spare tire carrier year of service

[hah]

The tall base has Ford script with PN T 7316 A1.
The small one is not Ford, however, has the same part number barely legible of PN T 7316 A1.

Same part number different height? What do these go to? What gives?

Thanks,
John.

[DanTreace]

Those are the two versions, major difference is the 3 bolt mount, and the other version has 4 bolts, these are just different as the bodies changed. Perhaps Ford found the wire wheels needed the boost of another bolt to hold the mount, or 3 worked ok and saved some money


By Terry Woods, Richmond, Texas on Tuesday, March 18, 2014 - 01:38 am:
Today, while loading for Chickasha, I found two 26-27 spare tire mount brackets (the ones between the body and the tire, not the gooseneck used on sedans and touring cars). I put them in the trailer and later George Clipner noticed that one was slightly longer than the other by the thickness of the flanges on both ends (about a half inch). Upon further examination, we noticed that one had three mounting holes in a triangular pattern with two holes at the bottom, and one hole at the top on the body mount end. The other had four mounting holes, two holes at the top and two holes at the bottom on the body mount end. Both had the same part number cast into each mount, but each had a different manufacturers or vendors mark. Also, each had another series of three letters and/or numbers that were different from each other. The one with the three holes matches the mounting holes in my 27 coupe's body panel. Anybody got any ideas on this?

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message By Dave Henry on Tuesday, March 18, 2014 - 02:02 am:
Both were used on the Coupes / Roadsters. I would guess that the 4 bolt holes is early 26 and the other is late 26/27. My Coupe body has the 3 bolt pattern but I don't know if it is an early or late model. There were a lot of minor changes to the bodies.

[Kevin Pharis]

My ol roadster was a ‘27 model... and used the 3 bolt version

I was under the impression that the 4 bolt was a coupe thing... but sounds like it was an early/late thing regardless of coupe/roadster...?

[hah]

Thank you Dan ... now to figure out which one to use!

[Will Brown]

I believe the 4 bolt was used on the early '26 roadsters. My October '25 build of my 26 roadster had a 4 hole mount. The bracket was missing and I was able to get a nos three-hole spare rim bracket. I brazed the bottom whole closed and drilled two new holes to match the body. The Ford List of Parts shows the 4 hole image.

[DanTreace]

Those mounts may have been used as available, the parts book shows the 4 hole, while my Nov. ‘25 runabout used the 3 hole. Note the single hole in the deck, the two lower holes are in the rear sub frame.

Wonder if the 4 hole was used mostly on coupes?

[Will Brown]

I definitely think the four hole ones were of early cars. I had a discussion with Donnie Brown about this and we decided that even though the parts book of 1928 shows the 4 hole one and that the later cars of '26 and '27 used three hole mounts, Ford never upgraded the illustration in the parts book even though the later cars were using the three bolt type. Why did they change? Just to save the cost of a single bolt, nut and washer? Well, two bolts at the bottom were not really needed, one would do. There would also be the labor cost of installing that extra bolt. The three bolts instead of four would save some money. Was it worth it to Ford? There are so many differences between the early 26s and the later ones. That topic is for another discussion.

[Will Brown]

So the single bolt was at the top in the later roadsters and coupes, not at the bottom. So that is why I adapted the tire carrier to a four bolt type for my early '26 because the reinforcement where it attached inside the trunk showed two places to attached two bolts.

[Kevin Pharis]

Dan, I have a feeling you’re trunk got swapped out with a later ‘27 model somewhere along the line... The ‘26 model cars had a simple trunk floor with a small dog house to clear the rear crossmember, that was attached to the sub frame. The ‘27 model had the embossed trunk floor that rolls up in the front, attached to the trunk.

Here’s a pic of the one I made, as the ‘27 model floors are not being reproduced

[hah]

OK, I see the 3 v. 4 hole phenom. However, why are they different heights and the diameter of tubes are different sizes?

Just curious!