From time to time I see posts on Ford I beams,..... this may help. Top to bottom,..... #1, 1928-1931 Model A #2, 1932-Only (P***. and truck this was NOT commerical only) #3, 1933-1936 #4, 1937 (early38) "Tubular" ( from V-8 60hp only) #5, 1937-1941 #6, 1942-1947 #7, 1948 only ( extra hole for shock mount) As you can see in the pictures the spacing for the wishbone boss got wider in 1937. The spring was first mounted in front of the Axle in 1935. Thought this might help,..........
yeah, that's good info...here's a thread with some similar info... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55439&highlight=ford+axles
Knowing Ford,.... your probably right, but the do***entation shows 1937 and 3 months into 1938 production run. But stranger things have happned.
I've got one under a 32 frame with suicide suspension. It's been on there for probably 40 years or more with a 58 Pontiac motor. I guess what I'm asking is, is there any weight limit or issue that you Know of?
They were certainly used in some 85HP '38 and '39 cars, too. And there was a different one for the model 62 Ford, just for EuroHambers. I wouldn't see any problem with any reasonable hotrod weight. Probably a '39 deluxe 85 has front end weight comparable to a stripped '32 389, very roughly, anyhow. My only quibble would be the possibility of unseen rust within. I'd bet on Ford forgings, tubing, and machine welds being much stronger than any aftermarket tube axle out there.
I have never knowen anyone to have problems with these tubular axles, they have been put under everything from Hot Rods to Dragsters to G***ers to Track Roadsters to Sprint Cars,... in fact a lot of guy's liked them because they were more rigid than there I beam counterparts. the 37 tube in action !
Hey Bruce ,, Quote "They were certainly used in some 85HP '38 and '39 cars, too. And there was a different one for the model 62 Ford, just for EuroHambers".E-o-Q .. The first time I ever became aware of the `37 Tube axle was when Jake Jacobs started restoring the Niekamp-roadster ( R&C-Magazine `71 ) ..... I have never found an `37-`39 60HP car sold new in Scandinavia with an "US" tube axle ...Seems like they all came with I-beams .. I Just recently bought a nice `37 Tube-axle , ( First one I ever had my hands on ) , but that axle made its way over here by some1 who bought it at a swap-meet in the USA .... When you say : 62 Ford , ... Is that like a "Y"-Ford .. ? , If so , They sure came with a "scaled-down" Tube axle , But it is too tiny/narrow to be used on a "Hot-Rod" .. KLAZ
Nope, I have to respectfully disagree, These axles were designed and intended to be used for the V-8, 60 hp cars ONLY. some cars may have had there axle replaced with one of these, But none were intended to leave the factory in cars with anything other than the little V-8, 60.
They were, according to production letters quoted in the V8 club book on '38-9 Fords, installed in small numbers in 1937, 1938, and 1939 Ford 85's. None of the letters mentions 60 production models for those years! Any 60 use might be in production orders the author didn't find in archives. Leftover ones after these runs were to be used on model 022's--1940 60's. Production was authorized in batches of 100 or 200 at a time from a single plant, and the letters note a change in pn from something beginning with "exp mfg" to a normal 78-whatever-B, an 85 prefixed number, for what that's worth. I ***ume that abbreviation must mean experimental manufacture to indicate some beta testing on the public. I have found one or two Ford pics of cars at final ***embly with tube axles--85's. The archives letters note ANOTHER design to be used on a small 60 powered car (different ch***is than any actually produced) with 100" wheelbase, but that car design was dropped and never produced. A shame--think of the g***er possibilities of a small Ford... Presumably none of those axles ever got past prototype testing. I don't know, but I would bet the small 60 car was a close relative of the British/European Model 62 (number from memory). The 62 was very slightly smaller than US Fords (also made and sold over there), much bigger than a Y model and was sold as a 60 only. Fairly common in France, long ago... I think that model with an 85 put in became the Pilot after WWII. I have found only one tube axle myself, and it has no provenance at all--it was torched out of an unknown car many years before I saw it. I've never seen a tubular axle in anything that could have been its original home--I bet nearly every one of the things had been found and put into a sprintcar or early rod by 1950. They were very rare goodies even back then.
There is actually two of them in my garage now, the third one I had, I sold to a friend Dave Lukari who is still planning on using it in a project in the future. There is a local guy that has a 1937 tudor sedan with a V8-60 and a tube axle. I am just going on info I researched in the Ford archive at the Henry Ford Museum when I was working there,.......I guess it could be wrong. as I said, stranger things have happened.
Were all '37 v8-60 cars supposedly equipped with tube axles? A guy I know is streetrodding one and I got the front and rear suspension but the front axle was the '37-41 I beam type. Was it an option maybe?......Mike
I am actually not sure which one has the most factory drop, but I think the 32 looks the best in stock configuration,...... as far as the tube axles being under all the cars produced with 60 HP V-8's ,.... that's what I have always been told and backed up with several hours of research in the Ford Archives (back in the 70's),.... BUT Bruce Lancaster's research seems to be really in-depth,...... Ford did some strange stuff so I don't doubt anything.
BRUCE .. I forgot about those :Quote "I don't know, but I would bet the small 60 car was a close relative of the British/European Model 62 (number from memory). The 62 was very slightly smaller than US Fords (also made and sold over there), much bigger than a Y model and was sold as a 60 only. Fairly common in France, long ago..." E-O-Q ... Some of those cars you mention was sold new in Norway ... Looks kinda like a `36 Fourdoor , but they have more like a `37 grille ... Right ?
Yeah--they were a bit more compact than a US Ford, and looked like a cross of various '36-7 Ford and Zephyr parts...really slick styling. The only factory pictures or production letters I have seen are for 85 installation of tube axle, except for '40 leftovers, but that certainly doesn't mean they did not go into 60's--there were lots of small run changes and tests, and lots of destroyed or missing do***entation... in any case, these things were made in small runs of 100-200 cars at a time, and were a sort of beta test for new methods. I've never seen anything on totals, but it certainly sounds like there couldn't have been more than a few thousand ever--and most of them were on sprint and Indy cars long before I was born. This was a rare and sought-after piece in 1952 even... And now I want a Model 62 Ford, with the REALLY strange 1935 version of the sixty...
THEN ! Keep in mind Ford (USA) shipped surplus parts to other ***embly plants around the world. Canada, UK and Austrailia, for example often were installing "left overs" (parts) in later model cars. Canada even continued to make the flathead - from surplus pieces - well into 1954!
The Jalopy Journal
