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).
The performance of the steering column, steering tubes, propeller shaft, and rear axle.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 91\3\ scan0222 | |
| Date | 31th October 1935 | |
| ( II ) STEERING COLUMN & BOX. LOP F 187743 LEC 460I RR.SCH. 875 NS{Norman Scott} 4579 E TYPE MARLES. The steering column was free from whipping and no noticeable rattles developed from the controls. No slackness developed in the cam and roller. The box was free from oil leaks. The steering was light and sensitive, self centred readily. It was bad for joggles specially between 40 & 60 MPH. The joggles were accentuated by the wear of the front tyres, which eventually caused a bad wabble on the over-run, starting at 45 MPH. down to zero. New tyres immediately brought it back to normal. I lb. lead weights fitted diametrically opposit on the steering wheel as requested by Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/FJH{Fred J. Hardy - Chief Dev. Engineer}/I4/KW.31.10.35, increased the intensity of the joggles at medium speeds. With good tyres the steering was selective and stable. SIDE STEERING TUBE LOP F 87178 NS{Norman Scott} 4497 4II7 CROSS STEERING TUBES LOP G 81942 G 81937. The side steering tube retained its friction load. No conceivable wear of the pads and ballend was noticeable.lubrication was ample. The front ball pin became loose in the socket of the bell-crank lever. Whether this had been thoroughly tightened up in the first instance we cannot say. The tab of the locking washer in the recess of the ball shank was found broken. The nut was tightened up a full half turn a new locking washer fitted. The cross steering tubes and ballends gave no trouble and were amply lubricated. PROPELLER SHAFT LOP G 82089 GL{G. Linnett} 732. With the loose gearbox support at rear, the propeller shaft vibrated on the over-run. With the fitting of the new rubber suspension, the shaft was free from vibration forward and on the over-run. No loss of grease took place from the mechanics joints and no slackness developed. REAR AXLE LOP G 83089 (8 x 34 ratio) NS{Norman Scott} 465I. Mod. to Taper on Pinion. Keyways modified to suit larger keys E I4708. The Axle was a good standard for quietness. The over-run period reported was very light. There was a slight weep of oil throughout the mileage from the pinion housing bearing. There was no sign of any failure of the pinion keys. There has been no indication or sign of any failure of the pinion keys. The oil capacity of the axle is not very great. The amount is I.1/4 pints. We were not quite happy with this amount should a leak occur down the tube. We therefore increased the amount to 2 pints and ran the mileage with that quan-tity of oil. We fitted a thermometer to take the oil temperature, at the same time increased the quantity of oil to see what effect was produced. | ||