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 from the American branch querying the UK branch about the geometry and twisting effects of front shock absorbers and axle control.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 16\4\ Scan098 | |
| Date | 13th June 1929 | |
| ROLLS-ROYCE OF AMERICA, INC. SPRINGFIELD, MASS. *7520 OY-1 June 13th, 1929. Mr. E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} W. Hives, Rolls Royce Ltd., Derby, England. c - Mr. Bailey Dear Mr. Hives: Front Shock Absorbers - Section 7160 (Axle Control) Because of the fact that the axle control damper arm swings on an arc of smaller radius than the front spring movement, Mr. Burton has raised the question - "What happens when one side of the axle stays in its normal position and the other side is raised enough to touch rubber?" There must be tension in the damper arm on the raised side and compression on the low side. The "error" in geometry amounts to about .150 on the present job, and will be more (perhaps .250) on the S.S. with 11-5/8" arm. That is the ball end on the raised side relative to the ball end on the low side is .150 out of its correct position. We should be interested to know whether you have made any investigation to find how this twisting effect is distributed as between :- Twist of the axle I beam. Bending of the anchorages. Bending of the damper arms in the plane of their length. Local distortion of the frame web, etc. Apparently it is not considered that the discrepancy is serious, as we notice that even with the spring loaded ball joint of the S.S. no means is provided for cushioning it. -continued- | ||