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).
Testing competitive shock absorbers, including Lovejoy and Houdaille, and their potential application for high-speed wobble.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 28\1\ Scan101 | |
| Date | 18th February 1927 | |
| OyS-E-21927 -3- February 18, 1927 They claim, after testing a large number of competitive devices - (a) That only hydraulics will stand up long to the test. (b) That under high speeds the Lovejoy and several other hydraulics lose effectiveness through foaming. (We have tried Lovejoys on the front and can confirm this.) (c) that as compared with the Houdaille their shock absorber shows no riding improvement over bumps, but a very considerable improvement over pot-holes. They claim the shock absorber will be too expensive to produce to be of interest to manufacturers generally, but they anticipate a large replacement business. I think though that it would depend chiefly on the quantity they manufactured. High Speed Wobble. They claim it to form an effective damper for high speed wobble when arranged with arm vertical and linked to cross-steering tube. Yours very truly, Maurice Olley MO/E | ||