MTFCA Forum

Howdy,

I'm trying to get some ballpark idea of the current values of a rebuildable complete Ruckstell rear end! I have a friend of friend that is trying to sell one and I want to be fair before I make an offer, I haven't seen it or know whether it is small or large drum. I need to sleep at night and look at myself in the mirror, so I'm not looking to take advantage of a friend. It's a Good Friends Friend, that wants to sell and I have an interested party wanting to buy one within the local club, I'm simply trying to help everyone out as I have no need for another Ruckstell myself.

Joe-
I generally let the seller set an asking price. If he says, "make me an offer." I tell him, "I would not want to insult you with a low offer." If he insists that I make an offer first, I give him a low offer. THEN, the seller will usually (finally) come up with a price and a starting place for negotiation.

If you put the two of them in contact with each other and stay out of the middle there will be less of a chance of any hurt feelings with either your club friend or the friend of a friend.

: ^ )

Keith

Best advice Joe is just put them in contact with each other. Some people want you to do it all, so if it isn't your money, let them have remorse, not you if they are later unhappy.

Hank

You can buy an unknown axle for $500. Clean it, reassemble and go. You can do the same thing and end up spending $1000+ on parts. AND, it is a lot of work to go through one, whether you find it in good shape or not, or somewhere in the middle. I don’t think I’d gamble more than $500 on an unknown one, but that’s me. I’ve had a half dozen, and that’s served me well.
Now, if it’s a known good axle, rebuilt by a competent mechanic, that’s a whole ‘nother answer from me.
Also, with the ruckstell parts supply in question, it could be a whole new ballgame in the future.

Looks like Joe is the one doing the buying. I have to kinda go along with Tim's ball park. I see too many of these being sold for lots of money without knowing what is in side. I went thru one that by time we were done all the gut were replaced with new and another that the case was shot along with many new parts. On the surface both looked good and I know they were not bought cheaply.

Thanx everyone for the comments, appreciate it, please continue, all comments welcome, please share your thoughts, opinions etc.

I'm sure that there are folks wanting to sell and others looking to buy, my idea of this thread was to produce a good understanding of current supply and demand to help everyone reading, which is in everyone's best interest.

Mark, nope, I'm not the one buying for myself or trying to flip, I have three cars and three Ruckstells with extra parts. I'm just trying to understand the market and possibly help the two friends make a square deal.

I agree with Tim, I see several advertised and selling for around $500, that state: requires rebuilding, it appears each area of the country has different statistics on pricing, availability and demand.

Simply put, I have a friend that is a older gentleman that would like to sell what he has and I have another friend that is looking to purchase. Long story short, I guess, I am just a friend that looks out for anyone I consider a friend.

Looking for some guidance on pricing so everyone feels good with the purchase, if a deal may occur!

Sellers want top Dollar and buyers want the best/lowest price.

having comments from folks as sellers and buyers will help others in decision making whether or not to purchase a Ruckstell and what prices to offer!

If someone tells you or told you 10 years ago a used Ruckstell was/is worth $1200, doesn't mean it still is, that is what I'm trying to resolve by this thread.

I agree stay out of it give your friend(s) info. One of our suppliers sells Ruckstell kits (housing & parts) for around $2,500 and you need to assemble it. As they say condition is everything. If it was on a running car and tested okay & was a simple drop it in, $2500 would look like a bargain. If it was encrusted with barn cement (dried dirt & oil) and couldn't see the condition of the housing - I offer to haul it away for $20.

With Chaffins closing, I would think all Ruckstells whole or otherwise are worth more.

If parts to rebuild them are no longer available, they become their own dinosaur. Since it is an under drive, other options exist with more options.

Just Sayin'

Hank

Mine looked great and was operational when I bought my car. I then changed the ruxtell's oil and found the dreaded gray mud. Everything inside was worn out. After replacing everything, and I mean everything, and emptying my bank account of thousands of dollars for parts and putting in lots of my labor and time, I now have a sweet running rux! Was it worth it? Yes, I love it but it was a very expensive lesson! But before I buy another one, you can bet I will check for babbitt washers first whether it is operational or not! If I find babbit, I will only pay maybe $200 - $400 for a core charge or walk away.

Cheers, Bill

There are still good ones around. I rebuilt over 70 of them over the years, most are pretty good as found if they haven't had water in them but it's a crap shoot like buying any 100 year old parts.
Here in Montana pretty much nothing rusts like it does other places so the housings tend to be very good. I recently bought two out of a barn where they had been since the 50's. Bought two more from the estate of a long time collector. As long as the inside is greasy I like em.
If your differential is already good with good bearings, axles, etc, there isn't a huge expense in building one up. What I find is that people buy a Ruckstell, rebuild the differential with new axles, sleeves, ring and pinion, pinion bearing, driveshaft, backing played and everything else and then bitch about how expensive it was to rebuild a Ruckstell instead if figuring they needed to fix the rear end anyway.
It also helps to have some decent tools and skills along with experience enough to know what is ok and what needs to be replaced, what can be machined to work fine and an understanding of how they work to begin with.
I usually pop the housings apart and let the grease drain out, then either split the unit or wash it down with a little solvent to see how it looks before I sell a used one.
It's an hour job at most with a decent impact wrench.

I was at the Turlock swap meet yesterday, and a guy had three housings for $125, which seems like a good deal!

Frank, the current kit price is $2500 + postage from California . No axles, seals,bearings,ring and pinion gears, etc,etc., so you can easily have $3500 in it before you turn a wrench. ( right about the Lane warford price. ) As Stan pointed out , where these are found and their history can make all the difference on the gamble to purchase an intact unit. Was it out in a muddy cow lot in Ohio, or in the dry climate? Regardless, unless they are taken apart and looked at , it’s a gamble. The last two I had were sold at a premium price, because all apart, all inspected, good bearings,axles,seal, bolts everything included. BUT, their original purchase was a gamble by me. I bought an intact one maybe 15 years ago from a good friend, $600. It LOOKED great. Sold it to another friend. Luckily , he is a crack machinist as it was just plumb worn out inside. It’s been on the road now for a long time, but if someone else would have bought it, it may have been thrown in the trash, or still sitting in a pile all apart somewhere. lOOKS mean nothing if it isn’t apart!
I’ve told friends that after the work to install one, I am underwhelmed at the difference it makes. It is a heavy station wagon, not much in the way of hills where we are, and has only helped me get out of a muddy field at greenfield village several years ago. I’m an accessory nut, so that’s what drove me, and I had an original NOS unit in the crate I had bought many years ago,. There was no rebuilding ,remachining or buying repair parts. It was still a lot of work, not sure I’d do it again. I’m glad I have it, but not sure I’d do it again.

Flat rate from Ford was an hour to install one. They were all new then and they weren't trying for .006 pinion/ ring hear clearance like they are today.
Ruckstell made a set of speed wrenches to help the install time.
Takes me a lot longer than an hour even with good impact wrenches.

As Stan mentioned Ruckstell had their own service tools. 50 years ago a neighbor who was a model A guy was given a set of Rucksell service tools. They were mostly wrenches of all different configurations. They all had the Ruckstell script in raised letters on them. In addition to tools he was also given a fairly large stack of Ruckstell printed material, manuals etc. All of it nos.

I tried many times to buy it all, but he never would sell. He was nice enough to give me an original manual for a big drum Ruckstell because I had one in the 1926 touring I owned at the time. Well he moved away a few years later and I never saw him or the Ruckstell tools again.

My previous post got me thinking about Ruckstell values. I remember when $150. was an outrageous asking price for a Ruckstell. And walking past them at swap meets shaking my wondering what the heck the guy was thinking! Back then you could find good ones for around $100. of course gas was
.19 to .25 cents a gallon!