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).
Different steering mechanisms, their disadvantages regarding shocks and heaviness, and plans for a new design.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 67\3\ scan0156 | |
| Date | 1st July 1925 guessed | |
| contd :- -2- wheel and the road wheels to reduce the shocks. This constitutes the lightest steering possible, but (as we have experienced) in the Hispano and our own car, it is not absolutely decided, and we doubt very much if it is in the Sunbeam, the reason being that the buffer springs as intended, permit a certain amount of flexibility between the road wheels and the steering wheel. The only alternative to this scheme that is known is to use irreversible steering such as the worm and sector, (as adopted by Delage and many others), and no buffer springs. The disadvantage of this is however that the steering gear receives very definite and destructive shocks from the road wheels, resulting in broken parts, such as the ball breakage in the Mercedes, (causing death to one of the royal house of Germany), and the steering arm breakage in the Morris-Oxford. This type of steering also makes the steering extremely heavy unless the car is in motion,(so much so that Mr. Claremont's Rover is very heavy to shunt). In conclusion, we have every hope of making some progress in our next attempt, and we have done slightly more than FN. suggests, inasmuch as we have an experienced designer on this work, superintended by DA.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} and myself, and we are not trusting to simply putting a draughtsman on the work, which would only mean mere waste of time. Regarding Mr. Skinner and the Sunbeam, I do not wish to anticipate results, but our people here know of Mr. Skinner, and are not struck with his views. Moreover a Sunbeam contd :- | ||