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 and potential modification of a car's springing and suspension.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 18\3\ Scan029 | |
| Date | 20th December 1929 | |
| c. Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} re. 29-WJ. Springing. With reference to PN{Mr Northey}1/WT19.12.29., I was able to try this car on arrival at the Works, and certainly appreciated PN{Mr Northey}'s point that at slow speeds over potholes, the jerkiness of the car was bad. One had the feeling that the tyre pressures were much too high. The tyre pressures were checked and found to be 45 Lbs. front and 43 lbs. rear. These were reduced to the normal setting, i.e. 40 lbs. front and 35 lbs. rear. The car was again tested and the jerkiness was considerably improved, in fact the riding from a low speed point of view was quite good, But I still felt that the shock absorbers may not have the correct loading. I was able to get RM{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} on to the job and he considered that the springing was very good and just suited a car of that type. Unfortunately we were not able to do much high speed running owing to the dangerous state of the roads, but can quite appreciate that frequent bumping may take place, as the clearances are now below our minimum owing to the rear springs being on the weak side. The only way to overcome this trouble is to fit stronger springs, and we are therefore arranging to re-fit the springs originally fitted, which were changed for the existing ones in London, per PN{Mr Northey}'s instructions (confirmed by C. This you will remember I discussed with you at the time,(attached is copy of my memo to PN{Mr Northey}, EP{G. Eric Platford - Chief Quality Engineer}21/H6.12.29). We will also take an opportunity of checking that the shock absorbers are of the correct loading. EP.{G. Eric Platford - Chief Quality Engineer} | ||