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).
Condition report on front brakes, springs, headlights, and shock absorbers following a 10,000-mile test.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\N\2October1925-December1925\ Scan298 | |
| Date | 1st September 1970 guessed | |
| - 9 - Front brakes, drums & shoes. The front brake liners have worn quicker than normally during the 10,000 miles, & frequent adjustments have had to be made. They are no better than the standard Ferodo liners as regards squeaking. Both front & rear brakes have had this complaint. The wear of the liners has been such that it became necessary to readjust the toggles, as all hand adjustment had been taken up. On one occasion, at the end of one run, there was no braking at all, due to the levers being on the stops. The drums have worn & become scored slightly. The bearings of the brake mechanism have remained good. XXXX Front brake equaliser, to L.O.P. F.73224. The equaliser has functioned O.K. The bearings have worn slightly at both ends. The end play, as previously reported, having developed, is now .185" & from examination this end play appears to be due to the weakness of the bracket mounted on the engine case, i.e. at position just above the bearing. This bracket appears to be bending backwards at this point. Front road springs. From outside examination, the two front road springs are O.K. During the test, we have had to change one spring fitted to the O.S., due to the third leaf from the top breaking right across two & a half inches rear of the centre bolt, & no. 8 leaf on examination was found to have a surface crack one & a half inches rear of centre bolt. The N.S. spring has remained intact. The flexibility of the springs does not appear to have deteriorated. The springs have from examination been hitting the buffers frequently, but these have not been felt unduly hard whilst driving. The spring clips have remained secure. Dipping headlights & controls, to N. Sch. 1854/5. The N.S. dipping headlight has, since our last report, broken a bracket at the function of fork. The tube appears to be weak at this position, & is further weakened by the two rivets, the fracture going through one hole. The controls from countershaft mounted on front cross member to lamps have become considerably worn, & has allowed the lamps to rattle. These do not appear to have sufficient bearing surface for the exposed position, & is not sufficiently protected. The lever operating headlights should be in a more accessible position. "Houdaille" shock absorbers, (front) & connecting links. These shock absorbers have functioned O.K. during the test. We had trouble with the temporary brackets holding same to frame at the beginning, but after thorough tightening these up they have remained secure. A slight leak of oil developed towards close of test from the lever bearings, but it has not been sufficient to cause loss of oil noticeable in the shock absorbers. The adjustment has been set approx. half a turn for most of the test. The shock absorber connecting links to frame have had to be adjusted several times, but the wear on ball ends has not been excessive. The adjustment has been approx. one full turn. | ||