Re: Commercial Vehicles Rear Ends

Posted by John Icenhower on July 11, 1998 at 01:05:07

In Reply to: Re: Commercial Vehicles Rear Ends
posted by Dean West on July 10, 1998 at 14:48:15

: Joe,
: Thanks for the great information. You answered a lot of my questions. My torque tube has the gradual, consistant, taper over the entire length. I did jack up the rear end and cranked the engine over slowly (with the spark plugs removed to eliminate the compression) The gear ratio does appear to be very close to 4.11's.
: I debating about installing the "High Speed" gears or an over drive in my Model A as it's been in the family since 1948 and I'm thinking I want to keep it as original as possible, which it now is. It does show very well and has won some awards.
: This may be a good time to rebuild another "high speed" Model A with an overdrive. Again, thanks for the great information I appreciate it.
Joe,
I don't mean to be argumentative but I'm not sure the torque tube is a proper indication of the rear gear ratio.
According to the Judging Standards, in the undercarriage area 4, it says that there were three different torque tube designs.The first, used thru May '28 had a short 2" dia. straight section behind the u-joint forging followed by a 12" tapered section. The second type had a 14" tapered section directly behind the u-joint forging and was used March '28 thru 1931.The third type, according to the standards, was used from June '31 to the end of production and it was tapered over the full length of the tube.This would tend to indicate that the tapers were related to design changes not necessarily gear ratio.
John

Follow Ups:
Any and all information gratefully accepted. Joe July 11, 1998 at 21:56:55(0)

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