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 column movement issues, wobble problems, and a comparison with a Bentley vehicle's steering system.
Identifier | ExFiles\Box 21\2\ Scan057 | |
Date | 28th June 1928 guessed | |
contd :- -2- front springs as there is not more than 1.00" buffer clearance at normal load, possibly this is an attempt to alleviate wobbles. The second very objectionable feature about the steering was the column movement. It was quite impossible to form any reliable impression as to tangential road shocks owing to the flexing of the column at anything above 50 m.ph. This was so bad that it was difficult to understand how the makers allowed it to leave the Works in such a condition. It was worst during the wobble, possibly it is partially due to frame flexing and therefore is difficult to cure - the column was not very raked, about a 'D' steering, but the movement was in the neighbourhood of .75" in any direction. We were able to establish that there was not very much longitudinal flexibility in the steering system, as a rough impression 2/3rds. of ours. The selectivity, had the column been steady, might have been quite good. The steering, as we have previously reported, is lower geared than ours, it is no lighter for shunting, however. The steering lock is not so good. It self-centres nicely. The conclusions formed were that the RR. steering was very much superior to that of the Bentley. We pointed out that the Bentley people have probably run into wobbles because they have, amongst other things, insufficient longitudinal flexibility in their system. We believe it is now appreciated how much better it is to have moderate strength side steering tube springs than high speed wobbles. We think that Bentleys have still a great deal to learn about big car steerings, perhaps what we tried was exceptional but it had been sold to a customer. contd :- | ||