THE FIFTH WHEEL

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 639, 16 April 1929, Page 6

THE FIFTH WHEEL

CHANGING IT ROUND Five wheels and five tyres are provided by thoughtful manufacturers on every ear sold, says an article in the “Goodyear News,” and the hand of destiny decrees that one of these wheels complete with tyre shall be mounted as a spare. Meanwhile the remaining four wheels and tyres start to work in earnest for their respective livings. Tyres are so good nowadays that a new car will often run 5,000 miles or more without a puncture. Meanwhile the spare wheel leads a life of complete indolence. When the first puncture occurs, the spare wheel starts life, the damaged tyre is duly mended and takes a wellearned rest. But to obtain the full mileage from a set of tyres, it is obvious that all live must do the same amount of work, and the spare that only starts life at 6,000 miles or more has a lot of leeway to make up. It is a good plan to do a little changing around every 1,000 miles or so. Put the spare wheel on the offside back wheel, for example, and give that tyre a rest; after another 1,000 miles, change over with the near back tyre, then the off-front, and in turn the near front. To avoid getting confused as to which wheel is which, it is a good plan to enter up the cover numbers in a book, so that one can tell at a glance how far each cover has gone.