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The Riker Chassis.

16th November 1916
Page 14
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Page 14, 16th November 1916 — The Riker Chassis.
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Most readers seeing the name at the head of this brief article will at once jump to the conclusion that THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR is again presenting to the notice of its readers particulars of a new chassis. Such is not, in this instance, the case. The Riker was formerly known as the Locomobile, one of the better-class American chassis, the name having been altered partly in order to distinguish in America. between the touring car and commercial-vehicle products of the Locomobile Co., and partly as a mark of respect for its designer, Mr. A. L. Riker, who is the chief engineer of the company, besides having been the first president of the Society of Automobile Engineers of America ; he is also a member of the U.S. Naval Advisory Board.

Changes in the design of this chassis from that current on the occasion of our provioiv description of the Locomobile are slight, the most impectant being that of the substitution of a radiator having vertical gilled tubes for the previously popular cellular one ; credit., we think, may justly be assigned to British design for this feature, as it is undoubtedly due to experience gained in British hands on the various War Fronts that has brought prominently before the notice of American makers the defect; of the older type. Its demerits have long been common knowledge on this side of the Atlantic.

One or two of the outstanding features' of design may. again usefully have reference to-day, as a reminder to readers who mayhave forgotten the previens article, or who may perchance find it inconvenient to refer to their files for that description.

The engine, of course, is a four-cylinder one ; it is robustly built on heavy' vehicle lines. The exhaust and induction valves are on opposite sides of the engine, being operated, therefore, by independent camshafts. The usual types of quick-detachable covers for the valves and springs are fitted. The carburetter and induction valves are on the offside, the exhaust valves and manifold, centrifugal water pump, and the high Three-quarter vie

tension magneto on the near side. The suspension of the engine in the frame is quite in accordance with the best practice. A couple of forged steel beams are carried from the main frame over the engine crankcase. T h e rear beam is attached directly to the top of the crankcase itself by bolts ; the other one carries the front end through the medium of a trunnion boa-ring.method of suspensio, of course, is not new. It is carried out with the object of relieving the crankcase itself from carrying any of the twisting stresses which might otherwise be transmitted from the frame. Another undoubted advantage of this form of construction, which the Riker chassis shares in common with the Daimler,' is that the engine may be lowered from its supports, and in that manner removed from the chassis with the maximum of ease. A feature of the lower half of the crankcase is the provision of a large reservoir for oil; • it has a capacity of two gallons. The pump for the oil circulation is on the outside of the case and is very accessible. It is driven from the camshaft-by means of helical gears. The lubrication of the main bearings only is by pressure, the remainder of the parts being oiled by splash.

We have already mentioned the construction of the radiator as being in accordance with the most modern practice. It is now designed on lines somewhat reminiscent of Daimler practice, with substantial to and bottom headers and side members, all of which are provided with radiating fins Suspension is by means of trunnions near the bottom, very much on, the lines of that required by our British subvention specification. The usual typo of radiator fan is fitted, and is driven by means of a V belt from the same shaft as that which drives the water pump and magneto.

The carburetter fitted is a special one made by the Locomobile Co. to its own design. It is of the twojet type and is fitted with an automatic air dash pot w of the chassis.

...gogirnf441,121t_ which regulates the mixture to suit varying conditions of speed and load. Additional adjustment is obtainable by means of a lever on the dashboard. As regards ignition, this is .high-tension magneto with

the addition of a storage battery as an aid to easy starting. From the engine the transmission is by leatherlined cone clutch, the inner member of which is a single piece of pressed steel. The clutch itself is of large diameter with a wide working face, and by the addition of what are sometimes called firstintention springs under the leather affords fa.cili. ties for ease of engagement. The thrust of the clutch spring is taken by a ball thrust bearing, which is contained in a dustproof housing ; this thrust is, of course, entirely selfcontained, and has no effect on the engine sha ft only during the occasions when the clutch is disengaged.

The gearbox is positioned chase behind the engine, a short doublyjointed shaft, so short

that the joints are contiguous intervening. The gearbox itself provides four speeds forward and one reverse. The gears are substantially made, the operation of engaging the different speeds being by sliding the gear endwise in the mesh, the sole exception to this being in the case of the top .direct gear, -which is engaged by means of the usual form of dog clutch. It is worthy of note that the Locomobile Is one of the few American commercial vehicles on which a four-speed box is fitted as standard. The gearbox itself is suspended from the frame at three points, the two rear supports being bolted directly to a. frame cross member, that at the fore end being carried by a bolt and jaw. This unit is particularly accessible, and may also be removed below the chassis without affecting any other unit. Ball bearings are used throughout. The upper half of the gearbox in company with that of the crankcase is made of selected bronze affording strength to resist stresses set up in use.

Behind the gearbox comes the propeller shaft. This is in two parts with universal joints at both ends of each part. The two joints which come midway between gearbox and rear axle. are supported by a special ball bearing ,carried by a cross member of the frame. The foremost joint, that immediately behind

the gearbox, is of the star-and-jaw type, and the pins are fitted with bronze bushes. This joint is contained within a steel easing closed by a leather hood thus serving to contain a supply of lubricating oil and at the same time exclude dust and dirt. The joint at the rearmost end, just in front of the rear axle, is of the block and pin type, allowing of endwise motion as well as universal action. This universal joint also is contained within a grease-packed and dust-proof housing. Attention has been paid in the design to accessibility, so that it can be quickly taken apart in case of need whenever it may be wished to remove the rear axle.

The rear axle is of the full-floating type, and the drive by overhead worm and wheel. The necessary ball and thrust bearings are provided to take care of the. radial and longitudinal stresses. The worm is of chrome-nickel steel, hardened and ground. The worm wheel is of specially hard phosphor-bronze. The worm and gear are covered by a cast-steel casing which forms part of the load-bearing portion of the rear axle. The wheels are carried on nickel steel axle tubes, which are a prolongation of the axle housing to which we already referred, the road wheel bearings are of the tapered roller type.

Neither driving torque nor thrust re-action is taken by the springs. The former is provided. for by means of a pressed steel torque rod. This is held at the front end by a steel shackle hurdled with bronze itnd fastened to steel dropforged jaws on the frame and torque member by steel pins. This allows of free fore-and-aft movement, while at the same time fixing the front end in a vertical direction. The driving thrust is transmitted by a pair of radius rods, one to each main frame member.

The usual two sets of brakes are provided, the hand brake taking effect internally on drums on the rear wheels, the foot brake operating by contracting shoes on the drum earned by the middle pair of universal joints on the propeller shaft.T h e agent for the Riker is Gaston, Williams a D d Wigrnore, Kingsway, W.C. Two models are made for loads of 6000 lb. and 8000 lb. net. They are similar in design, with engines of the same power, differences being in regard to strength and gear ratios.


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