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).
Wheel balance issues with India Tyres and their detrimental effect on vehicle steering.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 17\7\ Scan069 | |
| Date | 14th April 1930 | |
| x7810 C. From Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Bn.{W.O. Bentley / Mr Barrington} c. to SG.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} IHS. c. to Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} SY. c. to Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} c. to EP.{G. Eric Platford - Chief Quality Engineer} H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Bn.{W.O. Bentley / Mr Barrington}3/MJ.14.4.30. x7518. x4462. x401. x7810. INDIA TYRES. ============= On Major Segrave's car we found that one of the front wheels was 1 lb. out of balance. We checked the wheel up and found that this was the best result that could be obtained using the standard balance weights. The car is fitted with India tyres. The position is this. We carefully specified the out of balance of covers which we will accept from Messrs. Dunlop and arranged our balance weights so that we could deal with this quantity. The India tyres apparently are exempt from such specification and the result is that neither the owner or anyone else can balance wheels fitted with these tyres without adopting non-standard procedure. We think that this matter is exceedingly serious as 1 lb. out of balance is capable of completely spoiling the steering of any car we know of when driven at 80 miles per hour, and all our efforts to obtain good steering are likely to be nullified by such tyres. We therefore recommend that where India tyres are fitted to customers' cars, wheels should be carefully checked for balance and if results do not lie within our standard limits the tyres should be returned to the makers. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Bn.{W.O. Bentley / Mr Barrington} | ||