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).
Comparing Marles and Marles Weller steering gears, providing reasons against adopting the former.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 17\4\ Scan051 | |
| Date | 17th June 1933 | |
| To E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} from Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rn.{Mr Robinson} C. WOr.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} Hy.{Tom Haldenby - Plant Engineer} C. Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} Hdy.{William Hardy} C. Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} XT430 Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rn.{Mr Robinson}2/KT.17.6.33. P.II. STEERING. With reference to the proposal to try a complete Marles steering on the Phantom car, we attach prints of the Marles gear recommended for the 40/50 and Bentley cars. The reasons we have not recently tried out the Marles steering on the 40/50 are :- (1) It means a considerable amount of redesigning because it necessitates a much more bulky steering box which in the existing position fouls the R.R. semi-expanding carburetter. (2) It is a heavier steering gear. (3) It is more reversible than the Marles Weller type. (4) The makers have spent years making the Marles type gear and have come to the conclusion that the Marles Weller gear which they have recently taken up gives more satisfactory results. (5) We tested one on the Phantom six years ago with disappointing results. We have now stripped the Marles Weller gear which has been running on Sg{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD}'s car for six months and consider the condition is very good. We are sure that if Rolls-Royce made this steering it could be made to stand up for 40,000 to 50,000 miles without developing any appreciable slackness. As an indication how good this steering is for road shocks we found that the front tyres on Sg{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD}'s car were each 1/2 lb. out of balance a fact which nobody had noticed. You recently had practical experience of how bad the steering is on 104-MY. This is a brand new car. We are sure that this steering would be intolerable after 10,000 miles running. We suggest that it would be worth while making the necessary detail design modifications to the Marles Weller steering which have shewn themselves desirable as a result of the test during the past 12 months, and manufacturing a gear in the Expl. Dept to run on the next 10,000 miles test on the Phantom. It would be a more useful test than continuing to test the standard steering. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rn.{Mr Robinson} | ||