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).
Letter to M. Olley Esq. discussing suspension, frame stiffness ('jellying'), and steering components on various vehicles including the Buick and Phantom II.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 170\2\ img030 | |
| Date | 22th April 1931 guessed | |
| M.{Mr Moon / Mr Moore} Olley Esq. -2- We agree that probably hydraulic dampers on the front axle have done much for this car, but have no discoveries been made recently in the States with regard to pivot lean, toe-in, tyre construction or wheel rim construction? We note that the Buick is fitted with a flexible shackle anti-shimmy device, can you say that in your experience with General Motors this really does work? Our own experience has been very disappointing, perhaps we got the quantities wrong. We have always felt that it was only equivalent to our side steering tube springs. Is it really only used in cars with solid side steering tubes? We hear that miniature plugs (12 mm.) are likely to be standardised shortly in America. Can you give us any information as to the type of plug? Having asked you for so much we can perhaps give you a little meat on one of the problems on which we know that you are working i.e. jellying. By much grief and pain and laborious experiments we seem to have evolved certain concrete facts. Any undamped stiffness permits jellying. The tests that we have to support this is that the cross in the middle of the frame, which you know we tried on the Phantom II, meant complete disaster. A sub-frame which we also have used is a step better but is not so good as the standard (Springfield) body that you saw writhing in agony on our bump rig. In the same way at the front of the car, large cross members etc. raised the frequency of the jelly but at the same time brought it up on ordinary main roads. It was constantly there. Admittedly, the stiff frame which promotes jellying will probably never allow our high speed wobble to build up. | ||