From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Observations on vehicle component performance, including free wheel cams, chassis vibration, and steering systems.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 120\3\ scan0062 | |
| Date | 9th November 1933 | |
| - 2 - Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design}2/HP.9.11.33. plating. This they have already tried on their free wheel cam surfaces. The chromium requires the hard surfaces for support and is then very durable. it is said to have a self-lubricating property. They gave us the name and address of the firm who are doing it. They have been troubled by front shimmying of the chassis, and claimed to have completely cured it by fitting spring suspended, friction damped, weights in the ends of the bumper bars similar to the Packard scheme. They say they have secured patents in England on this device, but we understood the patent situation is not finally settled. They showed us a chassis on the Froude vibrating rig. Sitting in the front seat the vibration appeared to be similar to the one we experience. The bumper weights worked very effectively. Our Experimental Department had in a measure anticipated this result some years ago. In the car we tried, the gear lever is mounted on the frame and isolated from the torsional oscillations of the engine and gearbox which are very flexibly mounted in this respect. They use a flexible exhaust pipe connecting the engine to the silencer mounted on the frame. We gathered that the flexible pipe did not last very long. The gear change was remarkably easy, even with the free wheel locked out of operation. They explained that they used the system of cutting back alternate jaws on the jaw clutches. They are using Marles Steering but are not pleased with either its durability or consistency. Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} | ||