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through the Schmidt Family Foundation working toward a healthy,

resilient, secure world for all. On the web at the Schmidt.org. Hello and welcome to Carataw from National Public Radio with us click and clack the Tappert brothers and we're broadcasting this week from the Washboard Division here at Car Talk Plaza.

Now this is basically a request for information.

Recently we were trying to answer a question sent in by a reader of our newspaper column

about how to best drive on a washboard road.

And I should explain, maybe some people aren't familiar with what a washboard road is.

Yeah unpaved roads with big holes in them.

Not holes but ripples that run perpendicular to the ruts that are in the road.

I mean all dirt roads this mainly applies to dirt roads yeah

dirt roads have ruts in them that are worn out by the tires and then they are

ripples which run perpendicular to those which by the way change depending on the weather factors include

traffic rain wind pitch of the road pitch

tar

tone road, pitch, tar, tone, embashore.

All that stuff.

All that stuff.

The question is basically, someone wrote to us and asked,

how you should drive over a washboard road.

Should you go very slowly so that your tires follow the contour completely of all the peaks and valleys?

Yeah.

Or should you try to zap along at a given speed that would be determined entirely by experimentation

...