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).
Letter from the US to UK office regarding high-speed steering wobble, test results, and production delays.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 29\1\ Scan303 | |
| Date | 24th May 1927 | |
| X457 ROLLS-ROYCE OF AMERICA, INC. SPRINGFIELD, MASS. Oy2-E-52427 May 24, 1927. Mr. E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} W. Hives, Rolls-Royce, Ltd., Derby, England. Steering Dear Mr. Hives: Noting that you are still pursuing high speed wobble (Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}10/LG6.5.27) I enclose two prints and a report describing a perfect sample which we ran into the other day on a test chassis. This was a front brake car with the new lightened axle. Everything else favored wobbles, 6-3/4 non-skid tires with low pressure, (about 25 lbs.) R.R.friction shock absorbers with a light setting, tires probably worn out of balance. We get wobbles on chassis but never yet on finished cars. We think this may be due to the additional weight of the finished car (about 400 lb. on the front axle) holding down the fore and aft movement permitted by the slack fit in the rear serrated shackle of the front springs. To test this we have produced tighter fitting bushes, about .004" slack instead of 1/16" for the rear end of the front spring, but have not proceeded far enough to know whether they are a benefit. Production of R.R. hydraulics has been delayed by the very full plate we have had in other respects. Shall be producing these now in about 3 weeks. Yours very truly, Maurice Olley MO/E | ||