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).
Investigation report on brake seizure and other issues on a Phantom III, chassis 35-EX.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 96\3\ scan0052 | |
| Date | 22th January 1936 | |
| N-W Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} Martindale x 360 let me see one of these shafts please. Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} re Phantom III - Chassis 35-EX On Sunday last, the 19th inst. we received an S.O.S. from the driver of the above car, to the effect that he had had trouble with the brakes. The car was being worked on by Messrs. Park Wards, and we were given to understand that it was required next morning for a very important Trial run. We consequently got hold of two of our mechanics and took them to Park Wards to investigate. It was alleged that the brakes had seized, therefore the rear hubs were removed and we found that as a result of the driver letting off all the external adjustment, the ball ended operating rods had come adrift and were lying between the footbrake straps and the dust covers. Everything in the rear brake mechanism was perfectly free, but of course with the operating rods out of position, this had resulted in there being no rear footbrake. The operating rods were re-fitted and the brakes were re-adjusted to their correct position. We then learned that the important run for Monday was cancelled, so the car was brought to N on Monday morning for us to go further into the job. Upon further investigation we found that the actuating shafts of the front wheel brakes were rusty on the portion beyond the middle bearing to the lever on the outside, and this caused the front brakes to stick on. These shafts were cleaned off, well lubricated and re-assembled. We then examined the servo and considered it advisable to dress up the liners. During the dismantling, we noticed that a shoulder pin, fitted to the yoke end of the pull rod nearest to the servo mechanism suspension link, had badly fouled this link, so much so that the head had cut a groove into it approximately 3/8" long and 1/32" deep. This pin had obviously been fitted the wrong way round. On a subsequent test all the brakes were found to be quite efficient and free. Br.{T. E. Bellringer - Repair Manager} [signature] | ||