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).
Adjustable dampers and shock absorber schemes to improve vehicle springing.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 16\5\ Scan016 | |
| Date | 2nd September 1931 | |
| Y7520. To Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} From Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} c. to R.{Sir Henry Royce} Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} c. to E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} c. to Hy.{Tom Haldenby - Plant Engineer} PM. 40/50 SPRINGING. Replying to Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD}16/E.31.8.31. We should be very interested to hear how 58-GN. behaves on the roads you are accustomed to drive over with the shock absorber settings you found to give the best results in France. We anticipate you will find that at low speeds over potholed roads there will be more jolting. One point which stands out very clearly on all the recent tests on springing is that the adjustable dampers controlled from the driver's seat is the next improvement we require to improve the riding qualities. We realise that this feature has been asked for for a good many years, but in our opinion the low rating springs have made this feature much more desirable and necessary. We have a scheme from W.F. of a twin piston type damper which hasa a special valve which, with the necessary apparatus could be operated from the driver's seat. We are carrying on fitting this on to a car. The scheme received from W.F. was by no means complete and this type of shock absorber was afterwards superseded by the horizontal piston type. We think there is no doubt that we could get this scheme to work satisfactorily. At the same time, however, we wish to point out that the scheme would be expensive and may take some time before it can be fitted to cars. We are satisfied that the adjustment which is provided on the Delco shock absorbers which I brought with me from U.S.A. is very effective. The scheme for carrying out the adjustment is very simple. A similar scheme could be applied to our shock absorber without much difficulty. We attach herewith a sketch which shows how we think it could be done. We also show comparative diagrams of the R.R. and Delco adjustable damper. We strongly recommend that we should consider some form of adjustment which could be applied to the existing dampers. It may not be practical to get this on to the dashboard but we should have gone a long way to reduce our troubles if we had an adjustment which could be got at without pulling the shock absorber to pieces, and one which could be operated without requiring any skill. One of our biggest troubles is the difference between London conditions and Continental touring, which is a range of conditions our cars must cover. At the present time on [Handwritten right side] Y7410, Y7520 X235. | ||