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).
Road spring failures in competitor cars, specifically Vauxhall, Standards, and Singers, to gather concrete facts.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 154\2\ scan0067 | |
| Date | 27th January 1938 | |
| ROAD SPRINGS. In order to back up my statements in BY.19/ G.20.1.38. with some concrete facts, I have during the last few days made enquiries amongst my acquaintances as to their actual experiences with cars other than our own make, in particular in regard to the road springs and the evidence attached confirms all I have said. (a). VAUXHALL. I have one acquaintance who drives one of this make, it has never been driven above 40 m.p.h. and both front springs, leaf type, have had to be replaced. (b). STANDARDS. A car driven by an elderly person at round about 35 to 45 m.p.h. has broken one front and one rear spring in less than two years. Another car in a similar time has broken one front spring. (c). SINGERS. The local agency informs me springs break quite regularly about twenty front to one rear, and as to how they fail they have four top plates to every secondary. In all of the above cases the spring replacement and its fitting are charged for, in no case has the customer been given even a spring plate free of charge, they pay for an entire spring. I am quite certain that all cars suffer from spring failures to a greater or lesser extent, dependent upon whether the springs are heavily or lightly stressed, but in no case can failure be avoided except by methods which grind the plates and then protect them against corrosion or rust attack. BY.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} | ||