MTFCA Forum

Hello all! I have this 1926? model TT dump truck (I do have the bed for it as well) that was in a fire in the late 50s and has been parked since then. It's on my list of maybe someday projects, and surprisingly the engine is not siezed even after sitting outside since it burned. I was looking it over as I tend to do every now and then, and I noticed a handle on the rear of the transmission that heads to the differential. I know the trucks have a worm drive differential which appears to be what this truck has, so is this for a differential lock, or is it a 2-speed differential? My second question is in regards to the front wheels. I know Ts got wire wheels at the end of production, but I'm not sure when that would have started. Are these the correct wheels for this truck, and would they have been used in unison with the wood spoke rear wheels?

Ruckstell 2 speed axle. Front wheels are '26-'27 Model T wires wheels - get a better photo of the rears. Cab is remnants of a C-Cab.

Were the Ruckstells worm drive? I thought Ruckstells were only in cars, not trucks. All that remains of the rear wheels are the hubs and they were definitely wood spoke. I once saw an old picture of this truck before it burnt, and it had wood spokes on the rear, and was indeed a c-cab. I wish I had the picture now, unfortunately the lady I got the truck from and that had that picture passed away a few years ago.

TT's never (to my knowledge) came from the factory with 26-27 wire wheels; only 21" demountable for 25-27. 30x3 1/2 demountable in front for earlier production. (See MTFCA Model T Encyclopedia for details.

I'll check that out! I was curious if those were T wheels and if they were correct on the truck. Either way, if I ever restore it, I'll leave them simply because it's part of the history of this truck.

The TT rear is worm drive. The TT Ruckstell uses the standard worm drive as well, with the underdrive gears in the larger diff housing. While they may look at first glance like car Ruckstells they are much beefier and have no interchangeable parts.
See Martynn' super drawings for more details here: app.php/gallery/album/59

Rear wheels are beefy wooden spokes as were the front wheels. I have not heard that TTs ever came with wires from factory.

I didn't realize the Ruckstell was available for the trucks as well! I could definitely see where an underdrive would be useful on the truck tho! I wish I knew the story on how this truck ended up with wire front wheels, but I guess that is lost to history. The truck came from an old homestead in the Mojave Desert just down the road from my parents' house. This homestead used to be a chicken supplier for Knott's Berry Farm. In fact, Walter Knott bought their first chicken truck for them when they were starting out. They used this dump truck for cleaning the coops and hauling fresh sand to the coops until a garage fire claimed the truck.

I have a pair of hubs that I think are from a early 28 AA truck,that had worm drive, that have lug bolts for wire wheels. The ccab i have, if I live long enough to work on it, I will hunt up some 28 AA wheels for the rear and use 26-7 T car wheels on the front. I think it will give the truck a unique look.

Mack, I have seen photos of A model trucks with 5 stud steel disc wheels. Perhaps your hubs are for those, rather than wire wheels. The disc wheels are likely stronger.

Allan from down under.

Mack and Allan,

The 28' AA did indeed use wire wheels. I believe they were manufactured by Budd. Then later in 28 or early 29 they were shifted to "disk" wheels with five lobes cut out of them-also by Budd. Both of these wheels were attached via lugs. I hope this helps.

-Joshua

Here is what the Model TT Ruckstell rear end internal parts look like. I try to buy them when they come up for sale cheap, and if they are close to me. I will also pick up or take drop offs when we travel.

https://www.mtfca.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=6433

We have a 28 Express at the Village that has wire wheels. It is a really cool truck!

My 26 TT came with a pile of old parts, one being an R axle housing. The guts however, were missing. The outer housing was badly worn from a bad roller, and, being dumb in my twenties I tossed the thing. Ugh...
But, the TT's were slower than snail snot...why you'd want to have an underdrive to go even slower (today anyway)...uh...no.
I did however also have a cast iron case Warford 3 spd made for the TT, with both under & over. Only problem though was you had to have better wheel brakes than stock, even though the TT shoes are lined...still not good enough if you got locked out of a gear and couldn't use the tranny brake!!!