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).
Front axle control issues related to spring stiffness and the fitting of four-wheel brakes.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 72\3\ scan0269 | |
| Date | 1st July 1924 | |
| SECRET. To R.{Sir Henry Royce} from CJ. Front Axle Control. My dear R.{Sir Henry Royce}, We have now EAC.II chassis 46-PK. This is being tried by officials of the Sales department and I believe that Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} and Hy.{Tom Haldenby - Plant Engineer} are to take it to you on Thursday. The reports up to now lead one to believe that, if we fit 4 wheel brakes to the 360 odd chassis which have been issued without them and to which we have promised to affix them and if the front springing is as harsh as that on the chassis which is now under test here, a very large proportion of the 360 owners, when they receive their cars back again, will consider their cars ruined and impossible to use so far as the springing is concerned. If this opinion is borne out by further trials of the car which are to be made to-morrow by various officials, then we are up against a difficulty which I mkaui suggest should be dealt with now even if it means a further delay in affixing 4 wheel brakes to the 360 chassis already issued and a further delay in producing cars at the Works complete with four wheel brakes. If there is a means of controlling the front axle satisfactorily without increasing the strength of the front springs, then it would seem that this should be adopted at the earliest possible date and that no cars should be altered or issued in which the control of the front axle is brought about by the stiffening of the front springs to an extent which, according to present reports, makes the car a horrible vehicle. Will you kindly take this suggestion into immediate consideration with a view to ascertaining what would be the delay involved by substituting a control of the front axle other than by stiffening the front springs? To deprive a Rolls-Royce user of the beautiful springing which has been one of the main features of the car might do untold damage to the finances of the Company in the future. It is true that the car which we are now trying has not the longer springs but Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} informs us that those springs will only be one inch longer approximately and that they are not sure that they will make any material difference to the discomfort of the springing. Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} further states that it is not proposed to make any Handwritten Notes: - In the left margin: Seen further W-S-Th - In the seventh paragraph, the word "this" is written above "those". - In the seventh paragraph, the phrase "they are not sure" is struck through and the word "are" is written above it. | ||