Farm motors, steam and gas engines, hydraulic and electric motors, traction engines, automobiles, animal motors, windmills

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1917 Excerpt: ...with an adjustable tie-rod so that both knuckles turn simultaneously. A third arm attached to the left-hand knuckle connects the steering gear by means of the steering connecting rod. In Fig. 144 the various parts of the front axles are illustrated. Some front axles are constructed of heavy steel tubes, with dropped forged axle ends. The majority of automobiles are constructed with front axles which are dropforged I-beam sections (Fig. 144). Fig. 144.--Details of front axle. The rear axle of the automobile carries the differential and the two rear wheels. In one type of rear axle, called the semifloating type, the axles carry the entire load. In the full-floating axle the weight of the car is carried by a housing through which the axle passes. In the full-floating axle the shaft may be removed without disturbing the wheel or the differential. Steering and Control Systems.--Automobiles are steered by means of a hand wheel which is located on the top of the steering column. The steering gear operates on the front axle, through the steering connecting rod, and turns the knuckles and front wheels. The steering column (Fig. 145) usually contains several concentric tubes with connections to the alarm, the throttle control, the spark control, and the steering mechanism which reduces the motion of the steering wheel. S The worm-and-nut form of steering gear (Fig. 145) consists of a double-threaded worm attached to the hand wheel and two half nuts, one of which has a right-handed thread and the other a left-handed thread. If the steering wheel is turned, one of the half nuts moves up and the other down, thus turning the steering yoke and moving the pitman arm back and forth. The motion of the pitman arm is transmitted to the steering knuckles and front wheels. Anoth...