SPRINGING THE COACH BODY.
Page 25
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Improvements Made Recently in the Strachan and Brown System of Isolating Bodies from Shocks.
• MHE INTERESTING and efficient 1form of supplem•entary springing for coach and bus bodies invented by Mr. J. H. &radian, of Messrs. Straohan and Brown, is proving highly successful on many vehicles and is receiving increasing attention. This we quite expected, as, at the time we first inspected the design on paper, we realized that a considerable advance had been made, and this view was confirmed by a run over rough roads on a single-deck bus fitted with the device.
In its original form, the spring pins had rollers mounted in the inside of the channel-steel framing On which the bus body was carried. The difficulty of this arrangement lay in the matter of lubrieation, which was apparently sadly neglected in some instances. Therefore, Mr. Straehan has so altered the design that grease-gun or oil-gun lubrication can now be eriaployed for the spring shackles, which are fitted in lieu of the rollers. The pins and shackles are so drilled that the one lubricator serves both the shackle pins, and those passing through the spring eyes, as will be noted by referring to the small draw
ling Which is inset into the larger illus.! tration.
So far as the other features of the springing are concerned, very few alterations have been made, and, of course, the radius rods are still employed, the springs being shackled at both ends to give perfectly free movement. Also at each side, both at. the front and back, there are rubber-faced brackets, which sot as .distance pieces restricting the amount of the lift, whilst rubber pads between the channel framing for the body and the frame proper of the chassis limit the amount of spring depression; but, as a matter of fact, with the number of springs employed, the actual movement need be only slight to give really 'effective cushioning, and, so far, there have been no oases of spring breakage.
The device is made up in the form of sets, and several hundreds of these have been either supplied already or are on order.
Amongst the vehicles fitted with these springs are four 25-seater one-manoperated buses on Dennis chassis, just delivered to Portsmouth.