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).
The testing of rear shock absorbers, noting issues with noise and proposals for improvements using Ferodo discs.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 45\1\ Scan095 | |
| Date | 22th September 1920 | |
| R.R. 525A (100 T) (S.G. 643. 19-5-20) G.{Mr Griffiths - Chief Accountant / Mr Gnapp} 2615 Contd. -2- Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}2/LG22.9.20. them was when going over a hog-backed bridge. - the rebound of the springs was nothing like as bad. The results of these tests show that the rear shock absorbers are always an advantage - especially so when the tyres are pumped up hard. Although rear shok absorbers considerably improve the car with the tyres hard, they do not make that car anything like as comfortable to ride in as if the tyres are soft. As regards the rear shock absorbers them selves, the trouble we are having with them is noise. The noise appears after the shock absorbers have been in use for some time. It is, as a rule, caused by the first stage which is working practically the whole time, that the friction surfaces become dry. We are running shock absorbers now with Ferodo Discs in place of fibre to overcome this fault. So far these are behaving satisfactorily. We feel that rear shock absorbers might be a great help in America. We should be pleased to hear from Mr. Olley how the shock absorbers on the Trials Car we are behaving. We should recommend they try them with the maximum friction from the first stage - this will mean three new plates to each shock absorber. We would not recommend fitting shock absorbers unless the effect of them is keenly appreciated because it is adding mechanism which has to do a tremendous amount of work and liable to wear and cause noise. | ||