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).
Improving Phantom complaints by adjusting suspension, steering, and tyre characteristics.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\S\September1928-October1928\ Scan035 | |
| Date | 27th August 1928 guessed | |
| contd :- -6- We can improve the Phantom complaints by attention to spring friction consistency and tyre pressures at the rear. We cannot do very much here, however. The greatest improvement we can make would be at the front by :- (a) Lower rating front springs. (b) Reduced shock damper loading. (c) Reduced tyre pressures. Front wheel brakes no longer dictate spring rating or axle pad width. We can run 19% weaker springs and narrow axle pads on the next 10,000 miles car. We may run into high speed wobbles. Shock absorber loading and tyre pressures are dictated by high speed wobbles and other steering considerations. Tyre companies are using more plies and heavier treads, this may help us. We may be able to use 38 lbs/sq.in. tyre pressure and reduced front shock damper loading if we push the front wheels out .5". At the moment high speed wobbles limit both our steering and front end suspension to an undesirable extent, and we therefore propose to do further experiments on the subject. We are obtaining some quite good space-time diagrams of the axle movement relative to the frame and a report on this subject in connection with the hydraulic dampers will follow. As is now generally recognised, weight distribution has considerable influence on suspension. We have taken what we consider to be the most representative RR. car for these tests, the results might be somewhat altered with other types of body. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} | ||