For DRIVERS, MECHANICS, & FOREMEN.
Page 31
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• TEN SHILLINGS is paid to the sender of any letter which we publish on this page, and an. EXTRA FIVE SHILLINGS to the sender o rthe one which we select as being the best each week. All notes are edited before being published. Mention pour employer's name, in confidence, as evidence of good faith. Address, D., M. and F., "The Commercial Motor," 7-15, Rosebery Avenue, London, E.G. 1,
Lamps Alight.
, On Saturday, March 5th, light your lamps at 6.14 in London, 6.22 in Edinburgh, 6.16 in Newcastle, 6.25 in Liverpool, 6.21 in Birmingham, 6.24 in Bristol, and 7.8 in Dublin.
Hints for Pierce-Arrow Drivers.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the extra payment of Sc. this week.
[2198] " J.HS." (Willesden) writes : —" In letter No. 2,160 'J.L.' describes how to remove the wheel from a Pierce-Arrow chassis. In his case the wheel was fitted with ball bearings. I should like to.point out that similar trouble has occurred within my knowledge in many cases where the bearings fitted Were Timkeifs. Even with ball bearings, however, I am not satisfied that J.L.'s' method was the beat. In deed. I am rather of the opinion that he took a grave risk in removing the wheel in the manner in which he describes. However, he does not mention whether it was the inside (large) or outside (small) ball race that had become fixed. If it was the small one then his method was in ordier, but if the large then his method is a bad one in view of the strain that he put on the retaining ring, which might have been burst or have had the thread stripped, as the result of his operations. This retaining ring serves to hold the large inner ball race in place. It is at the back of the hub and is made of bronze. it is screwed into the hub and held in place by a locking ring. Its thread is rather fine. In the event of the large ball raee sticking, then the proper way to proceed is first to remove the locking rang. After 'having done so, it will be observed that there are two tommy ' boles in the ring itself. Fix a punch in one of these and turn the wheel slowly round until the punch locks itself against the brake bracket. A slight ajar' turn to the wheel should then start the ring to unscrew, and continued revolution of the wheel will eventually free it entirely.
a As a rule, it will be found that the inner ring
of the race has seized on the axle tube. In this case it is generally possible to slip the wheel off the outer race, leaving it and the locking ring on. the axle. It can subsequently be eased. off by the aid of small iron wedges and, the use of a flat cold chisel.
It may happen. that a Pierce-Arrow user may wish to re-line the clutch, but may find himself in difficulties owing te the fact that he has not got a lathe large enough to allow of the leather being skimmed up after fitting. This operation may easily be carried out on the wagon itself. Put the clutch on the, spigot wrong way round, with the universal joint claw facing the flywheel, as in the sketch. It will be found that there is sufficient thread protruding on the spigot shaft to allow the usual nut to be screwed on, holding the clutch in place on the spigot. All that is now required is a carpenter's 1 in. chisel and a piece of wood as a rest. Start the engine up and set the throttle valve so that it will tick over nicely. It will then be found that, with a little care, the clutch can be trimmed up and as good a job made as though it were fixed in a. lathe. If several-Pierce-Arrows are kept, an angle iron bracket can be made to be fixed on the clutch cross-bar brake, and this will make a much safer rest for' the joiners chisel: " The Pierce-Arrow carburetter is marked on the outside of the float chamber, so as to indicate the correct petrol level, which can he seen by looking through a small glass window fitted in the side of that chamber. As a rule, the level is about two-thirds the height of the window itself. It is quite safe to reduce this level considerably, until the-height is only about one-third•that_of the window, without suffering any loss of power and with a considerably improved economy.
An Awkward Predicament.
[2,199] " F:H." (Sheffield) writes :—" On returning borne one night recently during the bad weather I was met by the foreman and told to go out again and render assistance to another wagon which had got into a ditch as the result of a skid. I went out, got.jaim out of the ditch, and, took half his load and stiihed for home. We only ran a short distance, however, before it became too dark to proceed, and we decided to put up for the night. Next morning we found the roads in a. state which may truly be described as awful. During the. night t had been freezing very hard, and there had also been a slight fall of snow. Moreover' we were faced at the outset by a somewhat stiff climb. However, I started out and managed to get to the top of the hill with the assistance of bags, ashes, etc., and then was faced with a. more serious problem of getting down the other side. To have attempted to have gone down without a skid chain or something of the kind would inevitably have *spelt disaster, and I, therefore, had to set about and devise some form of non-skid which would serve this purpose, for I was not carrying any. Fortunately, I happened to have a wooden skotch attached to my lorry by a length of chain. I took this chain off and cut it into eight pieces, four for each rear wheel. did the same with a length of in. rope which I happened to have handy. I threaded the rope thromili the end link of a piece of chain, disposed the chain itself round the tyre, passed the rope through the link at the other end, and so fastened that piece of chain in position. I did the same with the other seven pieces, distributing them evenly over the two driving wheels. So equipped I was able to proceed, and arrived at the bottom of the hill without accident.