INFLATING SPARE TYRE

Southland Times, Issue 23793, 15 April 1939, Page 4

INFLATING SPARE TYRE

While the position inside the rear trunk common to most cars of today is by far the best that has.ever been devised for carrying the spare wheel, protecting it from the attention of sneak thieves and the tyre from the deteriorating effects of sunlight and rain, it suffers from one grave disadvantage. In the trunk, the tyre is out of sight and out of mind, so that it is rare in--1 deed for an owner to check its inflation when running round the other tyres with an air hose. The result is that the tyre is often practically deflated (because of the porosity of rubber) when it is needed badly. In the United States the manufacturers of one of the most popular models are offering as an item of extra equipment an arrangement by which the spare can be inflated without opening the trunk lid. This consists simply ,of a tyre valve nipple, provided with a dust cover, let into the rear body panel at one side. This is connected with the valve of the spare by a length of rubber hose and a union nut. The nut is simply detached when the spare is required.

Such an arrangement would be quite easy to fit to any car, the valve from an old inner tube being fitted into a small hole drilled into the body side, and the screwed union nut from an old tyre pump serving as the attachment for the hose to the spare. The testing of pressure from outside is done in the usual manner, as the air within the rubber hose will naturally balance itself to the pressure -wfthm the tyre.