For reasons with which I've already bored you, it became necessary to pull a rear wheel off. A friend came over with his wheel-puller and this is what we discovered when we got the wheel off:
As you can see, four out of six bolts were too short to reach all the way through the nuts, let alone be peened over to secure them. Two of the nuts were finger-tight. Of course, we now had suspicious about the other wheel and when we pulled that one, we found the same condition there. Scary, huh?
I expect that's because of the thickness of the extra drum. The bolts are just long enough for the stock setup with one drum.
Steve,
Very true but whoever put it together was inviting a disaster. Longer bolts can be found, no excuse for this.
Walt
You're both right: The extra drum required a longer length bolt and longer bolts are made specifically for cars with Rocky Mountain drums.
So, I picked up the phone and ordered replacement bolts in the RM brake drum length—they're easy enough to get. I hope this car doesn't have any similar time-bombs waiting to go off. Seems to me, I could have lost a wheel over this one.
Bob,
Lucky that spoke was loose!
Looks like someone was looking out for you.
Larry
This is a very good example of why I never trust a strangers work. The T I drive I know every nut and bolt on it. It's alot of work this way but it's the only way I can trust the car at speed in the big world we drive in
Looks like a current Rocky Mountain drum. The originals were two drums riveted together, and the big drum rode outside of the hub, so longer bolts were not needed.
I agree with Mike Conrad. I wouldn't trust a newly aquired car without a detailed inspection. There are many on this forum that would applaud that type of "backyard" engineering in the spirit of old fashioned (T-era) owner fixes. Frankly, I find it stupidity at it's grandest level. All in the name of saving a few bucks.
I've said it many times--And you wonder why the value of a Model T is declining or stagnant.