TYRE TIPS FOR MOTORISTS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 18832, 21 March 1931, Page 11 (Supplement)

TYRE TIPS FOR MOTORISTS.

Tyre pressure cannot be gauged by the eye, but should always be checked with a reliable air gauge and all valve parts should be tightened to prevent leakage, states a Goodyear tyre expert. Otherwise, many of the results of under inflation with consequent loss in service are likely to occur. Some results of under-inflation are:— The sidewalls bulge and wrinkle and the tread rubber is distorted on the road, causing excessive strain and wear to these points. When an under-inflated tyre strikes the curb while backing or the edge of a hole in the road, the tyre, being too soft to absorb the shock, is crushed against the rim. At best only a few cords might be broken, but eventually the break will grow until in the end you will suffer a blow-out. The result of under-inflation, such as breaks along the bead, a simple break caused by broken cords, shoulder breaks caused by excessive flexing, can easily be repaired, and, if put in hand in time, will not greatly affect the life of the tyre. NOTES. The new brake that can stop a 70-miles-an-hour car in 20 feet is almost as good as a telephone pole, remarks an American paper. “The sheer pleasure of living,” somebody writes, “has decreased appallingly.” So that’s why stop-signs are ignored? We see in the papers (says an American exchange) where a site previously used as a night club has been converted into a parking space. But then, if sufficiently sheltered, that should not be a very great change. Subways for pedestrians are becoming popular, according to a report by the United States Department of Commerce. Hidden forces seem to be at work, in one way or another, to place the pedestrian underground. A puncture alarm, providing the driver with a signal on the dash-board, which operates instantaneously in cases of bursts, punctures, or where the correct pressure in any tyre should fall below normal, has been invented by an English engineer. “What we want,” said the impassioned speaker at a political meeting, “is a candidate who is neither a diehard nor faint-hearted—in short, it’s a middle-of-the-road man we want.” “Then I have much pleasure,” retorted the opportunist, “in proposing Mr Eustace Brown, who has been a lorry driver for years.”