MTFCA Forum

My wife & I are moving back to our hometown (15 slightly hilly highway miles away). I've never driven our '26 Roadster very far and mostly in town. It runs pretty good, but I've never gotten it up past 35, I believe. I know the magneto doesn't work. (maybe that won't matter) Is it a bad idea to drive it to the new place? I know many people do drive them on the highways. We figured on doing so on a Sunday morning when it's not so busy and her following with flashers on. What things could go wrong with a stock Model T on a 15 mile drive?

It all depends……..do you enjoy driving your ‘26 roadster and does your generator charge the battery ? If either of these is a ‘no’..then I’d just trailer it from one garage to another. But if you’d enjoy a good 30 minute drive, by all means - go for it !

My experience with cars, old or new, is that they pay no attention to city limit signs. I drive my Model T often, and I avoid driving it in towns, and I rarely drive it less than 25 to 40 miles at a time. The only reason to hesitate to drive it on the open road would be traffic conditions. I don't drive my car on interstates or urban freeways, but I've driven on interstate access roads. Before starting any trip, long or short, be sure your oil and coolant is topped up and check your tire pressure and condition, including the spare. It's best to start wit a full tank of gas, and be sure the fuel filter is clean. If your car is dependable in town, it will be dependable on the road. The easiest running condition for a Model T in fair to good condition is running on the open road at around 30 MPH. One of the most severe service situations is running in stop and go traffic.

George House wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 04, 2025 9:15 am

It all depends……..do you enjoy driving your ‘26 roadster and does your generator charge the battery ? If either of these is a ‘no’..then I’d just trailer it from one garage to another. But if you’d enjoy a good 30 minute drive, by all means - go for it !

I haven't driven it in awhile now because it's in an awkward place in the garage and I've been missing it. I believe it does charge from what I can recall. I think it was showing constant charge.

Put the battery on the charger and make sure it is fully charged before you go. Check the obvious things such as oil level, coolant, tire pressure, etc. Have you lubed the differential and drive shaft lately? How about the rear outside hyatt bearings? Wouldn't hurt to check the level in the rear differential as well.

We do all these things and more before a tour, and then drive our cars 300-600 miles on a typical multi-day activity. 15 miles is nothing, I put more miles than that on mine when I drive to town for fuel or the car wash. Make the drive, you might find you like it and want to adventure out more

Oldav8tor wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 04, 2025 9:41 am

Put the battery on the charger and make sure it is fully charged before you go. Check the obvious things such as oil level, coolant, tire pressure, etc. Have you lubed the differential and drive shaft lately? How about the rear outside hyatt bearings? Wouldn't hurt to check the level in the rear differential as well.

We do all these things and more before a tour, and then drive our cars 300-600 miles on a typical multi-day activity. 15 miles is nothing, I put more miles than that on mine when I drive to town for fuel or the car wash. Make the drive, you might find you like it and want to adventure out more

I'll need to go through all the general maintenance before heading out. I can check the book, but how do you service the rear outside Hyatt bearings?

Facing to the rear on the rear axle halves you’ll see 2 ‘grease cups’ (or they may be changed out to zirk fittings).The cup simply screws into the fitting that, in turn, screws into the axle halves. Remove the cup and ensure theres no old, caked grease in either half. At this point I’ve installed zirk fittings INSIDE these grease cups for efficiency in adding grease. If you want, simply load the cups with good grease a few times and screw them down to the fitting.

To add to George said, there are also two cups on the universal joint. The large one greases the U joint and the smaller one behind it is for a bushing inside the front of the driveshaft tube. They should be greased. The front large one gets more grease than the small one. I use the thick wheel bearing grease for this.
Also I don't know how steep the hills are where you will be traveling. If there is a country road it is better than an interstate highway. Some roads have a slow lane for hills. Take that lane if possible and if it ends at the top of the hill, try to pull back into the main lane near the top. If you have to stop before the top of the hill, it will be harder to get started and might need to use low gear so best not to pull off to let traffic pass till you reach the top. I have a couple 26's and they go up hills much better than the earlier ones because of the high gas tank. Sometimes a 12 volt battery can be used to give the coils a better spark however all your lights and other electrical parts would need to be converted to 12 volts including the starter. The 6 volt generator will charge a 12 volt battery because it's output is in Amps not volts.If you can get the magneto to work the engine will have a lot more power. I know from experience.
Norm

Be sure the gasoline in the car is fresh. Since my last post here at 7:30 AM this morning, I've driven my Model T 70 miles on mostly rural 2 lane roads with 7 miles on dirt. I drive about 45 MPH on pavement. Speeds and distance measured by Garmin navigation device.

Be sure the gasoline in the car is fresh.

If you drive often enough, gas in your tank can't get old.

In the OP the poster uses the word "highway". My concern is what is the poster's definition of highway? If it's an interstate, the trip is an easy "no" for me. If we are talking about a multi-lane divided road that is not an interstate or it's equivalent, the maybe. I have two magnetic flashing red lights that I put on the rear body whenever I drive the T. Florida is not typical - we have the U S championship in lousy drivers; and they are not necessarily just geezers.

Much of Iowa is prime Model T country, at least in Summer.

If the car has been sitting a while, I'd start by pushing the car a few feet, then checking and correcting the tire pressure. Then I'd see to it that any stale gasoline was removed and replaced with fresh gas. Then I'd lubricate the entire car as directed in the owner's manual. Then check and charge the battery, if present. If you have thick or dirty oil in the crank case, drain it out and replace it with 2 1/2 quarts of 10W30 and 1 quart of Marvel Mystery oil. That should get you going. I'd also put 4 ounces of Marvel Oil in the gas tank. If your 6 volt battery is several years old, or totally discharged, I'd replace it. Be sure to oil the timer if it is a Ford roller timer. Marvel Mystery Oil is excellent for oiling Ford timers.

John Codman wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 04, 2025 1:46 pm

In the OP the poster uses the word "highway". My concern is what is the poster's definition of highway? If it's an interstate, the trip is an easy "no" for me. If we are talking about a multi-lane divided road that is not an interstate or it's equivalent, the maybe. I have two magnetic flashing red lights that I put on the rear body whenever I drive the T. Florida is not typical - we have the U S championship in lousy drivers; and they are not necessarily just geezers.

The highway is a 2 lane, 55mph road. Nothing faster than that. A stretch of it over the Dam is 45mph. I'd never take one of these on and interstate, nor my '28 Model A!

I'm excited about taking this car on it's first longest run since I've had it! If I recall right, it's on the upside of the hills where you have to worry about lugging the engine and potentially breaking the crank, right? So I'd have to retard the spark some, correct?

Go for it!! Hilly in Iowa means going downhill then uphill. The area around Pella is full of small valleys not hill. You should be able to make the 15 mil trip in 45 minutes at 20mph.

Frank's picture reminds me of this shot I took in the mountainous NE part of Iowa.

Since several respondents have mentioned “hills”, another Model T driving rule of thumb is to consider using the same gear (you only have 2) descending a hill that you needed ascending it. More applicable to mountains tho. For a long steep decline I tightly clamp the low band onto the low drum. That way minimal band and drum wear occurs.

You shouldn't need low gear on anything but steep hills. For most any driving over 17 to 20 MPH, advance the spark all the way. If the car is in fair to good condition, I'd drive it around 30 MPH up to about 35 MPH. If you go too slow, you may have to downshift more often than otherwise. The engine makes its maximum power around 35 MPH in high. In low gear, you're limited to about 8 MPH, so that's to be avoided out on the road, since there is no second gear.

TRDxB2 wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 04, 2025 3:42 pm

Go for it!! Hilly in Iowa means going downhill then uphill. The area around Pella is full of small valleys not hill. You should be able to make the 15 mil trip in 45 minutes at 20mph.

That was one of my big fears....is that to much hill for the car? Good to know that it's not.

Drive it!!!

Scott,

Part of your yearly maintenance is removing your wheels and cleaning and repacking your front and rear bearings. Sounds like you do not drive a lot, so once every other year should be good....Twice in my life I have ended up on the Interstate with my cars and had to drive 8-12 miles to find an exit ramp. A bit scary, but I can only do 30-35, so that is what I did.... If your wife can drive behind you on the highway with her flashers on and that makes you feel safer, than by all means do it that way. If you get a line of people behind you, just pull off on the shoulder and let them pass. You will feel better and they will appreciate it. Since you are not use to highway driving, just do what feels safest to you and you will do just fine.

A Model T that is in reasonably good running order will go up any hill you are likely to encounter on any public road in high gear in most parts of the country. Exceptions may be found in mountainous areas. In several internet pictures, Marion County looks like flat to low rolling hills to me.

load it up with your household goods and skip the u-haul.

drive it back and forth..

that car has done more manual labor in it's lifetime than you have.