Investigation into Mr. Geoffrey Summers' complaint regarding a car's springing, braking, and rear axle issues.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 47\1\ Scan291 | |
| Date | 6th June 1926 | |
| D.L. Er. Hn. {F. C. Honeyman - Retail orders} c. Hs. {Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} Cr. {Mr Cra’ster / Mr Chichester} Bd. {Mr Berend} X4117 EP {G. Eric Platford - Chief Quality Engineer} 6/HB. {C. E. Harcombe} 6.26. re. 117-MC. Geoffrey Summers Esq. As arranged in my EP {G. Eric Platford - Chief Quality Engineer} 7/H20.5.26. I interviewed Mr. Geoffrey Summers at his Works, Shotton, Nr. Chester, with Mr. Robotham yesterday as arranged. We spent the whole day with him and his brother in going into his complaints, and we specially dealt with the question of his springing complaint. His point was that the car rode as though the springs were not working at all and various road shocks were conveyed to the body through the springs, both front and rear. He also complained that the car was dangerous when using the brakes at high speeds, as at times the rear axle began to 'dance' on the road and prevented efficient braking. The best appears to have been made of the spring strengths and adjustments of shock absorbers, and although the rear shock absorbers may have been tightened up still further to avoid the rear axle dither, this caused the riding at the rear of the car to be even worse. Mr. Summers also considered that the braking of the car was unsatisfactory and requested that 60% of the braking should be applied to the front wheels and 40% to the rear, this being a specially light car and the weight on the rear axle being considerably less than the usual R.R.Phantom car. This latter point was gone into and the advantages and disadvantages of such a scheme were discussed, and he did not press this matter any further. It was, however, made clear to him that the chief reason for his springing complaint was the exceptionally light load on the rear axle. A demonstration was made of fixing about 2 cwt. of ballast on the rear luggage carrier and taking off the two spare wheels, one on each side of the car, and Mr. Summers thoroughly appreciated that under this condition the dither trouble and the riding in the back of the car was quite satisfactory. CONTINUED. | ||
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).