Ford-Olson Unit.
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,London Agency Established for this Useful Conversion Set..
Many of our readers will remember a description of an ingenious Ford conversion set, known as the Olson unit. It appeared in the issue of this journal of 1st June last year, the agents for it being Bramco, Ltd., of 1, Ellys Road, Coventry. Since then quite a, number of these units have been sold in the provinces, but so far, strange to say, very little business has been done in London.
London Agency Established.
This state of things bids fair to be remedied at an early date, as the sales in a radius of 10 miles of London are now in the hands of Mr. Geo. Simms, of 139, Long Acre, W.C. From him we understand that a very lively interest is evinced by users and Ford agents in and about town, and he anticipates a big busi
O40 ness in the near future, as soon as the preliminary difficulties in connection with the importation of increased quantities of these units have been overcome.
Summary of Previous Description.
For the benefit of new readers, we will briefly summarize our previous description of this set. The whole outfit consists of two rear wheels, two road springs,, and a pair of substantial castings, to which the springs are attached by means of trunnion bearings and pins, and which themselves are carried on roller bearings on the outside of the wheel hubs. The springs are attached at their ends through the medium of shackles to brackets, Which are bolted directly to the underside of the .bodywork of the vehicle.The useful load, together with the weight of the body, is, therefore, carried directly by the road wheels, through the medium of the springs, trunnion brackets, and the castings which bear on the wheel hubs. The existing Ford rear axle, from which, of course, the wheels are • removed, simply 'serves as a casing for the bevel drive and shafts, and also to convey the driving thrust from the road wheels to the chassis frame. The torque re-actions from the driving and braking forces are ' taken by the road springs. It will be gathered that the arrangement is on all fours with a• full-floating axle, inasmuch as the drive shafts are not required to carry any of the weight either of chassis or load.
Lower Gear Ratio Effected by Reducing Wheel DiAmeter.
Since the actual ratio of engine speed and axle speed remains unaltered, it is necessary to provide in some way for the additional tractive effort required to cope with the
increased load. This is effected by reducing the wheel diameter, which is made to accord with different loads and different conditions of
use. On the 2000 lb. set, for example, the wheel diameter is 28 ins., as compared with 34 ins, on the standard Ford chassis. This is equivalent to a gear reduction of 61 per cent. This particular set is recommended for the load stated, in districts where the country is fairly level ; on the other hand, where the chassis will be expected to carry the maximum load regularly in hilly country, still smaller wheels are provided, and what is described as Set No. 3 is fitted with 24 in. wheels. With this set, the considerable reduction of 25 per cent. is effected, although at the expense of road
clearance, this being with new tires, when it is, of course, at a maximum, only 7 ins.
Five Models.
In all, there are five models of the Olson unit for pneumatic or solid tires, with wooden or steel wheels' and for loads of 1500 lb. to 2000 lb. The price for any one of these sets complete with tires is 226, and a Ford chassis converted and ready for the road costs .2150. Suitable bodywork, of course, can be provided, at prices arying with the customer's requirements.