Page:Motors and motor-driving (1902).djvu/250

218 while running on good smooth roads there is very little tendency for the steering wheels to wander one way or the other.

For the heavier and higher speed cars the locked steering will probably continue to be preferred, the steering connections being relieved to some extent of the severity of shocks by the interposition of spring buffers in the rod ends, thus securing the advantage of fixity of position of wheels and direction of running under any circumstances. It may be remembered, however, that with the long wheel-base of the passenger brakes run by the Lifu Company two or three years ago, the lever-steering worked with great ease at thirty-five miles per hour, but the axles of the wheels were inclined so that the point of incidence of the wheels on the road was directly under the steering-axle pin, and hence most of the shocks were delivered to the axle and not to the steering gear.

The automobilist should frequently jack up the front of his car so that the front wheels are free of the ground. Then he can test the condition of all the steering-gear parts between axle-arm and steering pillar, and see and feel every joint and find out where, if any, and how much looseness or wear there is in any part. He cannot do this properly while the weight is on the wheels. Looseness between steering wheel and end of steering pillar can be found at any time. He should never allow 'hurdle fitters' or 'horseshoe fitters' to attempt to refit of alter any part of his steering or other gear, any more than he would allow a 'hedge carpenter' to alter or repair the body of his car or the Chippendale chairs in his drawing-room. Only good experienced workmen, and above all trustworthy workmen, should be allowed to do this work. The refitting of steering worm and quadrant or of the nut on steering screw, when that form is used, must be done by a good fitter, unless the double nut, with one half adjustable independently of the other, is used.

Brakes.—Next to trustworthiness in axles, wheels, and steering gear the sufficiency and certainty of action of the