MTFCA Forum

I am helping an 87 year old new model T owner get his car drivable. Yesterday it was new front axle spring shackles and bushings. All he could get were these new low budget shackles made from studs pressed into a steel plate. What a piece of crap. I went ahead and used them since that is what he had, but there is no way these are going to last. What in the world is going on with the vendors that this is being sold as a suspension part. Anyone using these? I am tempted to reuse the worn-out shackles.

Not my ad, just providing the link as a courtesy:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/225290520304?h ... R663m8KfYQ

Purchase price is reasonable. Shipping price is a little high.

Actually, it's only a couple bucks more than a flat rate box...

when I ship out a little valve to someone, it entails a 70 mile drive. If I only sell 1 valve that week, I'm in the hole, so I have to find multiple reasons to go to town before that little gizmo goes out. Fortunately people are generally understanding in my case, as I let them know up front that it may be a week or more before I leave the ranch and go to town. I could sure as heck never be a successful eBay seller! I wouldn't have the time to respond to the hate mail it would engender.

For the fellow Jeff's helping out, it would be shortsighted to ponder "do I, or don't I" over 2 extra bucks. I've found that eBay's shipping calculator must be a bit error prone depending on how the seller uses it as I've bought similar items from different folks and am told that they use the system's calculator and it often gives very different costs from one time to another.

FWIW

(and it's still available at this moment!)

I saw a pair of NOS Ford script somewhere recently, fronts and rears. I think they are $100 a pair.

A kind forum member has offered to send us a good used pair of shackles for free. Thank you Chaffins Garage.

What a nice "Merry Christmas" that was!

gotta love the Forum

Scott, USPS flat rate box would be overkill for these shackles. Very small items are more efficiently shipped by FedEx. That’d be around $5. I’ve even used bubble envelopes to mail a few small T parts I’ve sold. Lately the ever increasing cost of mailing by all carriers eats into my asking/taking T parts prices. The only ‘silver lining’ is that it could make swap meets more popular.

I reported this a while back. The other three lasted fine for several years but I was glad to buy the better repros when they were available.
https://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/3 ... 1384559326
Like so many things I bought the least expensive at the time and it cost me.
Keep yours oiled and check them often.
Rich

I see that someone snapped up the Ebay shackles from the link I posted. You're welcome!

Rich- looking at your picture, I had the same problem. I now like the type in the eBay picture.

Would welding the pressed in bolt caps to the strap solve the concerns about being pressed in? There may be other issues but would welding make the usable? At least something to try

I've used 2 sets of them, the first stretched and fell apart and the second set I welded and never had problems with them.

Hi Jeff,
Those pressed shackles are far from correct I admit. Being the cheap SOB that I 'am I purchased my first set of those 16 years ago
and a second set 5 years later. No they are not even close to originals but the are far better than the ones I put on my trailer 7 years
ago ( those handle way more weight and rough use than My T ever will) Lubrication is the secret to most of these parts! The best parts
will not hold up if not maintained. If the owner wants to drive the T then they will work , If he wants to show it they will not pass
inspection. As far as I'm concerned they are safe to use if that's what's they are there for. As far as hobbyist we need to start paying
more attention to the perception of the younger generations that will preserve the hobby more than concerned to how correct our
cars are. They will need to see the enjoyment of the cars more than the die hard correctness of them. Like it or not they view
things different than we would like but some still have the passion to carry on the hobby. Lets work on that instead of arguing about
the petty sh*t. It is not up to the next generations to carry on its up to us to show the way. God bless the 87 year old guy that wants
to keep on Ting. And thank you Jeff for helping him.
Craig.

In the picture above, it looks as if the splined portion of the pins can enter the ends of the bushing. That could cause problems. Is there a shoulder on the nut end of the pin to limit how close the end plates can come together?

Had one of those pressed in place shackles twist and rack when fitting the rear axle to spring once.

Can't believe a Ford forged shackle would ever twist like this modern repro. Either the design of the pressed in knurl or perhaps soft cold roll steel is likely the root cause. Low price parts on the suspension of the Ford isn't the way to get good results. New forged parts or good used Ford parts are the choice IMO.

Henry warned us: Beware of spurious parts.

This was a pristine car until the spring shackle broke. The driver was killed and passenger was seriously injured.

Uh,

No

An aftermarket shock absorber/perch combination broke

but in fairness, the result could possibly be the same with a failed shackle

I will agree with not using a aftermarket shackle that looks like that I would send it back to the supplier! Then using 100 year old
aftermarket parts will need very much scrutiny also. That is a real tragedy. That may come back to the maintenance question?
More often than not I see rust in places I should oil or grease! One of these days someone is going to tell me it's OK it's been like
that for 20 years and my head is just going to explode!
Craig.

An aftermarket shock absorber/perch combination broke
but in fairness, the result could possibly be the same with a failed shackle

In the picture of the Meek 1915 posted by Hal you can see the surviving aftermarket shock directly below the left headlight. It was the one on the right that broke. From what I've read in posts about this wreck there was some speculation on whether the immediate cause was the shock/perch breaking, or the loss of the underinlfated left tire causing it to break. I've lost a front tire twice, once on the left due to a rim cut and once on the right because I neglected keeping the pressure up.The left incident was at cruising speed on pavement. The right side incident was on dirt/gravel at about 25 mph. In neither case did the car give a hint of wanting to veer off course or go sideways. I believe that's because all my stock steering and suspension parts remained intact. The under-axle wishbone in both cases may have helped.

If I was ever tempted to try aftermarket accessory shocks, the Meek wreck dissuades me. On any car with the over-axle wishbone I would switch to the incorrect later wishbone or add under-axle reinforcement.

Hasslers seem to be okay. Thousands of model Ts currently use them, and there have been very few scary incidents with them (unless they were worn out to ready to fall apart!). And most H&D style may be okay. However, some of the H&D knockoffs I would NOT trust! Some of the era cheap knockoffs were too flimsy.
That style of tall tower/spring shock absorber should NEVER be used on the front end of a model T! NOT EVER! Regardless of original manufacturer, whether forged or cast, one-piece tower or multi-part tower? NEVER!
There is an engineering flaw in the design that MIGHT cause the front axle to become unstable under certain conditions that WILL happen from time to time at speeds over about twenty miles per hour. They may have been okay during the brass era when Fords were rarely driven too fast. However, today, when we routinely exceed twenty miles per hour? NO WAY!


As for the shackles? I can't believe the common late production "U" shackles could be selling for thirty or forty dollars a set! I know I am getting old, but I used to buy nice original sets for a buck at swap meets! Singles often for a quarter! I am glad I bought a lifetime supply way back then!
I think I am sorry I didn't buy a few hundred more. I could make enough to buy myself another car!

I had heard the story about the death shock in the past and assumed where it may have broke. It wasn't as I had expected at all. I just did a search and found the picture below. Ken Meek accident follow up https://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/2 ... 1342495776

The Meek's shocks were an unusually BAD design, multi-part riveted and poor material choice. But make no mistake about it! All such "tower" shocks are NOT safe to be used on modern roads and speeds. Several severe accidents and a few deaths have occurred using other tower shocks. I would NOT trust any of that design shock absorber on the front end.

I thought about this thread today when I found this 1/2 shackle in a drawer. It appears to be a stud pressed through a plate as described with the budget shackles. I don’t know what the new ones look like but was this one has Ford on it. Was this design used in production at some point?

Uh Corey! You may have started something! ! I’ve been following the this thread also. To me this particular shackle your showing looks like it’s a bit thicker plate than the budget ones made these days. I didn’t know Ford made that type but???

I have had (I think still may have?) a few of those "L" shaped shackles with a Ford script on them. They are quite old, and a couple I had were thoroughly worn out! Years ago, they were believed to have been used by Ford for a short while during the model T era. Perhaps between the earlier "L" shaped ones with threaded oiler holes in the late brass era and the common later "U" shaped ones? I don't offhand recall if Bruce ever covered those in one of his books or not? The stamped "Ford" script would seem to indicate something around or later than 1919? Once the "U" shaped ones became common, I can't really see them making these? I think the common "U" shaped ones were available new as replacements at least into the 1950s.
There were also simple "L" shaped ones forged out of a single piece of metal. These ones are two pieces of metal. I had one that appeared to have been broken in collision damage. They seem quite strong, and I personally would probably use them if I had enough for an appropriate year car (if I knew what year was appropriate?).

The problem with the current cheap replacements isn't simply that they are made from two pieces of steel. The problem is that they are poorly made from two pieces of steel.

Here is another one that I found. This one is a rear shackle with no script. The way they swaged it is didn’t leave the dimpled edge.

Looking online at hotrod suppliers, the shackles they sell look the same as the ones pictured above but use nylon or urethane
bushings. The hotrod guys don't seem to have any issues with them. Of course they only run blown V8's. Where was the ones
in question purchased from? Hope not from any regular suppliers. Maybe the fore mentioned trailer supply? I purchase every
good original set I find that are serviceable but most are not. Shackles seem to be a part only changed when totally worn out.
Craig.