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).
Issue of rattles in the transmission of 20/25 HP cars.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 156\4\ scan0041 | |
| Date | 9th May 1935 | |
| To Ag. from Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rn.{Mr Robinson} c.c. Nor. R.{Sir Henry Royce} c.c. Ey. Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} c.c. Hd.{Mr Hayward/Mr Huddy} MAY. c.c. XP. MX.{John H Maddocks - Chief Proving Officer} X/5/11 Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rn.{Mr Robinson}3/CT.9.5.35. RATTLES IN THE TRANSMISSION. For the past four years there have been isolated cases of 20/25 HP. cars with an unpleasant rattle or growl in the transmission on the overrun at speeds round about 40 m.p.h. The first actual customer's complaint was from Mr. Bernard Hopps. His complaint was cured by fitting a small damped flywheel to the propeller shaft, but it was decided that this method was not altogether suitable for production, and additionally it could not be used on cars with the diamond engine mounting. Since then various other cures have been tried out experimentally, and we now have one to Lcd.3418, which ran 10,000 miles on the first Bentley car in a slightly modified form, and is now running on 14.J.IV. We believe that this rattle in the transmission is one of the worst features of the existing 20/25 HP. although customers complaints are not numerous because it comes on gradually, and the average person does not know what to complain of exactly. We have recently had a persistent case from Mr. Johnson of King's Lynn, and also GAD-7, Loxham's trials car, which in our opinion suffers from this complaint very badly. There is no doubt that the synchromesh gearbox is likely to accentuate the trouble. Since neither of our experimental 20/25's happen to have this complaint, we should like to have the opportunity of proving the effectiveness of the scheme to Lcd.3418 on a car definitely suffering from this trouble, before we circulate a standardisation sheet. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rn.{Mr Robinson} | ||