Auto Q & A
Auto Q & A
By: Dr. Wheels
Topics:
Posted by editor Wed Aug 23, 2006 16:29:09 PDT
Viewed 695 times
0 responses 0 comments Dear Q & A: What is a “banjo housing?” Is there also a guitar or a mandolin housing? I’m kidding, but I’m curious.
—Gamer
Dear Gamer: Front-engine, rear-drive cars and trucks transmit power from the engine to the rear wheels by means of a driveshaft. The junction of this shaft and the rear axles is called a differential. The diff. housing is round, like a banjo head, and the axle on each side is long and thin, like a banjo neck. Therefore, “banjo” housing. The differential contains the gearing that permits the left rear wheel to rotate at a different speed from the right rear wheel, and vice versa, when you’re making a sharp turn. Without the diff. feature, every time you make a turn, you’d be scrubbing rubber off one tire or the other and annoying others with the squealing sound that would make.
Dear Q & A: I have a car problem. My adult daughter, who lives with me, won’t get a job but she “needs” a car. She has an old clunker that’s out of commission a lot, so she “needs” to borrow mine. Her older son, 19, who lives with me, also “needs” a car to go to school and wherever, but he’s never had a job and his old clunker just blew a head gasket, so now he too now “needs” to borrow mine. It’s like I don’t have a car any more, except when they don’t “need” it. What’s a good policy to get my car back?
— W.F.
Dear WF: Yours seems to be a people problem, rather than a car problem. Have you heard of the term “enabler?” Enablers are the usually very nice people who, in helping others, make it possible for those others to keep drinking, or using, or avoid getting a job. Your car should be yours and it’s up to you to enforce that reality. If you don’t, your car becomes theirs. Why get a job if papa/grandpa keeps saying (by his permissive actions) that it’s not necessary? As a people problem, you should run this by Dr. Carole Clark, whose column specializes in dealing with the difficult area of personal relationships.
Dear Q & A: I have a temporary physical disability that makes me very nervous about driving at normal speeds, so I usually drive a few miles per hour slower than the speed limit. This drives some people nuts. They tailgate me and blow their horn and even give me the finger and all this hassle only makes my driving more difficult. What I’ve done lately is drive with my emergency flasher lights on whenever I take the car out. Does this wear down my battery? It’s a new one. I’d hate to have the battery go dead on me, on top of everything else.
—George
Dear George: No, it doesn’t run down your battery, if your alternator is working properly. In normal driving, its output should easily maintain battery charge at a rate higher than the draw caused by the flashers. But there’s another dimension to this than battery power. Are you an accident waiting to happen whenever you enter traffic? You didn’t specify your disability. Is it of a nature and severe enough to make you a hazard to yourself and others? Any vehicle traveling significantly slower than others creates an anomaly in the traffic stream. Speeders, chronic lane changers and laggards (you’re one) all require special actions by other drivers to avoid hitting them. And remember, some of those other drivers are less than competent and might not be able to take evasive action quickly enough to deal with the problem your slow driving presents. You said your disability is “temporary.” It’d be wise to get rides from others and restrict your driving during this temporary period to trips that are absolutely necessary. You don’t want to become a statistic.
Send your automotive questions to Auto Q & A, P.O. Box 2222, Tehachapi, CA 93581.
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