SUDDEN TYRE FAILURES

Taranaki Daily News, 31 March 1934, Page 15 (Supplement)

SUDDEN TYRE FAILURES

RARE EXPERIENCE NOWADAYS.

DANGER OF VIOLENT BRAKING.

A sudden tyre failure is rarely experienced. nowadays. As a rule, punctures produce only a small aperture through which the large quantity of air in a balloon tyre cannot escape rapidly. In some cases the car covers many miles before the pressure in the faulty tyre becomes sufficiently low to attract the attention of the driver. With this kind of puncture the car is easy to control because there is plenty of warning. If the driver is at all sensitive to the condition of his vehicle he will feel the pull on the steering which is produced by an under-inflated tyre and will stop to change the wheel before all the pressure is lost. A point that may be mentioned is the desirability of driving the car off the main road before the wheel is changed. Very often one sees a motorist operating upon an offside wheel in a busy but narrow highway where he is in danger of being run down by the passing traffic which he is- obstructing. Usually there will be a turning or pull-in available, and, provided that one drives slowly, no harm will be done to the tyre by proceeding for a quarter of a mile or so in search of such a spot. Modern systems of permanently-fitted jacks are a valuable aid to speed and safety, in wheel changing. Sudden tyre failure at speed may occur if the car is running on badly-worn tyres or if one or other of the covers has been seriously misused. For example, if. a car be driven over a sharp kerb at speed the impact may damage the cord construction of the cover internally. In the course of usage the damaged area is apt to extend and may eventually become apparent in the form of a slight bulge, visible externally. ■ It the owner does not trouble to inspect his tyres there is the risk that the tube will blow out through the weak place and the tyre will then suddenly deflate. Apart from this form of burst a tyre may occasionally meet an unseen obstruction at speed with such' violence that the cut produce! ■ permits sudden deflation. Such occurrences are, however, very rare, so that, broadly speaking, one might say that if proper care be taken of the tyres a burst need never- be anticipated. ' ’ ROLLING RESISTAI KG GREATER. Nevertheless, it is just as well that the driver should know the correct procedure to adopt in the event of trouble. The sudden deflation of. a tyre greatly increases its rolling resistance and so tends to make the car swerve from a straight path. This effect is, of course, particularly marked in the case of front tyre failure and, if the road be wet,: it may, well result in a ski. Provided . that the driver . maintains a secure grip of. the steering wheel the swerve can usually be corrected immediately; without undue physical exertion it should then be possible to hold the car to a straight course, despite the pull of: the steering gear. The type of driver who cruises at a high speed with just a finger and thumb on the rim of the wheel is almost sure to meet trouble in the event of sudden tyre failure through his inability to control the initial swerve. With many people the natural reaction to any kind of emergency on the road is a violent application of the brakes, but in the case of sudden tyre failure this is actually the worst,possible procedure. The brakes do their work by applying a retarding force' to the wheel and,, if applied when,a tyre bursts, the result is to tear the coyer off the rim. Not only does this cause needless damage to the tyre, but, in addition, the impact and friction of the metal rim on the road will emphasise the swerving tendency and may even smash the wheel. Should the tyre trouble occur in circumstances such that it is absolutely necessary to slow the car—for example, on a steep hill—the brakes should be applied as gently as possible and the driver should maintain a firm grip upon the steering wheel. NOTES AT RANDOM There is an outcry by Bristol traders about the attitude of the police towards people who leave their cars outside shops. Customers, it is said, are unfitted to do their shopping because of the dread of being summoned. A collapsible, lighted street refuge post made of rubber was tested in Leicester recently. A lorry ran over i’: without damage to vehicle or post. Leicester is becoming alarmed at its bill for damaged iron posts. It has been found that tyres which give 16,000 miles’ service on a car driven at an average of 35 miles an hour, will give only about 10,000 miles at a speed of 45 miles ,an hour under" the same conditions. British roads to-day are the most overloaded of any in the world, says the Road Improvement Association, and it is obviously unfair that while the highway system is so much behind the needs, two-thirds of the proceeds of motor taxation should be diverted. Several “road registers” have been supplied for the Mersey Tunnel. They are placed on various roads which lead to the tunnel, and any vehicle so-heavy as to be liable to cause damage to the structure of the tunnel on passing over the register rings a bell and lights up a red. lamp. Most motorists carry a selection of spare nuts and washers, but usually they leave them in the tool locker where they are apt not; only to rattle but also to get lost or damaged. An excellent way of carrying them is to thread them on a long bolt, where they can be held tightly in position by the nut belonging to the bolt. The whole assembly may then be wrapped in a rag and stowed away in an odd corner of the tool box. Tlie production of a new type of fabric, made of wool and rubber, for use in the upholstery of motor-cars, is the aim of experiments which are now being conducted at the Leeds headquarters of the Wool Industries Research Association. The experiments are being conducted in co-operation with certain firms of motorcar manufacturers, and Dr. S. G. Barker, the association’s Director of Research, states that an assurance has been given that if tfie experiments are . successful the fabric will be used in 1935 cars. Road grit and dust have a most destructive effect upon leather, for abrasive particles work their way into crevices of the upholstery, setting up friction which in time disintegrates and ruins the structure of the skin. This friction, more than legitimate wear, is responsible for the shabby-looking leatherwork in cars which are three or four years old. Dust lodges in the squab pleats, in the buttoned or otherwise decorated part of the seat, and in orna-mentally-treated door-covering- - . Cushions should be removed frequently’ and gently beaten or shaken to remove dust. For the squabs and door-coverings a vacuum cleaner is probably the most effective treatment, especially the household type. According to a traffic census taken by the London Metropolitan and City Police between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on one day, Hyde Park Comer was London’s busiest traffic centre, 81,857 . vehicles passing this point in the period mentioned, as compared with 69,011 two years ago, and 29,286 in 1904. The next centre of importance was Trafalgar square, with 64,735 vehicles, and, in this case, the advance in two years was comparatively small; the figure for 1931 was 62,542, and for 1904 27,768. Next in order were Marble Arch and Piccadilly Circus with 52,197 and 51,160 vehicles respectively.