A friend of mine heard a noise in her front wheels on her '62 Buick. She was tearing it down and this popped out from under the dustcap. Only one on the car, and not in any books we can find. Anyone know what this could be? Thanks!
If it's what I think it is , part of it is missing I have seen something similar on trailer axles, it works as a spring against a cup to push grease into the bearings.
Radio static suppressor. Usually they go missing, too much trouble to put things back the way they were, I guess... Cosmo
I may be wrong ,I usually am but didn't some cars come with the speedo drive on the front right wheel?
Yup, as cosmo stated GM calls it a Static Collector put on radio equipped cars. They usually stayed in the "Grease Retainer" when removed for bearing repack but what usually happened was the mechanic did not pay attention to bending the cotter pin correctly upon re***embly and the cotter pin would snag and break or destroy the collector. One of the main reasons most have been long missing. A page out of a Corvair ***embly manual for radio installation:
Cosmo identified it one minute after it was posted. Amazing. I have been playing with cars for over 40 years, and have never heard of a static collector. Too cool!
Oldsmobiles in the 60s had this feature...also, VWs. Cars with tires exactly tall enough to get 1000 turns per mile.
To revive an old thread, do these do anything? I’ve one fitted to the right and a mangled one on the left I binned that had shredded itself. Is it worth removing the other one to stop it contaminating the wheel bearing if it goes bye-bye?
Worked on a mid '60s Olds years ago that used this type of speedo drive. Thought it drove off the LH front wheel but I sure wouldn't bet any of my own money on that fact. The back side of the knuckle had a fitting that the cable threaded onto, as I recall. The cable core fed thru a hole that was bored thru the spindle. The square cable end seated into a small square sleeve that was welded to the inside of the wheel bearing grease cap. Over the years I think several manufacturers used a similar speedo drive system but I've never seen another one on anything that was a later model than this Olds.
Not sure how long Corvairs used this setup, but thanks to a reply here, someone mentioned the funky wishbone shaped clip at the LF hub was for a speed cable drive. Must be at least '65, as this is the later (LM) style suspension. See here: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...52-rambler-wagon.1291532/page-5#post-15125612
I did that but now I’m going to have to go and check I actually did that Plus having one on just the right hand side is affecting my OCD!
I don't think they do anything with the new transistor radios. If they did all the new cars would have them. Maybe only helped to quiet static on AM.
yeah, AM radio is where static is a problem. Did you ever hear the Steely Dan song, FM? "No static at all!"
I have an AM radio which turns on pretty quickly so I’m ***uming it’s transistor. Maybe I’ll try with and without and see if there a difference
Similar thing used in military vehicles, they have a carbon brush in the middle like a distributor cap.
Yup, the Olds speedo drive was on the left front. I've never heard of a static collector........learn sumpthun new every day!
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