MTFCA Forum

I'm wondering if anyone on the forum has a car with a Livingood conversion installed?

How do well these cars drive in the sand?

Tom Carnegie in Spokane, WA has one.

There use to be a Livingood four wheel drive T in San Diego north county. It came on several tours, it seemed to keep up with other Ts on tours and didn’t seem unreliable. From what I could tell, the performance was similar to regular Ts, though the extra weight must of had a negative effect. In modern traffic conditions in Southern Cal I don’t see the need for four wheel drive, although it was an interesting novelty.
When the owner passed, I lost track of the car.

One of the vendors at Hershey had one on displayed a few years ago (not for sale). The gentlemen are from Michigan I believe and have a spot at the lower end of the Green Field near the new car show grounds. It was just a running gear with a bench seat installed. One thing I did notice was the transfer case was a pretty rudimentary deal. Pretty much just some sheetmetal attached over the inner workings. I don't think it could hold grease or oil. I suppose you were suppose to oil it every so often.

google "MTFCA; Livingood"
There have been a lot of post on the forum over the years on the Livingood.

Greetings:

Your message might indicate you are looking to buy a 4Wd Model T with the Livingood conversion. Do it !!!!

Having driven one I can tell you there is no fear of sand driving. I don't think the car would be too happy in the dunes of south-eastern California but given the variety of gear ratios available with Henry's two speed coupled to a three or four speed auxiliary it would likely plug along even there. I likened the car I drove to an MB jeep as far as its capabilities were concerned.

I was so impressed I am putting one together as we speak. I have the chassis and drives completed and when finished it'll be a '15 Roadster P/U 4Wd.

They are built "bully for strong". The transfer case on a true Livingood only weighs about seventy five pounds, before lubricant, and looks like it might be at home anywhere a power divider in needed.

Hope this helps. Ron MacDonald

Yes, I am interested in acquiring the parts to convert one of my cars.

At this stage I’m just researching the conversion. I’ve found the stock Model T to be very capable off road but have never driven on the beach.

It would definitely be unique car in and around Sydney.

Thanks guys for your replies. I’ll try calling Tom in the next few weeks.

Are they full time 4wd or can you switch from 4wd to 2 wd ?

The transfer case lets you choose between four wheel drive or two wheel drive.
An added benefit is four wheel brakes in 4WD. Ron MacDonald

I vaguely remember there were two versions - one with a chain-driven transfer case with an in-out lever and one with a full-time 4wd transfer case with a locking differential. I think the newer ones are all the chain-drive in-out version, but I'm not sure. Of course, since there are no locking hubs, the front diff and drive shaft are always turning if the front wheels are.

I'm not sure if Jesse R. is still with us (hope so), but I'd really like to know how their own family pronounces their last name, i.e. Lie-vin-good, Li-vin-good, Lie-ving-good, Li-ving-good, or another way. I've heard people in the T community say it different ways, but I'd like to hear it from the horse's mouth (so to speak) and say it right.

Yeah, according to this...http://www.fourwheeler.com/project-vehi ... dster-4wd/. There's a photo of one of Jesse F.'s original kits with a center diff. Like I said, I think all of Jesse R.'s are what this article refers to as the earlier version with in-out and no center diff. I definitely could be wrong, though.

I will try to pass some on. There are 2 versions, both chain drive. One transfer case version is just a gear that is slid on to a slimed shaft to engage or slid out and the gear free wheels on the shaft disengaged. The second version discussed has a differential the transfer case shaft goes through. same sliding gear engagement.The spider gears allow some relief of binding front to back also they have a brake drum that the differential is mounted in. So the brake drum is a t drum and has the same band which is tied to the t brake pedal so you have 4 wheel brakes sort of. This probability leaves a lot of questions still. The patents are floating around. I will say the non differential t-case is simpler to fool with in my opinion. Jessie jr does have a spider gear setup in his car and I am told it works well on the road. These are like any 4x4 in that you have more stuff to work on and around but are neat if you like this sort of thing. Simple and smart considering when it was developed. They are hard to come by if you want one.

I'd like several Livingood's to help negotiate my winter hill. Maw would shoot me, if I'd let her play with....
Sand? How about snow? Same drag down bit I think.
Check this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmHoUKq0sC8
Super cool.
Someone had to remember this!

One of these days I will make it up to PA where a friend of mine has his other home. To get back on topic his neighbor is Livingoods's grandson if I remember correctly and has a fair bit of stuff (not for sale) at the house.If I ever get up there believe me I will get info and share it.