OK, I'm reading my current issue of Car Life magazine (12/56, so, I'm a
little behind, in my reading) and the "Car Maintenance" article says
that I "you" should lubricate your car's chassis
about ONCE per month, or every 1000 miles....
I know: the new-57's , with their ball joint suspensions, etc, require
fewer chassis lubes, but why/how are new suspension fittings so
"maintenance-free", that greasing the under-pinnings are almost
un-heard-of, now-a-days?
Were drivers back in the day, really so much tougher on their equipment?
The individual componentry were certainly tougher/stronger, than today
(where lightness/economy "rules")
Of course, checking your bias-tires' air pressure TWICE per month , is
always a good idea, I guess....you could expect get around 35K miles
on them, that way, but you'd better check for abnormal tread wear, &
rotate the tires every 5000 miles. Then, there's the MAJOR tune up,
(alternnating w/a 'minor' tune-up), every 10,000 miles
The article concludes by mentioning that per-mile "gas-and-oil" costs
might normally run
around 2.29 -2.79 cents per mile.
If inflation is 10-times mid 50's costs, that number would translate to
around 30- 80 cents per mile, today.
BUT: today, if your gas costs $3.00/gal, & if you only average 10mpg (on
average city/hwy), your gas charge, per mile would be 30 cents.
So, with today's LOWER costs of anciliary upkeep-items (battery,non-lead
gas, oil-changes, tires, spark plugs, etc), it would appear that it is
cheaper to operate our cars, today, than when they were 'new'.
Neil Vedder
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