MTFCA Forum

There appears to be a few options on the floating safety rear hubs. Different bearing types, roller, needle, and ball bearings. Different suppliers have slightly different approaches. I am considering them for my 1915 Model T. What advice can you give me or experience you can share on the various options? Thanks.

Contact Dan McEachern - IMO - his design is the best !

Waste of time!

Only right before your axle breaks Larry! after that, well..................

I run safety hubs on two of my T's that I tour in. I drive many miles every year on and off the pavement and see them as a big safety improvement.

Ford went to floating axles on the A model. Can't imagine them doing that if it was a waste of time. After 15 million T's, there must have been a reason for the change.

Allan from down under.

I have found them very helpful, first time we broke an axle, it
meant we could tow it back home after it snapped a block from home and didn't destroy the guard or bodywork, the second time when a driver hit us side on at 40 km/h after ignoring a stop sign, the axle housing has compressed but we could still limp it to get it onto a trailer, the bodywork has suffered this time but it could have been a lot worse.

Dan McEachern wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 05, 2024 1:08 pm

Only right before your axle breaks Larry! after that, well..................

Sent you a PM Dan for info.

they work great and have a nice big sealed bearing here is how i make mine these are not finished but
you can see the design

Phillip, I use a similar design to make floating rear axles for my T's, but do not make them into a true safety hub.
I presume the unmachined tubular part of your spiggot goes into the axle housing, the bearing goes over it, and is retained on it by the thin flange screwed in place. Then this sub assembly is fitted in the carrier to be fixed to the wheel. Your photos of the unfinished set-up raise a few questions.

How do you fix/retain the spiggot in the axle housing and seal around it?
I presume the 6 larger holes in the carrier coincide with the 6 hub bolts. If so, does the countersink mean you use a countersunk bolt with a nut on the outside of the wheel?
What purpose do the six smaller intermediate countersunk holes serve?

I may have to adjust my work to make improvements.

Allan from down under.

i use 2 big o rings to seal it then t put a groove that lines up with the grease cup. tap the hole in
the grease cup and put a set screw there cap then hides it. the extra holes are for holes i tap in the inner
hub flange.

i also just tap the holes for the thru bolts on my current design. bolts go in from outside.
better but you see the hex heads but less clearance issues and you can check tightness

hubs

on these i used chamferd nuts but i didnt like them

RajoRacer wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 03, 2024 10:14 pm

Contact Dan McEachern - IMO - his design is the best !

I second this. I installed Dan's safety hubs and am VERY happy with them. What is your life worth? That's the question to ask if you are on the fence about these...

I installed Dan's hubs on my 1919 touring over 12 years ago and never looked back.