACCIDENT RISK. The general improvement in braking systems which has been effected in a large proportion of 1937 models has not received the attention which it deserves, states an English motoring journal. Changes have been made in design and in the materials employed which have increased the cost of production, although car prices remain much as tbey were. Consequently the industry can rightly claim to have made ati important contribution towards reducing* the risks of accident on the roads. In each of the three well-known proprietary braking systems which are so widely used, various modifications have been made to lessen the chances of failure and to improve consistency of braking effect if the system be neglected by the owner-driver. Reference may also be made to the increasing popularity of the plan of apportioning the braking between front and rear wheels in Buch a way as to lessen the chance of locking the rear wheels and initiating a skid. A third point of importance is found in the fairly general adoption of iron alloys for the brake drum. These materials are "kind" to the brake linings, and favour smooth retardation with an absence of grab. They are relatively free from the troubles of distortion or scoring, and consequently extend the period which a car will run before brake adjustments become necessary.