What's the difference?

[Jonah D'Avella]

What is the difference between these two spindles? They are the same except for the lettering on the shaft.

[Jim Eubanks]

If it does not have Ford script it is a spurous part.

[Jonah D'Avella]

I assumed that until I saw this.

[dmdeaton]

I had to look up spurous. I learned something this morning

[Dan Hatch]

The spindle and the arm are two separate parts with their own numbers. When Ford dealer ordered a spindle and arm they came as two pieces and you put them together. You should find a copy of the parts list for your year car and look at it. Also get the Ford Service Bulletins. They will tell you a lot about what is going on with your car.
Wish one of the clubs would reprint the bulletins again like they did years ago. Would help all the new comers. Good luck with your car. Dan

[mtntee20]

Without having them to measure/compare, my take on this is they are the same part (T282B) forged in two different plants OR at two different years. Another possibility is the parts were cast in two different moulds due to the fact that casting moulds do not last forever.

Good question.

[Original Smith]

The MTFCI offers a reprint of the Ford Service Bulletins. In it you will find all of the makers marks that Ford used.

[Steve Jelf]

Look on the other side of that spindle that has the non-Ford markings on it. It would not surprise me if you find a Ford mark there. While Henry famously warned us against spurious parts, this may not be one of them. Ford used a great many parts made by outside contractors. If you have to replace the backing plate in your ignition switch you may find that the tabs on your switch don't quite match the tabs on another switch because the two switches came from different outside suppliers. Another example would be the DB front axles often seen on early Model T's. Dodge Brothers supplied a good many Model T parts before they started making their own cars. Of course we know that Ford used wheels made by Pruden, Hayes, Firestone, Kelsey, and others, as well as wheels made in the Ford factory.

All the Service Bulletins, and a lot of other Model T literature, are online in PDF form you can download.
http://www.cimorelli.com/mtdl/default.htm

[Pep C Strebeck]

I do not believe that the lower spindle in the photo to be a spurious parts. The logo is a C over an H and is shown in the 1920 Service Bulletins as an acceptable maker for exchange (albeit for connecting rods, but it is a forged part supplier). It just came from an outside supplier.

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/80 ... 1236295536

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/82 ... 1544197942

[Norman Kling]

I don't know why the two spindles have different markings, however, if you are working on the front axle and have the spindles off, or even if they are still on the car, you should have the spindle on the right side with threads opposite most bolts or other threaded items. Both spindles should have the threads in the direction which would loosen the bearing when the car is moving forward. This might seem odd to you, however the lock washers and nuts with cotter pin will keep them from loosening as you drive along. The reason the spindles are threaded in this odd manner is to keep the bearings from tightening up and locking as you drive along.
Norm

[Allan]

The letters C and H in the box are one maker's mark. On our Canadian sourced cars, these markings occur on earlier parts before Canada got up to full production speed. I would be surprised if that spindle did not have a full circle around the shoulder up to which the inner bearing registers. The later spindles had two flats in that circle which allow the bearings to be driven off.

Allan from down under.

[Wayne Sheldon]

On most parts, Ford did not begin putting (or having outside suppliers put) the "Ford" script onto the part until about 1919. So it is possible that it is an earlier part. If I recall correctly, your T is a 1926 model. A 1926 or '27 model uses different spindles than all the earlier years did. The '26/'27 spindles allow the car to sit a bit less than an inch lower than the earlier ones do. Your photo doesn't show enough of the spindle to tell what vintage it may be. There are additional differences for spindles much before 1919.