MTFCA Forum

Please look this over and let me know if I've missed anything....sometimes even I get lost in itty bitty lines, .

Martynn, you may need to change the date range for this drawing. On our Canadian sourced cars the later tubes did not have the separate, fluted casting at the rear. I do not know when the change was made.

Allan from down under.

I don't believe the USA torque tubes did either.

Yeah come to think on it some I think you're right, those flutes were for tightening nuts and lock wire.
Knew I missed something.

Martynn, there is no separate piece on the end of our Canadian torque tubes. The tubes merge into the flange without any kind of step. It may have been made in two pieces, but there is little evidence of this visually. If you want further complications, the taper in the tube is achieved in a series of steps, rather than one continual taper. Don't know if any of this really matters.

Allan from down under.

All you did is remove the flutes! There is no separate casting there period, and there isn't a lip on the rear flange either.

Martynn, I re-read my previous post and left out one word. The taper is achieved in a series of steps on SOME tubes. Most are a smooth taper.

Sorry for any confusion.
Allan from down under.

Martynn,

The ball joint end (2582FC/2577) is threaded onto the torque tube (2533) and stopped from rotating loose by 4 rivets.

I haven't looked that closely at it but isn't 2582FC & 2577 the same part?

There is no step on the outside between the flange (T193B) and the torque tube (2533). I think the flange is knurled down to the diameter of the torque tube at this location, giving a smooth transition. There is a step on the inside. I haven't looked that closely at it but I think the step may be an additional piece, with the tube sandwiched between it and the flange. If you added an internal ring that went the full length of the flange (T193B) I think that would be the arrangement.

Thank you for doing these drawings. They are always helpful.

Ok, did some checking on friends cars and found what you were talking about...sort of. The rear flange isn't made from the torque tube, it is a forged flange that is welded to the tube and the bead ground flush with torque tube.
This is George Clipner's 1926 Touring, I had him take a picture of the flange because I wasn't sure what you all were trying to tell me....I also had Derrick Pang take a picture of his 1923 Touring of the same part and the same thing was noticeable.

Notice the bump on the rear flange where it meets the tube? Notice also that it only appears on the bottom of the tube and not the top because it looks smooth. That's the flanges edge, the space below that, that looks a bit darker and has a ragged looking edge is the weld...more than likely it's a brazed joint. But that's the look you get when you grind a weld or brazed bead down to make it flush. This could've been a nice clean looking joint if they had automatic orbital welding equipment back then, but since they didn't, they had to do it by hand with a torch and rod.

I don't have drawings to work from, but the torque tube wouldn't be strong enough to take the torsional stress of the tube/spool. So, the flange would have to be a separate piece joined to the tube rather than made from it.

So, I've made these correction based upon what I've been told and what I've observed from actual parts.
And the cross section. I am also showing the ball/bushing housing as threaded onto the tube, whether or not that part is also brazed to the tube I don't know, but I have seen that their are rivets staggered on the outside of the housing, which suggests that it is meant to hold the ball/bushing assembly in place.

Since there is no sign of a brazed joining of these two components, I'm inclined to believe that it is indeed threaded onto the tubes end and then held in position by the staggered rivets.

I have replaced two front U joint ball housings on two piece torque tubes and one on a later tube. I have never seen one where that casting was threaded onto the torque tube. Nor have I seen evidence of any brazing the ball onto the tube. To me it makes sense that this was not done, just as it was not done with the riveted on centre sections and backing plates on the axle housings.

Allan from down under.

The ball was not brazed to the tube according to Johnny Guitar, but threaded. However the rear flange was though and it is not made out of the tubes material, it is a separate piece brazed or welded onto the tube. The driveshaft on my 22 has those rivets and it also has a braze/weld joint on the tube at the rear flange....hmmm, maybe the Canadian models were different? This happens all the time with whatever Ford makes for the domestic cars not being the same as what is on the Canadian cars...maybe I need to make a new drawing to show this?

Here's a Canadian torque tube.

I'll see if I can find a butchered one in my stash and take it apart.

The threading seemed obvious on the torque tube in my 26 Tourer (the worn out car at Maryborough) as it had spun but looking at this one maybe it was an optical illusion.