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).
Steering experiments with Michelin disc wheels, testing the effects of wheel dish orientation on steering stability.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 49\4\ Scan068 | |
| Date | 23th April 1920 | |
| To R.{Sir Henry Royce} from Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} c. to CL. c. to EN. c. to E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} c. to Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} c. to BY.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} c. to EP.{G. Eric Platford - Chief Quality Engineer} EFC X.3441 EFO [STAMP: APR 24 1920] COPY. 2 copies [STAMP: RECEIVED / LG23.4.20.] [CROSSED OUT: X.963] X.3482 RE STEERING. [CROSSED OUT: X.3143] X.3791a We have been able to make some interesting experiments on the steering by means of Michelin disc wheels. We carried out the tests on 2.EX Car which has run 10,000 miles. The steering on that car which is fitted with Michelin disc wheels, is not very good. It has the complaint that the steering is very light and that the steering wheel is constantly oscillating. After testing the car in the standard condition we reversed the Michelin disc wheels on the front of the car i.e., instead of having the wheels dished inwards we fitted them so that they were dished outwards. This made the steering so that instead of being approximately centre-point the wheels were about 4½" out of centre-point. Everything else of course, was identically the same. We found that the steering on the car with the wheels this extreme amount out from the pivot was not at all bad. The outstanding difference one could notice was that there was more friction in the steering. The friction was there over the whole range. The friction was there if the steering was moved the slightest degree from the centre. There was a definite advantage in the steering when the wheels were fitted dished outwards that was that the steering wheel kept steady when going over the average bad roads. We then tried the car with one dished inwards and one dished outwards. To our surprise we found (Contd). | ||