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).
Chassis troubles and the riding qualities of post-war cars, attributing issues to cord tires and thick leaf rear springs.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 42\5\ Scan019 | |
| Date | 22th September 1920 | |
| <3895> Oy4 - G 22920 Sept. 22, 1920 Mr. Claude Johnson, Managing Director, Rolls-Royce Ltd., London, England. X 3895 Re: New Chassis Troubles. Riding Qualities of the Post War Cars Dear Sir:- We have been most interested in reading Mr. Royce's memo to Mr. Hives of the 20th of August and Mr. Hives' memo to Mr. Royce of the 1st of September re tires; also your memo of the 30th of August giving Mr. Royce's confirmation that a car with cord tires, either American or English Palmer's, spoils the beauty of running. Our own experiences with post war cars have led us to the conclusion that the majority of the serious troubles which we complain of in post war cars are due to the combination of cord tires with thick leaf rear springs. This combination we believe accounts for - 1- All sorts of chassis noises; roaring of the chassis at high speeds; knocking in the transmission when running slow with little power; gear box noise; engine coupling clatter. 2- It is a contributing cause to booming in bodies, although this, we believe, is rendered worse by the use of hammered aluminum roofs as used in English Sedan bodies. This is referred to in a separate report. The cord tires also account, undoubtedly, for steering wobbles and for wear in the steering, and for clatter in the front shackles if they are at all loose. We absolutely agree with Mr. Hives in his statement that the pressures called for by the tire makers are quite unreasonable, and besides destroying the riding qualities of the car do not increase the tire mileage, and we are campaigning here to get owners to run their tires at 55 to 65 lbs. This practice does a lot towards reducing steering wobbles and chassis noises, but it is not the final solution of the trouble for American road conditions. We are sure that the final solution of steering wobbles is the use of a little friction in the steering, as suggested by Mr. Royce. This has given excellent results at the Service Station | ||