YOUR MONEY'S WORTH

Sheridan, Mary

Your Money's Worth By MARY SHERIDAN A FRIEND OF OURS remarked recently that his only criticism of American cars was that they weren't built to last. Too much of the money a car buyer pays, he...

...By recapping or retreading, you can expect to extend the life of an old tire by 80 per cent at less than half its original cost...
...If you recap or retread your tires, government experts emphasize that you can get four-fifths of the performance of a new tire at less than half-price...
...And no tire should be retreaded or recapped without a thorough inspection by a reputable firm...
...Too much of the money a car buyer pays, he argued, is payment for body and trim rather than the motor underneath...
...Federal experts say that if your car's tires are less than four years old and you make a practice of junking them because they are worn smooth, you axe "burying" your tires alive...
...There are about 4,500 recapping concerns in the United States...
...If a tire is so old that the rubber is badly cracked or completely worn through, the tire is beyond repair...
...The Studebaker Champion is CU's choice as the 1942 car most likely to be the year's best buy...
...Army tests show that recapping is more practical and economical...
...They should be especially interested in the money-saving advice given in the current issue of Consumer Prices, issued by the Office of Price Administration...
...Sidewalls should be checked for excessive abrasions, cuts, tears, and cracks...
...Manufacturers, CU points out, have made expensive and unnecessary changes in body styles...
...if those defects are found, don't recap the tire...
...There's still life in the tire's carcass...
...The inside of a tire's casing should be inspected for cuts, nail holes, and bruises...
...Consumers Union maintains that 1941 car models at the old prices—if you can find them I— are "definitely better buys" than the new cars...
...The tire's tread should be examined for deep cuts, bruises, and foreign matter...
...Certainly the 1942 cars, with their gleaming metal, plastic trim, and heavy bodies, look as if the manufacturers were having a last fling in spite of the shortage of various materials, curtailed automobile production, and the defense dictum of cutting out civilian frills...
...Improvements for real gas economy haven't been introduced, and most 1942 cars will have difficulty meeting the gas mileage of previous models, CU adds...
...Recapping Is More Practical These are some of the things you should have checked when you're considering reconditioning your tires: Be sure that there has been no injury to the bead or inside edge of a tire from brake drum heat or from mounting or dismounting the tire...
...Don't Bury Your Tires Alive Despite the number of shiny new cars on the roads, thousands of people are making the old ear do...
...In recapping, the tire is usually buffed down until the unevenness of the old tread design is removed, and another tread is built up from that point with new rubber...
...Naturally every old tire can't be reconditioned...
...In retreading, the old rubber is buffed all the way to the fabric under the breaker strip and then a new tread is built up by applying a new breaker strip and new rubber...
...So when the original tread on a tire begins to disappear, consider recapping by competent workers to avoid waste and unnecessary expense...
...And, regardless of appearance, see that there has been no separation of the tread from the carcass...
...U. S. Army experiments have proved that it is worth while to recondition tires worn smooth by recapping or retreading them...

Vol. 5 • December 1941 • No. 49


 
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