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This one is for Dallas Landers- it's your day!
Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2020 9:40 am
by Atomic Amish
From the MotorCities National Heritage Area FB page today:
"On July 27, 1917, Ford Motor Company introduced its first truck, the Model TT.
At the time, most trucks were modified cars. Henry Ford realized he could profit from pickup trucks, so he took his Model T and lengthened the chassis, stiffened the suspension and changed the gear ratios. Intended for farmers, the Model TT could carry a one-ton payload and had a Ruckstell underdrive axle, which allowed the truck to haul loads over rough terrain and uphill. These features drew the attention of Allied forces during World War I, and 39,000 Ford Model TTs went to war, mostly as ambulances. #ThisDayInAutoHeritage"
Re: This one is for Dallas Landers- it's your day!
Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2020 7:25 pm
by Susanne
Just a side note...
I've seen a few WW2 ambulances, but they've all been canvas sided "C-cab" style bodies on car, not TT chassis... a lot of those were brass radiator'd cars.
Re: This one is for Dallas Landers- it's your day!
Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2020 8:18 pm
by Henry K. Lee
Dallas if I be nice can I help?
Re: This one is for Dallas Landers- it's your day!
Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2020 8:27 pm
by Dallas Landers
Thanks Jason! Not sure I could do hard rubber all the way around Hank. TT's are a pretty stiff ride with neumatic tires. Scott is pretty tuff to ride on those hard rears. Not enough sidewall flex for racing traction for me.
Re: This one is for Dallas Landers- it's your day!
Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 12:56 am
by Steve Jelf
Most if not all of the WWI Ford ambulances I've seen were on a car chassis, not TT. A check of Google images will confirm this. Ford made 41105 TT chassis in 1918. 39,000+ of them became ambulances? I suspect not. The TT did not come from the factory with a Ruckstell axle. That was an aftermarket product. Otherwise the Facebook caption is on the mark. 
Re: This one is for Dallas Landers- it's your day!
Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 7:06 am
by Henry K. Lee
There were so many various manufactures of them (companies) and spare parts were so hard to find in the field, that after WW1 the military started the "M' series of vehicles. This made vehicles with inter-changeable parts.
Re: This one is for Dallas Landers- it's your day!
Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 7:29 am
by John E. Guitar
That photo is titled on Ford’s website as “1918 1 Tonne Stake Bed Truck”
Re: This one is for Dallas Landers- it's your day!
Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 8:46 am
by WayneJ
Re posted from another thread: Here is the ambulance presented to the Red Cross by the girl's of Washington Irving High School. The photo is dated 1917.
- Ambulance.jpg (54.96 KiB) Viewed 3878 times
Before the U.S. entered WWI, the American Field Service provided volunteer ambulance drivers and ambulances for the Allied War Effort. Many of the brass era, car based, ambulances that one sees in photos are the ambulances provided by the American Field Service.
Re: This one is for Dallas Landers- it's your day!
Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 9:01 am
by Quickm007
this one have a flat tire at rear... lol
Re: This one is for Dallas Landers- it's your day!
Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2020 3:48 am
by Allan
The vehicle in which the girls are loaded does not appear to have the heavier rear wheels of a TT. To my eyes it looks like a car chassis, with an extension, perhaps to accommodate an accessory transmission, and this allows for an extended body to boot. I was under the impression that the first TT's were 1918 models.
Allan from down under.