Steering gear

“ The first provision against the helplessness that must, and the disaster that probably would, follow broken or disconnected steering gear, is sufficient strength in the parts. It should be as direct and simple in arrangement as possible, because least liable to disarrangement and because gear with chains and short rods and connections through springs have so many more points for possible looseness and losses and more to examine and yet be uncertain about. ”

“ Steering Gear Care.—Steering gears should be closely adjusted. The housing should be packed with a medium hard oil or graphite grease at least once in every thousand miles that the car is driven. All bolts and nuts connecting the different parts of the steering gear should be regularly inspected and kept in a perfectly tight condition. ”

“ In first gear, avoiding the deceptively smooth but slimy roadside, we made for the deepest ruts, racing the engine till it left a trail of thick white smoke behind, clinging to the steering wheel, while the heavy car rocked and creaked in the tyrannical grip of the ruts like a ship in the trough of the waves. Without our friend, we never should have got through. ”

“ Fig. 46.—Steering Mechanisms. A, Worm and worm-wheel steering gear; B, nut and screw steering gear.
The stationary part of the front axle of an automobile is usually a forging, and must be of considerable strength in order to support the weight imposed upon it by the engine. It is usually bent down in the center, in order that it may be the lowest point of the mechanism, [Pg 167] thus to receive possible blows of stones or other high points of the road that would cause serious damage should they strike the crank case or fly wheel. ”

“ If it be resisted the hand and arm feel in a very disagreeable way the effects of the shocks, especially at high speeds on bad roads, and of which the steering gear is relieved. The driver, however, soon learns to keep a loose but ready hand on the steering wheel or lever just as in riding a bicycle or tricycle. On very light and moderate speed cars lever or free-wheel steering gear would seem to be in every way sufficient and quicker in action than the locked gear, and while running on good smooth roads there is very little tendency for the steering wheels to wander one way or the other. ”

“ The mechanism of the front steering gear is shown at Fig. 3. A 3/4-in. steel rod makes a good steering rod. Flatten the steering rod at one end and sink it into the wood. Hold it in place by means of an iron plate drilled to receive the rod and screwed to block X. An iron washer, Z, is used to reduce friction; bevel block K to give a rocker motion. Equip block X with screw eyes, making them clear those in the front runner, and bolt through. For the rear runner put a block with screw eyes on the baseboard and run a bolt through. ”

“ Be gentle with the steering gear; it is such a long connection that it doesn't respond as readily as the old one, and I guess I've made the rods a trifle too light. I mean to rig up a more substantial device as soon as I get time, but this will do you all right if you don't jerk it. Put a little more strength to the wheel and turn it gradually, that's all. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The pinions mesh with two wheels that are mounted on a countershaft, on which is also fixed a chain-sprocket, from which the drive is transmitted, through a long chain, to a chain-wheel surrounding the differential gear mounted on the back axle. Traction-engine type of steering gear, with revolving fore-carriage, is most generally adopted, and is rendered sufficiently rapid in its movement by suitable gear, operated by a diagonal shaft and wheel, from the driver’s footplate. ”

“ This accommodating action of the gear is important for free turning of corners, but it has its disadvantage, in that if one wheel, while the vehicle is on the straight, meets with more obstruction than the other, the gear allows it to be obstructed, and tends to push the other wheel round against the action of the steering gear. Correspondingly, if one wheel is on a greater thickness of greasy mud or a more slimy bit than the other wheel, it has more freedom of, and help to, rotation than the other, and skidding or sideslipping on the greasy road results and is aggravated. ”

“ If the foot-brake had burned, as possibly it might, the compression of the gas in the cylinder could have been made to act as a brake. The steering-gear was in perfect order, which was the most important consideration in the circumstances, and I felt that I was undertaking a responsibility which the car and I together were well able to carry out. But as I thought that amateurs were likely to be alarmed if they knew what had happened, I naturally kept my knowledge to myself. ”

“ Personally I prefer, and I think most men prefer, to steer with the outside foot. The captain of a Four should always look carefully to his steering-gear to see that the wires and strings are taut, and that they move properly and without jamming over the wheels. I have seen more than one race lost by accidents to the steering-gear that might have been avoided by a little preliminary attention. ”

“ That strain we had in last night’s wind seems to have played havoc with the entire steering gear.”
“Can’t it be fixed?” inquired Elmer, anxiously.
“Not while we’re flying,” replied Dave. “You know, the post is really a lever and the wheel a handle. The cloche, or bell-like attachment that runs to the warping wires, has got out of kilter. You know, the steering post is made of one-inch, twenty-gauge steel tubing. At the lower end of this is a fork made of pieces of 172smaller tubing, bent and brazed into place. The fork forms part of the universal joint on which the post is mounted. ”

“ Graham White gave an illustration on the 1,000 mile tour of what an autocarist will do rather than give in. I suppose it is the first instance of a human tiller being used for steering. On this run he on one occasion got down for a moment, asking his friend to steer, which the friend did by promptly running the car off the road and breaking the steering gear, putting the car in about the most hopeless disablement conceivable. ”

“ Ball bearings are placed wherever any practical gain can be found thereby; the motor armatures and various pivots, with those of the steering gear, as well as all the axles and spindles, are fitted thus. The front axle, carrying the steering wheels, is pivoted so as to allow running over obstacles, as shown in the cut, representing the regular factory tests, and every vehicle is put to thorough tests and inspections before being passed as ready.
The motor works on the rear axle, which is divided so as to be double driving on the usual plan with bevel-gears. ”

“ The shaft itself is found in rods or even cast-away metal axles which are commonly found in most any carriage works, cycle shops or junk dealer's. Figure 4 shows the disk that receives the steering gear. The disk is bored around edges for the securing screws, while the center is open for the steering rod. When put together, three boys usually ride. One steers and the other two turn the crank. Freight can be carried and some boys do quite an express business in their town with one of the carts like this that they made. ”

“ He bent every thought and energy to placing the steering gear.
At midnight he was still working. At 1 o'clock he had the front wheels blocked up and was testing the steering lever. It needed some changes. At 2 o'clock they were finished. He started the engine again and it missed fire. Something was wrong with the spark. ”

“ In a rear-steerer which has not an open front, whether driven by a clutch or by differential gear, I fail to discover any good quality. The steering of a rear-steerer is so very uncertain, that such machines cannot safely be driven at anything like a high speed, because any wheel meeting with an obstruction will, by checking the machine, diminish the weight on the steering wheel just at the time when a greater weight than usual should be applied. ”

“ Loosen the steering post bracket, fastened to the frame, when the dash and steering gear may be removed as one assembly, the wires first having been disconnected. (6) Take out the bolts holding the front radius rods in the socket underneath the crank case. (7) Remove the four bolts at the universal joint. (8) Remove pans on either side of cylinder casting and turn off gasoline; disconnect feed pipe from carburetor. (9) Disconnect exhaust manifold from exhaust pipe by uncovering large brass pack nut. (10) Take out the two cap screws which hold the crank case to the front frame. ”

“ RUNNING GEAR The steering of a motor car, or the change in the direction of its movement, is effected by changing the position of its steering wheels, usually those in front, in relation to the rear wheels. In a horse-drawn vehicle, the axles are parallel when it is moving straight, as are also the planes of its front and rear wheels. To turn the vehicle to one side or the other the front axle is swung so that it is out of parallel with the rear axles, the vehicle turning to the side on which the axles would meet if they were extended. ”

“ The novice should bear in mind that cars are not designed for steeplechasing, and a broken horn of the front springs leads to the displacement of the steering gear, and possibly a sudden swoop across the road, into a wall, a ditch or—Eternity. ”

“ Sociable machines are both front-steering and rear-steering. Rear-steerers with each rider driving the wheel on his side only are nearly as objectionable as the single-driving rear-steerer. Front-steering sociables with dif ferential gear are safe and comfortable; but all sociables are slow machines. For nearly every make of single tricycle there is a corresponding tandem. The Coventry rotary in the tandem form suffers more from the single-side driving than in the single form, the rear-steering machines not so much, owing to the greater weight which the steering wheel has to bear. ”

“ An Indian of an Iroquoian tribe.
Ir`re*vers"i*ble steering gear. (Mach.) A steering gear, esp. for an automobile, not affected by the road wheels, as when they strike an obstacle side ways, but easily controlled by the hand wheel or steering lever. ”

“ Sometimes in a special little cabin on deck, but more often in the engine-room, where it can be tended by the staff, there is the steering engine, usually worked by steam-power. Two little cylinders turn a worm-screw which revolves a worm-wheel and a train of cogs, the last of which moves to right or left a quadrant attached to the chains or cables which work the rudder. All that the steersman has to do with his wheel is to put the engine in forward, backward, or middle gear. The steam being admitted to the cylinders quickly moves the helm to the position required. ”

“ The gearing is attached to the axle and countershaft which extend across the engine. The compensating gear is strong and well covered from dirt. The gearing is the gear type, axle turning with the drivers. There is an independent pump; also injector, and all attachments. The band wheel being on the steering wheel or right side of the engine, makes it easy to line up to a threshing machine. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The invention more particularly relates to the construction and arrangement of parts for constituting the driving gearing and to the means for controlling the action thereof; to an improved manner of mounting the front, or steering, wheels upon the front axle, and of mounting the said axle relative to the running gear frame, and to the means for effecting the steering ”

“ Thermoid-Hardy fabric universal joint.
adopted the plan of mounting the steering post on the left side, realizing that in a country where the "right-hand" rule of the road obtains the balance of advantages rests with the left-hand drive. Left-hand steering fits in well with brake and gear-shift levers mounted in the centre of the car, as the driver can use his right hand to operate them. In Great Britain, where the rule of the road is to "keep to the left," right-hand steering has the same advantages as left-hand steering in other countries. ”

“ It is steered by a cross handle, like the bicycle, and this method of steering, in spite of the fact that it boxes the rider into the machine, is becoming very general in front steerers in place of the rack and pinion steering hitherto in use. The Cripper is a very popular example. The brake is an important feature in roadster tricycles. It is always made to act on the box of the differential gear where that is used ”

“ Water; centrifugal pump IGNITION: Jump spark CURRENT SUPPLY: Storage batteries, dry cells LUBRICATION: Splash oiler MOTOR-CONTROL: From steering wheel CHANGE GEAR: Sliding type SPEEDS: 3 forward and reverse CHANGE-GEAR CONTROL: Progressive type DRIVE: Shaft
Lambert, Model H, 35–40 H.P. Buckeye M'f'g. Co., Anderson, Ind.
PRICE: $2,000 BODY: Side entrance tonneau SEATS: 5 persons WEIGHT: 2,000 pounds WHEEL-BASE: 105 inches TREAD: 56 inches TIRES, FRONT: 32 × 31⁄2 inches TIRES, REAR: 32 × 31⁄2 inches STEERING: Screw and nut BRAKES: On cross shaft and rear hubs SPRINGS: Semi-elliptic, front ”