MAKING BEST USE OF THE FORD.
Page 15
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Valuable Advice on Every Phase of Ford Transport, Which Will Appeal to the Owner, Driver and Repairer.
IN THIS series of hints concerning the Ford light chassis and ton truck wherever they are employed for commercial purposes, we endeavour to deal with the subject from every view-point, so that the advice given will appeal to the owner, driver, maintenance engineer, or mechanic. Valuable sources of information are being tapped for this purpose, and it should be understood that the advice given will be derived from those with an intimate knowledge of the subject.
We shall welcome for inclusion among the hints those which have proved of value to individual users, and will make suitable remuneration for any published. What we desire are the results of practice.
151,—Loss of Power Due to Binding Hand Brake.
Drivers of the Ford truck sometimes observe what appears to be a loss of power in their engines after the vehicles have descended steep hills. This is often due to binding of the expanding brake in the rear-wheel drums, which, after being applied, does not relax.
Signs of this binding are usually shown by bending of the long rod which connects the hand lever to the operating levers, caused by forcing the hand lever forward in an endeavour to free the brake.
Thc cause of the trouble is almost always a total lack of lubricant, as the rear expanding levers become sluggish and hold the shoes in contact with the drums. Very little attention is apparently given by many drivers to the oil apertures in the rear-axle casing. When the wheel is off at any time it is a good plan to withdraw the expanding levers, to remove all rust and dirt and to give the spindle of each lever a good oiling before yeplacing it.
If the wheels have not been removed, disconnect the long operating rod and work each lever with the hand, pulling each forward and then releasing it suddenly. If it does not spring back smartly then it requires attention and should be given a good oiling through the oil hole and worked to and fro by hand until the desired effect is attained.
152.—Hints to Drivers of New Vehicles
The following hints from one of our readers may prove of interest :—
When the Ford car or truck is new it is essential that it be driven very carefully for the first 200 miles or 300 miles. The driver should make certain each• morning that the crankcase has sufficient oil, shown by its free running from the upper tap. The radiator should also be filled up to the top every morning, and if the water has the habit of boiling away in the radiator it should be replaced so soon as possible.
It will also be found that if the petrol tank is completely full it will supply the carburetter much more freely. Apart from this, if the tank be partly empty the spirit has more opportunity for escaping by evaporation. The commutator or timer Situated behind the fan also requires oiling every day, but this is a custom which should be followed throughout the life of the vehicle. It should also be wiped out very carefully once a fortnight and fresh oil put. in. The driver of the truck should bear in mind that his vehicle should never be driven at a speed of more than 15 m.p.h. on top gear, whilst when climbing hills in low gear a walking pace is quite fast enough. This is because the final drive gear ratio is very low, and the engine has to revolve at a speed much greater than is the case in the van to give the equivalent road speed. The use of supplementary gearboxes on Ford chassis has now grown to a considerable extent, so that a driver whose vehicle is not so equipped may easily be caught napping in an attempt to overtake.
If the driver of an.ordinary truck attempts to pass a faster vehicle of similar make he may do considerable damage to his own vehicle, as it is possible that the one ahead is fitted with a supplementary gearbox and can, if need be, attain much higher speeds without undue racing of the engine ; also the use of oversize tyres' may raise the gear ratio to a considerable extent.
153.---Repairing a Cracked Sump.
The lower half of the crankcase on the Ford vehicle is made from pressed sheet steel, and, if cracked, it may be repaised satisfactorily by soldering, brazing or oxy-acetylene welding, according to .the facilities available in the repair shop. In this instance we illustrate a method of repair by placing a sheet steel patch, * in. thick, over the cracked portion. The patch should 'be carefully shaped to the part of the crankcase to which it is to be fitted, and held to the crankcase by copper rivets in. in diameter it should also be soldered and, to ensure a good job, the defective parts and the edges of the patch must be well scraped or filed. The patch itself may consist of a piece of tinned steel or even copper sheet. The rivet holes should Era be drilled in the patch, and the latter used as a template for drilling the holes in the case, and the, crankcase well tinned before the patch is put into position. The solder should be carried over the rivets in order to make them oil-tight.