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THE REPAIR OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLES.

30th January 1919
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Page 8, 30th January 1919 — THE REPAIR OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLES.
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Useful Special Tools That Can Be Made in the Repair Shop.

, OLLOWING UP the remarks contained in a F recent article. on the subject of commercial vehicle repair shops, let us assume that we have a suitable repair shop completed and ready for the reception of vehicles. We must now get together the very necessary equipment as regards tools to facilitate and expedite the work of repairs to vehicles of all types and capacities.

Some of these tools must be in the works at the very commencement of its career, so as to be. on hand immediately the call is made for them. To tell a customer, • who may have a large ,mill with several hundred hands dependent upon the regular running of his vehicle for their daily work, that you will get on with the job as soon as you get the tackle will not do for him or his dependents, nor likewise for future custom. A description, therefore, of special tools ah'ich cannot be bought out but can be made on the job will probably be a help and of interest to the repair depot manager.

Supposing the first repair job is one of dismantling or comolete overhaul, it will mean that each unit has to be takeuadrift down to the bare frame, and certain tools and equipment are necessary for quickness and efficiency. One most useful tool is that of a special type of jack or adjustable stand. It can be used as a stand when the wheels have been removed during dismantling and prior to erection, butaas a jack it is specially in demand. Three jacks are required : one long one and two smaller ones. The long one should be capable of lifting the entire body and load off the springs, and the shorter ones are used for supporting the front and rear axles respectively. .

In the sketch given showing the chassis jack—the largest of the three—the screwed shank is forged to the shape of a channel on the top portion, and screwed in. with a square thread pitch single for a length of approximately 14 ins. A specially forged nut is screwed on to the shank. The nut should be made from oil-hardening steel, and drilled through as shown with a in. drill to accommodate an ordinary size tommy bar. The screwed shank is made a running fit into the top portion of the cast-iron base. The depth of this portion should be long enough to prevent any tendency for the shank to tip when under load. A ball thrust bearing fitted between the faces of the cast-iron base and the nut will greatly facilitate the lifting of heavy loads, and the cost of fitting is amply repaid by the time thus saved. A detailed description of the casting is hardly necessary, as the sketch will serve sufficiently as a guide.

The other two smaller types differ from the above in the shape of the shank top and, of course, in the height> of the casting, and are principally used when taking 'off road wheels and springs, etc. The shank head is made in the form of a Yee, to accommodate circular objects, otherwise the description in detail tallies with that of the larger one, and the shanks are interchangeable. " These articles are the most used and the most essential part of the equipment a repairer—on heavy motor work—can possess, inasmuch as they are the type of tool which up to the present cannot be bought from any accessory dealer. Hence the need for a detailed description. This type of jack has been used in practice on many occasions by the author when none other but portable hydraulic jacks would have been of use in removing stubborn wheels which had seized up almost solid with the axle. Four of the chassis type jacks had to be brought into use on two occasions before the wheel could be made to budge, and, ii this, case, the length and size of -the jacks were useful features. Ordinary 3-ton jacks backed up with packing had no effect on the work and. collapsed.

The size of the jacks is no detriment with regard tb their portability, as they can easily be trundled milk-can fashion—on the large diameter base. The number required to each repair shop depends, of course, on its size, but, assuming that the workshop we have in mind will have between 40 and 50 employees, we shall require as a minimum eight of the larger type and six each of the smaller.

Another important tool for the fitting, dismantling and erecting portion of the shop is the twisting bar. This is best made of toughened steel, 11 in, diameter, hooked at one end and forged flat at the other, as shown in sketch. The length should be about 40 ins.

overall. This is an extremely useful implement, from a repairer's point of view, in straightening parts which have been knocked away in collision or other wise, and also in bending heavy forgings. It cannot be claimed, of course, to be a scientific instrument, but it is useful nevertheless. In fact, let it be said that one or two manufacturers have used twisting bars with good effect and with a considerable saving of time in fitting, for pulling brackets to their places, and twisting levers to the desired position, and I have yet to learn of any practical ill effects resulting. Therefore a, twisting bar we shall want.

We shall also require a wheel drawer—not of the variety now sold as "the thing," but one made in the workshop—simple yet effective. Those sold with prongs on the end of projecting arms invariably " slip " the pronged portion, and the arms bend inwards. What is required is a. plate made of malleable cast-iron, and webbed up as shown in the sketch, the diameter of the plate to be not less than 1 ft., and the plate tapped centrally 11 in. diameter Whitworth thread. This is fitted with a set screw to suit ; the length of which can be about 8 ins.

Round the outer circle of the plate drill eight holes 1 in. in diameter, into which can be placed in. diameter bolts, having at one end a in. plate projecting sufficiently long to take in a couple of spokes of a wheel, and made adjustable with a nut. Three or four such bolts will be needed at a time. Several lengths of j in, bolts could be made and kept in the stores until required ; these would suit any type of wheel. The average length, however, is approximately 14 ins.

It will be found that a tool of this description will be much more efficient and universal than any yet on the market, though, maybe, not as neat in appearance.

Other very useful assets are (1) a set of adjustable cramps, sufficiently long to cover the full width of the chassis ; (2) a special small ratchet drill, not more than 5 ins, long from point of drill to back centre, for use in drilling small holes in limited .spaces ; (3) a set of Yee blocks for the marking-off table; (4) a complete set of drills, clearance drills and reamers to suit ; (5) clearance reamers in 1-64 in. ; (6) two or three sets of Whitworth taps ; (7) stocks and dies ; and (8) a set of B.S.F. taps, stocks and dies, and a similar set in metrico size. There are, of course, many other requirements in a repair shop, but too much space would be taken up in detailing them. Shortly it is hoped to deal with the procedure in repairs to vehicles in a modern repair shop..

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