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Hotrodfil · 09-03-2021, 09:22 AM

So I ran the first prototype set from RKE Engineering for the cross-country journey to Pendine and back.
We fitted these to my Coupe the weekend before I left and ran as many backroads as we could find in convoy with my friend Glen in his '32 Ford.

Sent a message to Craig once I arrived –

“The shocks are doing a fine job. And we drove some shocking roads on the way.” Puntastic.

Couple of days of real world salt bath testing and wet sand blasting followed.

As promised, I managed to find plenty of single track potholed roads over the weekend. So after 800 miles or so, I returned the shocks to Craig who stripped them down to assess for any wear or damage that I’d managed to inflict. As it turns out – nothing. No oil leaks, the seals worked perfectly, bearing surfaces were unmarked, and the shim packs had been functioning perfectly. Re-assembled and repressurised with oil, they were returned in time to fit them to my Tourer for the trip to Prescott hillclimb for GOW!

Packed the rear seats with camping gear and supplies, collected old time buddy Bob and more camping gear and set off heavily laden in convoy with a few friends in their cars. The promised sunshine never came but sitting on dual lane highway at a steady 60 was quite relaxed with the shock absorbers giving noticeable improvements in control as we swapped lanes, tackled swooping roundabouts in Milton Keynes and charged back down the same lanes in the Cotswolds I’d visited just a few weeks earlier.

At Prescott with my close ratio gears – Ettores and Pardon are both approached round about 50-55mph in second. Plenty enough to test the handling with the new shock absorbers – and the brakes…

I’ve not raced here recently, but after seven trips up the hill I began to remember the best line to take at each corner. Had fun throwing the car about when I was on the wrong line too. Wide and late braking at Ettores, putting daylight under the inside rear wheel at Pardon to keep the revs up and stop the engine bogging down. Very enjoyable (for me anyway – not sure about the passengers), and very controlled.

Home on the Sunday was another grey, cold but drama free journey.

So, about those shock absorbers. They're an aircraft aluminium bodied shock absorber with a steel rotor running in plain bearings, and proper internal shim valves much like a modern telescopic in action. Each unit is fully evacuated before being pressure filled with oil. In the past month or so, I’ve put probably 1200 miles on them. They just work. Really, really, well. No leaks as expected. A vast improvement on the last set of new shocks I fitted where one started leaking within a day or so of fitting. The damping action is smooth and instant with no shudders or shimmies. The machining quality is superb. Mine were supplied in a smooth topped black anodised finish which has held up very well despite a few miles of salt water driving on the beach. Dimensionally they’re a perfect interchange with original Model A/B ones. I’ve fitted original forged arms to the set I tested, with the stock mounting bolts lining up perfectly with the chassis. Externally they look stock but functionally they’re a world apart.

After my best attempts at breaking them, RKE are now looking at tooling up for production and will be taking pre-orders soon. Suitably impressed? I’ll certainly be saving up for another set.

https://rkeengineering.co.uk/

(Photo courtesy of John Isaac)

(Photo courtesy of reverendpixel)

(Photo courtesy of John Hallett)

09-03-2021, 09:22 AM	#12
Hotrodfil Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Norfolk UK Posts: 214	Re: Shocks So I ran the first prototype set from RKE Engineering for the cross-country journey to Pendine and back. We fitted these to my Coupe the weekend before I left and ran as many backroads as we could find in convoy with my friend Glen in his '32 Ford. Sent a message to Craig once I arrived – “The shocks are doing a fine job. And we drove some shocking roads on the way.” Puntastic. Couple of days of real world salt bath testing and wet sand blasting followed. As promised, I managed to find plenty of single track potholed roads over the weekend. So after 800 miles or so, I returned the shocks to Craig who stripped them down to assess for any wear or damage that I’d managed to inflict. As it turns out – nothing. No oil leaks, the seals worked perfectly, bearing surfaces were unmarked, and the shim packs had been functioning perfectly. Re-assembled and repressurised with oil, they were returned in time to fit them to my Tourer for the trip to Prescott hillclimb for GOW! Packed the rear seats with camping gear and supplies, collected old time buddy Bob and more camping gear and set off heavily laden in convoy with a few friends in their cars. The promised sunshine never came but sitting on dual lane highway at a steady 60 was quite relaxed with the shock absorbers giving noticeable improvements in control as we swapped lanes, tackled swooping roundabouts in Milton Keynes and charged back down the same lanes in the Cotswolds I’d visited just a few weeks earlier. At Prescott with my close ratio gears – Ettores and Pardon are both approached round about 50-55mph in second. Plenty enough to test the handling with the new shock absorbers – and the brakes… I’ve not raced here recently, but after seven trips up the hill I began to remember the best line to take at each corner. Had fun throwing the car about when I was on the wrong line too. Wide and late braking at Ettores, putting daylight under the inside rear wheel at Pardon to keep the revs up and stop the engine bogging down. Very enjoyable (for me anyway – not sure about the passengers), and very controlled. Home on the Sunday was another grey, cold but drama free journey. So, about those shock absorbers. They're an aircraft aluminium bodied shock absorber with a steel rotor running in plain bearings, and proper internal shim valves much like a modern telescopic in action. Each unit is fully evacuated before being pressure filled with oil. In the past month or so, I’ve put probably 1200 miles on them. They just work. Really, really, well. No leaks as expected. A vast improvement on the last set of new shocks I fitted where one started leaking within a day or so of fitting. The damping action is smooth and instant with no shudders or shimmies. The machining quality is superb. Mine were supplied in a smooth topped black anodised finish which has held up very well despite a few miles of salt water driving on the beach. Dimensionally they’re a perfect interchange with original Model A/B ones. I’ve fitted original forged arms to the set I tested, with the stock mounting bolts lining up perfectly with the chassis. Externally they look stock but functionally they’re a world apart. After my best attempts at breaking them, RKE are now looking at tooling up for production and will be taking pre-orders soon. Suitably impressed? I’ll certainly be saving up for another set. https://rkeengineering.co.uk/ (Photo courtesy of John Isaac) (Photo courtesy of reverendpixel) (Photo courtesy of John Hallett) Last edited by Hotrodfil; 09-03-2021 at 09:31 AM.