The Motor Car.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 25, 16 December 1919, Page 7

The Motor Car.

KEEPING GOING.

STEERING GEAR

No part, of a car is really more vital, and nothing is more shamefully neglected, than the steering gear. Obviously the safety of the occupants depends entirely on the soundness of the steering connections (says a wellknown English authority in the "Daily Mail." A suspicion of backlash in a steering gear means nothing, but it after first becoming noticeable it increases to an extent, steps should at once be taken to ascertain, the cause. A car without any backlash at all would be impossible to drive, or at least its steering would be difficult, and extremely uncomfortable, and it is a matter of experience to know just when the backlash reaches the dangerous point.

Much, of course, may be done to prevent steering gear trouble by keeping all joints and connections in a first-class condition, and this can best Iw done by periodical oilings to all the moving parts of the steering gear, except the steering box when this is automatically lubricated. The pivot pins of the Btub axles, the connections of the steering arms to the arms of the stub axle and to the base of the steering column cannot be oiled too frequently, and when the oiling is being carried out each joint should be tested for slackness. If, as the result of rigorous shaking, any play is detected, the road wheel should be jacked up and the necessary adjustment made at once. ,

'With the wheel jacked up, play in bearings may be searched for" by holding the wheel by an uprighli and vertical spoke in each hand, and testing if it is possible to move the wheel laterally. The remedy for play in bearings is obvious, in so far as it consists in removing the wheel entirely ,and adjusting the bearings, if these are of the cup and cone type, or renewal of the bearings, if these are of the ball race type. ,

BACKLASH' AND RATTLING

Battling in the steering connections is hot in itself danigerous, but .it is- % ■sign tliat troublc'%hicli may become dangerous is developing. A frequent cause of rattlu)g''in tlio steering gear lies, in "the. ball joints at ihe, end of the steering arm, when these joints are fitted. The screw locking-piece of these joints will often pay for having a short, stiff, helical spring .interposed betweciu the block that actually bears on the ball and tbe pin, ot bolt that holds this block in position. Putting a spring in this place ha s the further advantage of minimising the shocks to tivhioh the steering gear as a whole is subjected, and it is an improvement well worth carrying out on a, new car. that has not actually called for it, oh aectnfnt oF wear.

The cause of backlash will most generally be found in the steering box itself, and it is a good sign that many of the latest British cars are using a complete worm wheel instead of merely a ..sector to mesh with the worm at the end of" the ; steering column. When play lias developed in a steering box of this nature it is a simple matter to disconnect' all necessary connections, and to give the worm wheel ft quarter of a turn so that fresh teeth are brought into engagement with the worm wheel.

The arm " collecting the horizontal shaft immediately under the steering box to the steering shaft proper is a possible point for play, causing backlash. This arm is generally a driving lit on to the horizontal shaft, and carries a key and key-way. Keys are liable to wear, aud backlash and steering troubles may often be traced to this source, and cured by the fitting of a larger key and the cutting of a Wider key-way, if this is thought necessary.

Any first-class accessories houso sells lea'Uher holsters specially made for encasing the different parts of the steering gear, and the use of these holsters is excellent in every - way. Obviously Ssteering ctonnecticms are exposed to road-grit, and it is because this works into the joints so easily that wear is liable to take place.

Thus" anything which will protect the joints from foreign matter must have a good effect. ;

WHEEL FLAP

A fault that is sometimes found i" brand-new cars is a mysterious defect known as "wheel-flap." According to a writer in the Autocar, an instance is on record where a first-class maker turned out a batch of some thirty cars, two of which showed this defect, while the others, apparently identical i;n all respects, were quite innocent of it. To those who have not actually experienced it, I may say that "wheel-flap" is a wobbling of one or both of the front wheels which occurs only at certain speeds, generally between 25 and 30-m.p.h. ; the speed at which the average man does quite a large proportion of his driving. A suggested remedy for thh trouble, which has a disconcerting effect on the steering of the car, is the fitting of wedges between the front springs and the spring pads on the axle, the result being to alter the angle that the axle 't'akes up relatively to the springs. The fitting of these wedges has the effect of altering the axle which the pivots of the stub axles make with the road, and it is very probable that this strikes at. the cause of the trouble. Just what size of wedge is required is, of course, intpossible to say ,as everything depends upon the car to which it 'is being applied. To anyone troubled with wheel-flap I would recommend that two or threa wedges, of approximately the same size as a spring pad, but tapering from J to nothing, be made. If one wedge be placed in each spring and, no benefit ensue, another one niay b» inserted ; but it is not advisable that more than three wedges should be used. If a thickness of gin is roi enough, it is better to make wedge tapering from one-half an htoh rather than to use four, each one ?u eighth of an inch in thickness. The wedges will, of course, have to be bored fo that the bolts holding the springs in. position will pss- through them when these bolHs pass through the springs. In the case of snrinszs held in position by staples, h>ile s tor the bolts pill often be teuii unnecessary.