THE BEST FROM TYRES

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19626, 21 October 1933, Page 14

THE BEST FROM TYRES

SOME CAUSES OF WEAR. Powerful engines, with quick acceleration and high car speed, are one of the causes of rapid tyre wear. At 50 miles an hour a tyre wears twice as fast as at 35 miles an hour. The vogue of low speedy cars has brought wheels of small diameter, and consequently more revolutions to cover a mile. This means increased wear. Hot dry roads cause tyres to wear faster than do cool damp roads. On a dry road at temperatures about 90deg. the rate of tread wear is more than twice that at 50deg. The following are the chief points to remember in getting the best from tyres:— 1. Avoid over-inflation. Too much ah in the tyres causes the driving wheels to bounce and spin on the road, creating fast tread wear. Avoid underinflation. Too little air in the tyres leads to scuffed treads and uneven wear. 2. Have car wheels checked at least twice each year for misalignment and other mechanical irregularities. 3. Keep the brakes in proper adjustment; avoid sudden stops. 4. Avoid starting too rapidly and drive at a moderate rate of speed around turns. 5. When replacing the tyres with new ones always put in new tubes, too, because the old ones, worn, stretched, and wrinkled cause pinching and chafing, resulting in leaks or blowouts.

NOTES. A series of bad years caused a Wimmera farmer to lay up his car last year. When his wheat cheque was received recently he proceeded to overhaul the old bus, and under the front seat discovered a mouse’s nest. Portion of the lining consisted of a £1 note (says the Melbourne “Herald”). As the farmer himself had not seen anything of the kind on his premises for some time, he is still wondering how the mouse managed to “raise the wind” to pay its rent in his way.

Lorry drivers will no longer be able to trundle their heavy vehicles along in the centre of the road at night, blissfully unconscious of the motorist behind who wants to pass them, If the apparatus designed by Monsieur de Courdeval, joint director of the municipal police of Paris, is adopted. The vital part of the instrument consists of a photo-electric cell placed in a tube and fitted behind the vehicle. Directly the lights of a following car are picked up by the tube, an electric horn placed inside the cab Is automatically sounded.