KEEP OFF THE KERB!

Marlborough Express, Volume LIV, Issue 166, 16 July 1920, Page 2

KEEP OFF THE KERB!

Let me to-day draw the attention of motorists to the' damage done to the tyres, rims, and axles of cars through carelessness in approaching and leaving the kerb, especially if the footpath is well above the road level. In running against the kerb, the car has an enormous leverage over the rim or the tyre, and a very considerable strain oi; a wedging type is set up, which may do considerable injury to the tyre, the wheel, or the stub axle steering bearing. As regards the tyre, this rubbing against the kerb rapidly wears the side of the lubber. Again, cases where the alignment has been deranged have been noted, and even of a back axle torsion shaft. Ford cars are liable to trouble from this cause, as the driving shafts to the rear wheels are comparatively light, and not designed to the enormous strain which is set up by running, at an acute angle, on the kerb. The good driver will keep his wheels away from the kerb by at least a few inches, for if both wheels, get right up against the kerb, there is sometimes a difficulty in leaving it, when the tyres must suffer.