TIRE
CARE ‘Good Rule: Hold Speed First 100... ’
• One-sided Wear. Either
outer or inner shoulder of tire
wears faster than the rest. Com
monly caused by improper
wheel alignment camber, often
aggravated by underinflation.
If a tire isn’t “too far gone”
from wear, it may be that prop
er mechanical adjustment will
Summer heat stretches into Autumn. That means that
it’s still seasonally important to check your tires before you
leave on a trip in recreational vehicle, trailer, truck or
family car.
Excessive road heat is a tire’s
greatest enemy, reminds The
Tire Industry Safety Council,
adding: Heat is especially de
structive o f smaller-diameter
tires on trailers. These may ro
tate up to 80 percent faster than
regular tires.
It’s easy to tell the condition
of your tires, says the Council.
A good place to begin is to look
for potential trouble spots—
cuts, fabric cracks, uneven or
excessive wear. Remove nails,
small stones or glass imbedded
in the tread and have damaged
spots fived if deeper than the
tread.
REPLACE ANY tread worn
below l/16th inch, or down to
wear bars molded across tread.
One easy way to measure wear
depth: put the rim of a penny
at top of Lincoln’s head into
tread. If as shallow as distance
from outer rim to where head
begins, replace tire or have re-
treaded.
When tires wear fast or ab
normally, the cause is often
faulty or worn shock absorbers,
wheel imbalance, improper
wheel alignment, faulty or
grabbing brakes, or incorrect
tire inflation.
Some common problems:
• Underinflation. Most tire
contact is on outer treads, caus
ing edges to wear faster than
middle.
• Feathering. Tread ribs ac
tually scrape down the road—
common when tire needs toe-in
or toe-out alignment.
• Cupping. Wheels are out of
balance or shock absorbers and
ball joints are worn, causing
dips or cups to appear in tread.
FEATHERING
OVER INFLATION
UNDER INFLATION
ONE-SIDE WEAR
CUPPING
• • Jonas Montgomery (left),
floor cleaner and sanitation
technician Eugene Sanders—
both Shop—visiting on a break
from work in Chafer Weaving at
the Gastonia plant.
Jonas has been with Firestone
since late August of 1946; Eu
gene, since September, 1965.
"My hairstyle is sometimes
subject of conversation," says
Eugene. It's about a two-year's
growth, he notes. His wife Bren
da plaits it, requiring around 45
minutes for each styling. Of
course it has to be "took apart"
so he can wash it, then Brenda
braids it all over again.
Suggestions
(From page 1)
opening-closing, and a guard
added around a stencil machine.
Also, a light installed on work
bench, a new method of fabric
identification, relocation of an
electric switch, plywood shutters
installed over unused windows
in factory, hooks to hang win
dow poles when not in use; and
covers for ashtrays in smokers,
to prevent misuse as trash re
ceptacles.
What’s your suggestion?
September, 1976
check normal wear. But if se
verely damaged, replace it.
With a good carcass, a retread
may serve all right.
REMEMBER that any tire—
retread or new—needs a break-
ing-in period. A good rule is to
hold speed to 45 mph for first
100 miles or so, until tire’s ele
ments adjust and work as an in
tegral unit.
Inflation is vital to the life,
performance and safety of a
tire. Check pressure before a
long trip, and now and then
along the way. Be sure tires are
cool when checked and don’t
bleed hot tires to reduce pres
sure to normal level.
Inflate your tires to limits
recommended in the auto man
ual—never under or over. Un
derinflation especially causes
too much heat build-up, uneven
tread wear, and if pulling a
trailer it can cause severe sway,
fishtailing and loss of control.
Also important are such fac
tors as load weight and distri
bution. Don’t overload; keep
weight balanced out.
While surveys show that less
than one percent of all highway
accidents are directly charge
able to tire failure, in more than
half these cases the tires were
bald and worn to the cords. The
Tire Industry Safety Council
stresses that bald tires are 50
times more apt to suffer dis
ablement than new or retread
tires.
QUICK STOP
AND NO BACK-UP Mill
wright Lindsey Atchley (left)
and electrician Paul Nolen in
stalling air-operated braking
mechanism and its electrical
hookup on a cable twister in TC
Twisting, Gastonia. This machine
is one of several which have
been operated without braking
equipment.
By original design, the frame
slows down and stops on its own
after power drive has been cut
off. This can cause slack twist
on the cable being run. A twist
er modified with brakes is an
example of a major improve
ment for increased operating ef
ficiency of machinery.
What do you do
L UO yuu UO (J-\ • • 7 >
In Washington? Exercise OuT Right...
Pass a law to do away with November. If Congress could
do that, it would clear the way for the Federal Government
to solve a whole lot of this country’s problems. Bob Bradford
said it, talking with people of the Gastonia Firestone plant
one day last month.
Page 3
“So much on the Washington
scene is designed to ‘get us past
Novembers’ (elections) that it
ruins a lot of good long-range
programs,” he said.
In a more serious vein, the
company assistant director of
government affairs described
Firestone’s program of communi-
cating with Government in
Washington.
Bradford works with Kimball
Firestone, the company vice
president of government affairs.
The Washington office has a
staff of 12, with two of these
persons working in public rela
tions.
Bradford has a background in
print journalism, TV news di
recting, civic and political action.
He was associated with Ameri
cans for the Presidency, worked
on the Cost of Living Council
staff and for a time was admin
istrative assistant to Sen. Wil
liam Brock of Tennessee. He
joined the Firestone Washington
staff in 1974.
"PEOPLE often ask ‘What do
you folks do in Washington?”
said Bradford.
“I tell them we’re up there
exercising our constitutional
right as a company to petition
our government. Individuals
have that right—and so do com
panies,” he added.
Most of the leading companies
and many smaller ones, he
noted, have government-contact
programs going in Washington.
Their staffs range from one or
two with smaller firms to as
many as 200 with the big ones.
Representatives of the different
companies work together on is
sues of common concern.
“Petitioning together, we’re
more likely to make impact
when it comes to matters of our
best interest as companies. Our
company’s aim is to be heard on
issues that affect us, on legisla
tive action and the administra
tion of government programs.
"AND WHAT'S in the best in
terest of the company is going
to be in the best interest of you
as individual employees,” Brad
ford went on. He listed for the
Firestone company some major
concerns such as the right-to-
work issue, taxes, energy, clean
air and other environmental
matters, auto safety and related
subjects.
The company often takes of
ficial position on issues and
passes on that information to
employees—so they’ll know.
“Most effective way to make
our voice heard is your own pe
tition to your government,”
Bradford said, adding that the
best way to do this, is by per
sonal visit—if possible. Next best
is the telephone.
But for the majority of people,
the personal letter sent to rep
resentatives has most influence.
It’s better than a telegram, since
telegrams are delivered by mail
nowadays. Too, the letter’s bet
ter than a petition with a lot of
signatures. Some letter-writing
guidelines:
Make them legible and brief
but detailed enough to say
what’s on your mind. Be specific,
straightforward, courteous. Ex
plain your views and tell why
you hold them. Bradford added:
“Sometimes telling your rep
resentatives what’s on your mind
can involve expressing views on
the side of your company’s in
terest. That’s great! After all,
what affects the company affects
us.”
Last Stop:
187 Pints
• • The Red Cross Gaston
Unit Regional Bloodbank
makes two scheduled collec
tions a year in the Gastonia
Firestone community: Febru
ary and August.
So, on the most recent bloodbank stop at Loray
Baptist Church, Firestone people and others con
tributed 187 pints.
“That amount of ‘gifts of life’ thus kept up the
through-the-years high level of participation in the
blood-donor program. We so much appreciate it,” said
S. E. Crawford. He, the plant Industrial Relations
manager, is coordinator of the donor program.