Around the corner from my house a young guy is building a 26-27 lakester style roadster. I question his use of a stock Model T front axle and spindles along with a pair of radius rods made like original Model Ts which are mounted at the bottom of the axle only. The frame is the usual box tubing, drivetrain is 460 Ford V8 auto and 49 or so Ford rear. The front spindles have been machined to accept 49-54 Ford hubs and bearings and a disc brake conversion is in progress. I fear that tender T axle with the spindles inside the ears at the end and low-mounted radius rods will fold up and twist the first time he nails the brakes, whether drum or disc, and put him in harm's way real quick. Anybody out there seen any bad happenings with a setup like this? Heck, even in the old days they would use anything but a T front end even with a hot 4banger let alone a 460 big block.
first of all if the spindles were machined to fit the hubs they belong in the trash, the inner bearing is meant to be machined. if the shape of a spindle is compromised its junk and it will break.......
Didn't T Speedsters usually have an additional wishbone mounted on top to spread the load better? And they didn't even HAVE front brakes!!! No idea how it all went together...although I remember seeing it on a speedster site somewhere. Go smack him up side the head before he kills himself...
let him kill himself or lose some limbs // maybe you can pickup tools and parts real cheap at the clean out sale NATURAL SELECTION
Hopefully he will be receptive to some constructive criticism, but if he wants proof that this is a real bad idea, I found this quote on a Model T club site ... "Other more adventurous restorers have used full hydraulic brakes on both front and rear of the Model T. However be cautioned that the original Ford front axle and radius rods will not withstand the front wheel braking stress" http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/mtfcsd/Mechanical/Odd_items/Odd_items.htm
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