[Rehabilitation and Preventive Maintenance for Trucks and Buses] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov] R E H A BI LITAT10 N AND PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE FOR TRUCKS AND BUSES OFFICE OF DEFENSE TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON 25, D. C. REHABILITATION AND PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE FOR TRUCKS AND BUSES 1944 Prospects for Civilian Commercial Vehicles The job ahead in 1944, for all truck, bus, and passenger car owners, is to -maintain and rehabilitate the vehicles they now own. It is very evident that the demands of the war will prevent any extensive replacement of civilian automotive vehicles during the year. The few trucks and buses that can be built under the War Production Board’s program will be needed for critical replacements. The stockpile of new 1942 model trucks has been practically exhausted. The 1944 schedule of new truck manufacture contemplates 64,000 medium class trucks, 24,000 heavy class trucks, and 28,000 trailers. Only approximately 25 percent of these trucks are scheduled for production in the first half of 1944. If this production schedule is measured against a potential normal and accumulated demand for more than a million trucks, it is obvious that no truck owner should be encouraged to expect that he can obtain a new truck as a replacement for the worn or out-moded truck which he now owns. The reason for this situation is simply that the manufacturing plants which are equipped to make trucks, buses, and cars are engaged in making trucks and munitions for war. In highly mechanized war, trucks and all the rolling stock of the armed forces are expendable material. This means that a constant flow of new trucks, jeeps, tanks, gun carriages, guns, and tires must be made for the Army and Navy and this demand is using practically all the truck, bus, and automobile manufacturing facilities. In spite of the great demands on the truck manufacturers, the situation in regard to replacement parts is brighter. With a better supply of parts which should be available in 1944, the nation’s trucks can be kept in use by minimum overhauling and by regular preventive maintenance. The improved parts situation will not result in a generous supply of parts on every parts vendor’s shelves, but the supply should permit an orderly overhaul of essential trucks. Both before and after overhaul, the present trucks and their tires must be conserved to the utmost by careful use, proper loading, proper speed, and by regular and complete preventive maintenance. Vehicles and their component units must not be run to destruction with merely the excuse that the truck could not be properly serviced because there wTas too much freight to move, or that a part was not on hand when a worn condition was first uncovered. If continued use of a worn part will cause its destruction or the destruction of other parts, and a replacement part is not available, the worn part must be removed and repaired, even though it may mean a short loss of the use of the vehicle. Any other procedure will only result in a later and greater loss of use of the vehicle and will cause an unnecessary demand for more parts. ODT Truck Rehabilitation Program for 1944 For 2 years, the Office of Defense Transportation has stressed preventive maintenance and servicing as the means of keeping the nation’s truck fleet in operation. During these past 2 years, war traffic and war restrictions placed upon the motor truck industry have brought many well-operated and well-maintained trucks to the point where rebuilding and overhauling is necessary, if the American trucking industry is to continue to do its great share in the war effort. At this time, due to slight improvement in the military supply situation, it is possible to add a Truck Rehabilitation Program to the Preventive Maintenance Program. To implement the overhauling and rehabilitation of deteriorated trucks, the Office of Defense Transportation is sponsoring a program which incorporates the use of exchange rebuilt engines, transmissions, and differentials, as well as the use of the smaller exchange accessories, which have been common practice in the repair industry. The aim of this program will be to recondition motor trucks in an orderly manner, with a minimum of new partsy and with the vehicles out of service for very minimum periods of time. With the use of exchange units, it is possible to have the units reconditioned and rebuilt for use in another vehicle. This quick change method, under present war conditions, will be effective in keeping essential motor vehicles on the road more days during the year. 2 The exchange plan for engines, transmissions, and differentials will be somewhat similar to the practice that has been followed for several years in regard to the overhaul of carburetors, fuel pumps, ignition distributors, and other small accessories. The larger units, however, cannot be rebuilt by as many neighborhood rebuilders as is possible with smaller units because the equipment and facilities necessary for remachining and rebuilding the large units is considerably larger and more expensive. Depending upon the trade customs and merchandising practices in regard to different makes of vehicles, the large exchange rebuilt units may be obtained from the following sources; original unit manufacturers, specialized rebuilders, and dealer garages. From these sources, dealers, garages, and truck owners may purchase the rebuilt exchange units, contingent upon the return of the worn units which are removed from their trucks or buses. This exchange program is now permitted under revised WPB Orders L-158 and M-311. Merchandising details and the location of the rebuilding shops will depend on the trade arrangements and distribution plans of the individual concerns and upon local conditions. The exchange of the smaller units and accessories has been in common use in the trade, and practices and prices are generally understood. The use of the larger exchange units has not been common, and because of their different nature, the practices and prices have been less understood. In the case of these larger units, the exchange price can vary by large amounts because of the greater possibilities for different degrees of wear and for different types of repair work required to bring the turned-in unit up to the standards of the rebuilder. The prices for rebuilding exchange v/nits are covered by maximum price regulations. Details regarding these pricing formulae can be obtained best from the current OPA orders. Office of Price Administration Maximum Price Regulations Nos. 452 and 453 cover exchange units where ownership title of the unit passes to the rebuilder or the user as the unit actually changes hands. Maximum Price Regulation No. 165 covers charges where the rebuilder rebuilds and returns the identical unit to the owner. To explain the reasons for wide variation in the costs of unit exchange engines, let us take an engine for illustration. Under Maximum Price Regulation No. 452, a ceiling price is established by the rebuilder for a standard list of repair operations and the minimum number of replacement parts, such as piston rings, engine bearings, pistons, and other small parts needed to rebuild a normally worn and otherwise undamaged engine to a standardized rebuilt condition. The repair operations include reboring the cylinders, redressing the valves, correcting the crankshaft, and fitting and assembling the parts of the engine. The standard operations vary with the different engines and may vary with certain rebuilders so that the standard customs in a district must be learned. Now if a normally worn and undamaged engine is offered for a rebuilt exchange engine, the local ceiling price will prevail. The actual facts regarding a turned-in engine are usually determined when the engine is dismantled for rebuilding. If a turned-in engine is found to have defects outside the standard rebuilding schedule, the previous owner of the engine must pay, in addition to the local standard exchange price, the cost of the additional work and material needed to. rebuild the damaged engine to the rebuilder’s standard rebuilt condition. Where not already available, a stock of units may be built up by manufacturers, other dealers, and rebuilders at places where sufficient rebuilding machinery and tools are available. Fleet owners, who have facilities for engine rebuilding in their own shops, may purchase spare engines to start a self-contained exchange rebuilding program in the ratio of 1 spare engine for each 25 vehicles which they own. (See WPB Order L-158.) The production of additional units for these purposes will be spread throughout the year so as not to seriously interfere with other production, and much of the production may not occur until the last half of the year. The success of this new program will depend upon the promptness with which the worn units are returned to the rebuilding shops and rebuilt. The 1944 parts schedule of the War Production Board should assure a constant flow of the parts needed to rebuild the units promptly so that the rebuilt unit will be ready, as soon as possible, for installation in another vehicle. A rapid turnover of the exchange units will permit an orderly and efficient rehabilitation of the nation’s truck fleet, with the individual truck units out of service for a minimum of time and with a minimum use of new parts and a maximum reclamation of used parts. The Office of Defense Transportation has the job of promoting the rehabilitation program, of stimulating continued preventive operation and 3 preventive maintenance, and of assisting in expediting the distribution of needed parts. Four groups have an interest in, and are participating in, this rehabilitation program. The War Food Administration is assisting in promoting the entire program to the agricultural industry at the farmer level. The truck garages, truck manufacturers, parts manufacturers, unit rebuilders, and auto wreckers have the job of rendering the rehabilitation service to the truck owners. The War Production Board has the job of scheduling and expediting the production of needed parts to make needed rehabilitation possible. The Office of Price Administration has the job of determining and enforcing ceiling prices so that both the dealer and the truck owner receive fair treatment. In promoting truck rehabilitation, the district offices of the Office of Defense Transportation must not oversell a specific program that the truck manufacturers, dealers, or rebuilders may not be able to offer in a given local territory. Because of certain problems in scheduling actual production, all manufacturers may not be able to set up all their models as exchange units. However, it is planned to make available from various sources either new or used parts needed for the repair of units which are not available on an exchange basis. This means that the district members of the Office of Defense Transportation will have to learn the details and extent of the rehabilitation services which are actually available in their districts. The reason for this is that the various vendors of service may offer various types of service, depending upon local conditions and their merchandising programs. With the local information in mind, the broad principles of the rehabilitation program can be adapted to local conditions and to specific cases. In adapting and promoting the rehabilitation program, it must be recognized that rehabilitation of trucks can be abused and can result in a waste of material and labor. The great merit and value of the exchange unit plan liés in the fact that the truck can be returned to road use in the shortest space of time. One of the cautions to remember in applying the plan is that trucks in seasonal or irregular service can be efficiently repaired without the use of exchange units and this plan may appeal to many truck owners. To implement this custom rebuilding, the same parts which may be available for unit rebuilding will assist in custom rebuilding. Further, the larger units, such as engine, transmission, and differential can have certain repairs made upon them as quickly as would be possible with the use of exchange units. For example, valve grinding, piston ring replacement where cylinders are in good condition, and similar jobs requiring no remachining of parts can be done very efficiently as a custom repair job. Exchange units should be recommended wherever considerable machining or repairing is necessary. For example, on an engine where the cylinders need to be rebored, the time involved for a good custom job may keep a truck out of service for a week or two. Obviously, if the truck is needed for regular service daily, it is much more efficient to jise an exchange engine and return the truck to service on the following day. Transmission and rear axle exchange units may enable the return of a truck to service during the same day in which it entered the garage. Wherever the use of exchange units will expedite the return of a truck to service, and where the use of exchange units will not increase the repair material required, the exchange unit plan should be recommended. In the further operation of the rehabilitation program, the district offices of the Office of Defense Transportation will continue to expedite parts at the dealer and distributor levels. This service is one which will be necessary in order to overcome difficulties in the distribution of parts through normal sales organizations. Requests for parts which cannot be filled by a search at the district dealer and distributor level probably indicate a shortage at the manufacturer level, and for that reason such requests are referred by the ODT to the regional representatives of the War Production Board for handling at the manufacturer level. These arrangements for cooperation between the Office of Defense Transportation and the War Production Board have been in effect for some time and the new rehabilitation program does not change these functions and relations. Preventive Operation It must be understood and realized by every owner, driver, maintenance or service man that new trucks, replacement parts, and tires will be scarce for the balance of the war. Preventive operation will be needed, as well as preventive maintenance in order to enable the truck fleet of the nation to do its part during the balance of the war. Preventive operation means the elimination of all things which will tend to reduce the life of a truck. The chief points of preventive operation are as follows: Eliminate unnecessary use of a vehicle. Reduce dead-head mileage. Do not exceed the victory speed limit. Do not load the truck so that the tires on any one wheel or axle are overloaded. In connection with the unnecessary use of vehicles, the Federal Government has launched the Government mileage conservation program which is expected to result in a reduction of mileage to 40 percent below the 1941 mileage for Government 4 vehicles. This program, and the outline of the methods to be used, are given in Government publication OPA R-575. In view of the many substitute materials which are now being used in truck work, the driver needs to practice preventive operation in order to eliminate premature failures. Parts made of the NE, or National Emergency, steels, such as axle shafts and transmission gears have tensile strength equal to the original alloys, but the shock strength of these NE steels is somewhat reduced. With careful operation on the driver’s part, and correct loading, the strengths of such parts are ample, but they will not stand overloads and abuse. Synthetic rubber tires are an example of another substitute which will require very careful operation and regular maintenance. The experience with heavy duty synthetic tires .to date has shown that they are very sensitive to air pressure, bruises, and overheating caused by either overload or overspeed. If these things are carefully avoided, the service from synthetic tires can be reasonably satisfactory. In addition, it is essential that good tire carcasses be recapped at the proper time, since new tire production facilities are critical. The octane antiknock value of motor fuels has already been somewhat reduced. This change, caused by the military program, may require readjustments of the engine and its accessories in order to prevent serious damage from detonation. The engines now in use in the trucks of this country can be operated without damage on the motor fuels now available. The necessary adjustments may result in very small reduction in maximum horsepower, but not enough reduction to seriously affect normal operation. The driver, however, in operating his vehicle, must be very careful not to cause excessive engine detonation by his method of operation. Whenever detonation develops, either the speed should be reduced, or the truck should be shifted into a lower gear. As his further share in truck conservation, the driver daily should make a few easy checks and do a few simple servicing jobs on his truck before starting the day’s work. These tasks, which are a part of the driver’s responsibility, include: 1. Check tire inflation and inspect tires for cuts, damage, or signs that wheels are out of line. 2. Check radiator for proper amount of water or antifreeze, fill as necessary. 3. Check oil level in engine, fill as necessary. 4. Check the following items for correct operation. Windshield wiper. Engine oil pressure. Horn. Generator charging rate. Lights. Engine temperature Brakes. gauge. 5. At the end of the day’s work, or before if necessary, report to owner or dispatcher any mechanical difficulties or defects which have developed and which should be corrected before further use. It must be brought home to both the owner and the driver that trucks can be easily overloaded in wartime. There is little that the mechanic can do to conserve a vehicle if the owner and driver insist upon overloading, misleading, or overspeeding the truck. Trucks are designed to carry certain loads, and with correct loads, will operate with reliability and minimum wear of parts. Trucks, however, will carry extreme overloads for short periods of time, but the premature failures can be traced to either abuse or poor maintenance. Preventive Maintenance The design of American trucks compels that their chassis and running gear parts be lubricated at approximately 1000-mile intervals. At this 1,000-mile interval, and at 3,000—5,000-mile intervals thereafter, there are certain services and adjustments which must be made if the vehicle is to operate safely without failure and with a minimum use of replacement parts. If the vehicle is not shopped at these regular intervals, preventive maintenance work obviously cannot be performed. The aim of preventive maintenance is to so lubricate and service a truck as to result in its operation for many thousands of miles without the use of new parts. The techniques of preventive maintenance are to uncover misadjusted, loosened, weak, or partially worn spots before failure occurs, and to clean, lubricate, test, adjust, tighten, and service all the parts and the . entire running gear in order to prevent failure and wear. Preventive maintenance assumes that the vehicle is well designed and adapted to the job. No preventive maintenance program will compensate for overloads or abusive service. Failures caused by overload or abusive service may not be repairable in the future because of shortage of parts which may compel the allotment of repair parts to owners who need the parts for normal repairs and reconditioning after long periods of proper service. One cannot be sympathetic with the owner who over 5 loads and abuses his trucks and their tires, even though he may apply the grease gun at regular intervals. The great principle in preventive maintenance is regularity. The usüal basis for preventive maintenance scheduling has been mileage, but mileage records are frequently difficult to follow in scheduling a vehicle into a garage or service station. This is especially true now when garage manpower is scarce and garages are busy. From the shop management viewpoint, a time or day basis is the simplest way of scheduling. Since trucks in any operation usually average about the same weekly mileage, from week to week, it is possible to determine a day and week period upon which the usual 1,000-mile, and 3,000-5,000-mile preventive maintenance service can be performed. For example, city delivery trucks average between 750-1,250 miles per month, whereas over-the-road trucks may run this mileage or more in 1 week. On the basis of these assumptions, city delivery trucks should be lubricated and receive a 750-1,250-mile servicing at periods not to exceed 1 month and should receive a complete checking and servicing at periods of about 3 months. The over-the-road trucks will need their lubrications and 750-1,250-mile servicing at lèast once a week or more often and should receive the more complete servicing at periods of approximately 1 month The 750-1,250-mile preventive maintenance service should include more than a mere grease job. The 3,000-5,000-mile preventive maintenance service should be a quite complete cleaning, lubricating, testing, adjusting, tightening, and minor repair of the entire vehicle. The 3,000-5,000-mile inspection work, by its very nature, needs to be done at a fairly well equipped garage. The truck manufacturers and dealers, and many independent garages are qualified to give this class of complete maintenance service. Many detailed preventive maintenance guides are available either from truck manufacturers or from large fleet operators. Any owner can determine exactly the operations he wishes to have his garage perform at the 3,000-5,000-mile period by reviewing in detail such preventive maintenance guides with the garage manager. There have been many requests for an Office of Defense Transportation standardized preventive maintenance guide procedure. This is a difficult request, due to the many variables and differences in truck operation. However, the subject is being studied more fully, not alone by Office of Defense Transportation, and The Society of Automotive Engineers, but also by the United States Office of Education which is interested in developing rapid methods of teaching maintenance techniques. As a step toward a uniform procedure, there is offered at this time, a “Preventive Maintenance— Short Guide” for the service work to be done at the 750-1,250-mile period. The work outlined in this short guide is somewhat more than a simple lubrication job. The work outlined covers items that need attention at approximately 1,000-mile periods, and in addition, the defects which are found are reported in order to give the vehicle owner a quick idea of the condition of his truck and its need for any immediate and further maintenance. In using this “Preventive Maintenance—Short Guide,” it should be pointed out that space is provided at the end of the guide for the addition of specific servicing items which the truck owner may wish to have made because of severe operating conditions or because of special equipment on the vehicle; In the guide also are included items which may not be needed by certain types of operators; for example, see items Nos. 6 and 14. Such items, if not necessary at any given preventive maintenance service period, may be crossed out by the truck owner. On the other hand, an item such as the battery may need water oftener than once a month. 6 SUGGESTED PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE CHECK FORM PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE—SHORT GUIDE Vehicle No.________________ 750-1250-MILE SERVICE Date this job____________________________________________________________ Name of shop doing work___________________________________Date of previous job____________ Make and model of vehicle_______________ Speedometer reading___"_________ License No. Owner of vehicle________________________ Owner’s address__________________________________ This “Short Guide” is not a complete preventive maintenance service. In addition to doing the service and making the checks indicated on this guide every 1,000 miles, at approximately 5,000-mile intervals, all parts of the vehicle should be cleaned, lubricated, checked or tested, and adjusted or tightened as necessary. Any defects uncovered during the service work, which need repairs, and which cannot be corrected during the preventive maintenance service work, should be scheduled for the necessary shop work. Reporting Code:\Z=Checked and found O. K. X=Adjustments or Repairs made. O=Repairs needed. 1. Report engine oil pressure gauge 11. Check radiator for leaks and report. _ reading with hot engine. Idle speed. lbs. 12. Check water hose, water pump and engine for water leaks. 2. Maximum oil pressure. (a) Report if ammeter or indicator shows that generator is charge ing at medium engine speed. lbs. 13. (a) 1. Test battery with hydrometer, and report cell gravity readings 2. 3 (b) Report maximum ammeter read- _ _ Amps. 1. , 2. 3. 3. ings. Lubricate chassis, running gear, steering gear, fan, water pump, generator, distributor and accessories according to manufacturers’ lubrication guides. __ Add water as necessary. Report if water was below top of plates. (c) Check terminals and hold-down 4. Check lubricant and lubricant level clamps. in transmission and differential, and check for leaks. (Report on reverse side, the amount of lubricant added.) 14. (a) Report if spark plugs were cleaned. 5. Check engine oil. Drain or add as directed by owner. (Report amount of new oil added to crankcase, on the reverse side.) W If plugs cleaned, report gap setting. 15. Check fan and generator belts. 6. Report if oil filter cartridge was changed. 16. Check fan bearings. Check clearance between fan and radiator. Shake radiator to check for tightness of supports and stay rods. 7. Check oil lines, and engine crankcase, and oil filter gaskets for oil leaks. 17. Check clutch pedal lash and clearance • with floor. Report pedal lash (free pedal) in inches. Check gasoline filters, clean if necessary. Check fuel lines for leaks. 8. * 18. Brakes. 9. 10. Clean and reoil carburetor air cleaner (a) Test antifreeze strength and report freezing point. (In winter season.) (b) Report amount of water (or antifreeze) added. W (b) vnecK oraKe peuai travel, ii more than % way down, report so brake shoes can be adjusted. Check brake fluid level in master cylinder. Report if additional brake fluid is needed. »F, Qts. (c) If master cylinder needs brake fluid, check lines and fittings for leaks. Note on reverse side any other bad mechanical conditions including plugged grease fittings observed during the service work. Also report any defects reported by the driver which were not corrected. 19. Check hand brake adjustment. Report if hand brake lever travels more than % of full-travel in setting the brake. __________________ 21. (a) Check tires for cuts, bruises or bad wear and report any bad conditions, including low air pressure. 20. Check front wheel toe-in and report amount of toe-in. ____________________ (6) Check dual tires for mating and report. L________________________ R______________________ .(c) Inflate tires and replace valve caps. ______________ (d) Tighten wheel and rim nuts. _________________________ 22. Special instructions to be added by owner in regard to special equipment on vehicle or unusual operating conditions. Defects uncovered which need repairs___________________________________ ______________________________________ Work performed by_____________________________________________________________________________________________ SUMMARY Engine oil: Brand and grade _______________________________________________________ Amount_______________ Quarts----------- Gear lubricant: Transmission—Brand and grade ___________________________________________ Amount-------------- Pints------------ Differential—Brand and grade ________i ________________________________ Amount______________ Pints____________ Other items _____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________ Service work ________________________________________________________________________________ Hours----------- _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Hours. _•_______ ________________________________“______________,_____________________________________________ Hours___________ U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1944 8