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).
Shock damper performance, future policy, and post-war production challenges.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 78\2\ scan0359 | |
| Date | 23th November 1921 | |
| contd:- -2- R7/G23.11.21. ------------ and it is thought by myself and others that for an open high speed car and as fitted to 6.EX I am driving, they are distinctly good, much better than the average. This is so, because on rough undulating country roads it is necessary for the cars to be damped in a very different way from running about London or roads which have the roughness of greater frequency. Regarding the future policy, I still have the same opinion from which I have never reversed, wavered. I am thankful we always fitted shock dampers to the front of our chassis. They have been more use to us in obtaining good reports of the riding of the car then we can realise. They at least steady the front end of the car without giving any ill-effects to the back end. Further, I am still of the opinion that the rear shock dampers to give satisfaction must be of the progressive order or single acting. How and when these things can be fitted will result from the order of procedence, and you will remember that since the war we have been employed on more urgent and important jobs, principally in connection with the engine, bad fuel, starting, knocking pistons, and such things, and that we are now proceeding with the designs of about the fifth chassis, and we must not be surprised if, between aero engines, armoured cars, front brakes bad petrol, different tyres, bad roads, cost of production, and a few orther things that such work as this is crowded out. At the moment the shock dampers are passably satisfactory with the exception that Mr. Hives considers that the ball joints will not wear long enough, and therefore wishes that we contd:- | ||