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).
Issue of tyre out-of-truth and out-of-balance causing high-speed wobbles and the strategy for customer communication.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 4\3\ 03-page52 | |
| Date | 16th October 1925 | |
| X401 BJ / EFH / Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} BY7/H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} 16.10.25. -------------------- OUT-OF-TRUTH OF TYRES. -------------------- Referring to BJ6/H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} 12.10.25. my attitude towards this question agrees definitely with that put forward by CJ. in the paragraph quoted from the Sales Conference. We have taken every precaution to ensure customers obtaining tyres within limits of accuracy which will prevent any possibility of trouble arising. The precautions have gone in the direction of accepting tyres only which are within certain limits of out-of-balance which the Dunlop Company agree they can produce commercially. The dimensional out-of-truth which was the cause of my memo BY11/H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} 9.10.25. being written, invariably coincides with an out-of-balance effect, and the one is covered by the other, particularly when it is realised that a road is not a smooth surface like the dynamometer drum, as I pointed out. The position at the moment is that we did already more than cover all the points raised by him long before his memo was received, but we do not know how to incorporate in the Instruction Book or the Pamphlet we propose issuing, a paragraph which will deal with the slight dimensional inaccuracies which must exist in a commercially manufactured tyre, in such a manner as not to cause a very serious reflection to be cast upon the Rolls Royce car. Other car makers do not go to any trouble at all in this matter, but we on our part have gone as far as I believe it is reasonably possible to go, and to go further, will, in my opinion, undoubtedly cause a scare or panic to be set up among customers to the effect that our car is more subject to high speed wobbles than any other car. Other makes mask or ignore the trouble. We deal with it. The fact that other makers mask or ignore the trouble would lead owners to believe that such cars were free from all possibilities of wobbles, whereas we know from experience they are in exactly the same position as we ourselves, in fact, many of them are worse off. BY.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} [Handwritten note on the right margin] More and anything than this went in our opinion | ||