OPINIONS FROM OTHERS.
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The Editor invites correspondence on all subjects connected with the use of commercial motors. Letters should be on one side of the paper only and typewritten by preference, The right of abbreviation is reserved, and no responsibility for views expressed is accepted.
Ideas in Tyre Care and Maintenance.
. The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[2010] Sir,—May we use the hospitality of your correspondencecolumns to invite ideas from your readers on the care and maintenance of tyres? Hints gathered from personal experience, suggestions for new tools and for the improvement of existing appliances, and any comments which may conduce generally to the advantage of tyre users and tyre repairers will be welcomed.
It is the policy of our business to concentrate our whole efforts on improving tyre mileage, easing the too frequent worries associated with tyres, and speeding up the work demanded in changing, repairing, and inflating them. Your readers' help in this respect will contribute to the general welfare of motoring.—Yours faithfully,
HARVEY FROST AND Co. LTD. 148-150,. Great Portland Street, London, W.1.
Four-wheel Steering. •
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[2011] Sir —The leading article in your issue of September 28th, under the heading of "Four-wheel Steering" raises a point concerning axle loading which has hitherto received much less attention than it deserves—both from the designers of motor vehicles and the road authorities.
The wear and tear on the roads could be materially diminished if more attention were given to this feature. In this connection a point arises which hitherto does not seem to have been particularly noticed, and it is One which should appeal to stirveyors and those responsible for road maintenance ; this is the advantage of increasing the. loading capacity of a vehicle by the use of a trailer rather than by imposing the whole of the additional load upon the vehicle itself._ A little thought shows us very clearly the advantages to be derived in this way. Take, for example, an ordinary 3-ton lorry ; the gross weight of this machine, loaded, is somewhere in the neighbourhood of seven tons, of which about five are carried on the back axle. Very nearly the whole of the useful load is supported by the rear axle, and, of any additional load imposed on the vehicle, something like 80 per cent. to 90 per. cent, is carried on this one pair of wheels. In addition to this, the heavier the load to be carried the larger and heavier become the back axle itself, the wheels, and the tyres. This enormously increases the unsprung weight, which is so largely responsible for road damage.
Now, in the case of a trailer of like• capacity, we have the load distributed over two axles, and as the tire weight is so very much less in proportion to the load than is the case with a motor vehicle, the actual load per axle for a given useful load is not more than one-half that on the rear axle of a lorry of equal capacity.
In addition to this,' the axles themselves, together with wheels and tyres, are only from one-third to onequarter of the weight. From this it is reasonable to argue that, in the case of commercial vehicles, increase of capacity should he accomplished within practicable limits by placing as .much of the load as possible upon a following vehicle rather than by increasing the size and weight of the motor vehicle itself. If this were more fully appreciated by road authorities, it is conceivable that more encouragement would be given by. them to the use of properly designed and properly tracking' trailers behind commercial vehicles.—Yours faithfully,
Kingsway, London. H. C. CLARK.
Can the Air in Pneumatic Tyres be Cooled ?
The Editor, Tun COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[2012] Sir,—Messrs. Harvey Frost and Co., Ltd., in your columns raise the question as to whether the air in pneumatic tyres can be cooled. Would it not be possible to arrange, first of all, a blow-off valve which should release from a pneumatic tyre all pressure over a predetermined level, the . valve being .readily adjustable so that the correct air pressures could be maintained for the front and rear. tyres ,of a vehicle? A plunger-type of pump attached to each wheel and operated by a earn on the axle casing would be continually pumping air into the tyre. It would absorb the heat caused by the friction between the tyre and the road, and in passing out through the blow-off valve the heat would be taken with it. This system would seem to offer a practicable and not too costly method of promoting a constant flow of cool air through a tyre, and there is no doubt that, if it could be put into practice, pneumatic tyres would be greatly benefited. The blow-off valve requires to be absolutely reliable, and it should have a pressure gauge indicating the actual pressure in the tyre. Lest the valve should cease to function, there should also be a release valve or by-pass on the inflator, so that when the limit of safety had been reached the air, instead of being sent into the tyre eventually to burst it., would be by-passed to the outer atmosphere again.
Without a doubt the London motorbus of the future will have pneumatic tyres, and the problein of the maintenance of these tyres would be greatly simplified if a means of cooling them could be introduced.—Yours faithfully,
Hampstead, N.W. DOUGLAS LENNY.
Illicit Commissions.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[2013] Sir,—" The Inspector," complaining of the bribes with which so many businesses are cursed, advocates collective action. May I remind him and your readers of the Bribery and Secret Commissions Prevention League. Incorporated, which exists te combat the evil?
The league has about 1,000 members and is an influential body, with a committee that is always willing to help when applied to. I shall be happy to furnish any further information.—Yours faith
fully. THE SECRETARY. 9, Queen Street Place, London, E.C.4.
What Should the Driver Have Done ?
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR. [2014] Sir,—I read with extreme interest the account in The Commercial Motor of the fire on the furniture van near Alnwick, and Icouldnot help feeling that the driver could hardly have done more than he did. With the petrol tank on the dashboard, under his very nose, and an unlocated fire behind, beneath—anywhere !—well, he would have been plucky to the extent of foolhardy to have held his post. And had he run on to a fire-station he would almost certainly have caused more trouble, for a fire-station is generally in a.main street of a town, and, from what I see as I pass through towns, I have the impression that most fire-stations are closed—" the keys with Mr. Jones living in a street afar off." And .a blazing Van in a busy thoroughfare is, to my mind, an occurrence in an entirely wrong place. Then, at the beet, could the firemen have done much ?—Yours faithfully, ARTHUR BINSTEAD. Nottingham