MTFCA Forum

Was gathering up parts to list For Sale on the MTFCA Classifieds and came upon this front spring perch. I thought they all had a ‘boss’ that showed which side of the axle they should be installed. This one obviously doesn’t. The number cast into it doesn’t appear to be Ford-6318 -then a cartouche. The Oiler hole is a little offset too

Interesting. It might be an after-market replacement, Western Auto or something similar. Early front perches roughly 1909 through 1912, did not have the 'boss'. The actual purpose for the boss was to position the 'center' which simplified and sped up the machining/manufacturing process. One of hundreds of little details that made the Ford cheaper to sell. It is doubtful that Ford would have made them later in a way that would make them more expensive. Low production small shops might not use the center, relying on the old fashioned way.

I have one of those as well. If you can find a forging mark on it, it may tell if it was made by a company that made parts for Ford, or if it is aftermarket. Cleveland Hardware made spindles for Ford, I have a pair, and they have no "Ford" cast into them. I am not sure when Ford was able to have every Ford part marked "Ford".

1919 was the year that MOST parts had "Ford" script applied to them.