I am getting my front axle and steering linkage ready to be painted and thought that I had gotten the spindle arms mixed up with the spindles. I did take a picture of the passenger side ahead of time, but just to be on the safe side, I went to Lang's site for confirmation. Unfortunately, the numbers on my spindle arms do not match those from Langs, nor do the spindles. Can someone please tell me if these are correct for the 1927 Tudor (and on the correct side)? Thanks.
Passenger side arm #282; Spindle #203-4C; Driver's side arm #270, Spindle arm - #203-4C
The arms look correct, make sure they bend upward and inward.
Easy way to tell with the spindles is you should have left hand thread on the RHS, right hand thread on the LHS.
Bad time to be asking such a question. Many people on this forum have lives and good families to spend time with for the holiday. But, I am here. However, since I haven't got much '26/'27 stuff, I am a bit limited.
Most important! The spindles themselves, regardless of year from 1908 clear through 1927, MUST be used on the correct side! The most important thing to remember, is that the wheel rotation MUST try to work the outer wheel bearing OFF the spindle as the car moves forward. The outer lock-nut (properly cotter pinned) and the funny looking washer with the tab to fit into the slot on the spindle WILL NOT allow the bearing to work off. IF you were to install the spindles on the wrong side, vibration and wheel rotation COULD cause the bearing to move IN at speed and lock the wheel. Quite a few people have found this out almost the hard way, being lucky enough to have the wheel lock at low speed (a distinct nuisance). More than a few have found out the really hard way, twisting a spindle clean off and losing a wheel at speed (Erik Barrett saw one happen on a Gold Country tour).
There are two other good clues as to the correct side for the spindles. One is that the "hand direction" of the threads is always opposite of the standard side of the car. The right hand thread spindle goes on the left hand side of the car. The left hand thread spindle goes on the right side of the car. A word of warning. This rule applies to model T Fords and quite a few other marques automobiles. However, there are a few marques that do the opposite, so for non T Fords? Check another source familiar with them.
The other clue is that the hole where the spindle arm goes through for attachment, has a chamfer (beveled edge) on one side. It is flat on the other side. The chamfer provides a recess for the machined radius on the spindle arm. It must go to the rear. The flat side, goes to the front for the square flat of the nut to sit upon.
As for the spindle arms. They also are easy to get correct. The spindle arm MUST angle in toward the center of the car. The step offset must lift (or raise) the tie rod above the wishbone to provide clearance. 1909 though most of 1918 spindle arms do not step offset up, that direction the arms are straight and work on either side (unless they are one of the special ones for a speedometer mount).
The other thing that you need to make sure is correct, is the spring perches. Again, I don't have anything handy to double check any part numbers. I always just look at the side view of the perch to see which way it angles. Then I know which way it goes in which side. The axle MUST angle back just a little bit for the wheel caster. Put another way, the top of the axle (kingpin) needs to end up farther back toward the rear of the car, while the bottom of the axle (kingpin) must end up farther forward away from the rear end.
As for numbers. Most model T parts have more than one number. The official part number is the one that ended up in the parts books and are still used by many of the part suppliers today. Many parts also have factory numbers, or forging numbers. It has been discussed on this forum a few times that those two numbers are often not the same. Hence your confusion.
If you can visualize all those angles, offsets, chamfers, and general front end geometry? You almost can't put it together wrong.
I hope all my wordiness can help.
Good luck!
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2
Wayne:
Can I assume that the left side of the car is the driver's side? Thank you for the help.
Yes, the driver's side is the left, unless you're Down Under where evrything's backwards and upside down.
Yes, mostly. Old standardized language considers a car to be like a person. It faces forward, right hand side to its right, left hand side to its left. The right hand side of the car is not your right when you are facing the other way (from in front of the car facing the car).
As to the "driver's side"? I guess that would depend upon whether we are looking at USA built cars built for the USA? Or Canadian built cars built for Australia (and some parts of Canada.
I am not trying to be a smart @$$. I do try to be clear (not always easy for me), and not only for the question of the moment, however also for others that may read this forum both now and later. A lot of people do have trouble with the "right hand/left hand" side of a car. I have noticed it in many threads on this forum, and other places in recent years. On this forum, I see it often when discussing hand cranking the car. People face the car, and often think of the "right side" of the car to be the (USA) driver's side (because it is on their right at that time). However, the car's right or left does not change just because someone turns around and faces it. The same can be thought of when you talk to a friend. Just because you are facing him, his left hand does not become his right hand simply because you are facing the other way.
Again, I can and often do make snide remarks (part of my warped sense of humor). That is not my intention here. It is a good and legitimate question that does cause confusion to a lot of people.
I do hope some of my wordiness can help you with your project.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2
Wayne:
I never thought about comparing the left and right of a car to a person, but it makes perfect sense. The good thing about the spindles is that a former owner put zerks on the front, eliminating the possibility of a mix-up.