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     HOW WE DRIVE

          By Claude Sipe



Do you mistreat your Model “A” by the way you drive? I’m sure you don’t intentionally “drive to destroy”, however, some driving habits can shorten your vehicle life, and at best, cause repairs to be made before their time.

Probably the most frequently misused would be the brake system. Have you ever had to apply the brakes to slow down for a turn, when you are going uphill? It would be much easier on your vehicle to “ease off the throttle” and allow the vehicle to slow down and save the brakes. The same is true when driving in traffic, do you “time your speed” so heavy braking isn’t necessary? How about when you start up from a stop? Do you start smoothly with out excessive slipping of the clutch? How smooth are your gear changes? Do you “clash gears” or slip the clutch as you shift gears? How often do you accelerate at or near “wide open throttle” unnecessarily? How often do you take a corner, faster then you intended? I bet most of us have been guilty at one time or another of at least some of the things I mentioned above. We sometimes fail to realize bad driving habits not only affect the component we are overstressing and it throws extra load on the entire suspension and body, [springs, shocks, wheel bearings, even door latches and hinges] as it twists and turns trying to keep up! Sooner than necessary we end up with squeaks and rattles and are oblivious to the fact we helped create them! A favorite mechanic of the 50’s & 60’s, Smokey Yunik, used to say “there is only so much life in a vehicle, you can take it out in big chunks in a short time or you can take it out in small pieces over a long period of time”. As for me, I would rather take the energy in my Model “A” out over a long period of time. You have the same choice, determined by a large part in your driving habits!

Your tech
Claude Sipe