Who makes a factory equivalent female deuce dove tail? I'm on my second pair of Drake deuce female dove tails, nothing fancy, just the painted ones. I drive my deuce pickup everyday, Nebraska roads aren't the smoothest and now the door is back to making a banging noise going over bumps. The springs in the dove tail are so dam weak after some miles the let the door move up and down and that makes a banging sound. I had the same problem with the driver door and recently put another new one in it and now it's moved to the other side. I checked with Southside to see if he had a pair of Ford originals but I think he said no? Frustrating!
Deuce Dovetails
- Thread starter Krylon32
- Start date
Karl Wescott
Well-known member
As far as I can tell all of the repros come off the same boat... or at least the same factory before being put on a boat.
First the obvious... check your hinges and cowl for excessive play. Open the door a little and move it up and down. The more play the more problem.
Second, check the dovetail for alignment in the socket. Ford made "offset" dovetails and a "straight" dovetail. The more misalignment the more problem. United Pacific offers an adjustable dovetail if you want to go that route (I have a couple pair in stock). The repro "straight" dovetails are stainless and thin... if you have them its a wonder they have not turned into pretzels.
Third, try replacing the springs with stiffer springs. A good hardware store in farm country might have a decent selection, and of course McMaster Carr is your friend.
First the obvious... check your hinges and cowl for excessive play. Open the door a little and move it up and down. The more play the more problem.
Second, check the dovetail for alignment in the socket. Ford made "offset" dovetails and a "straight" dovetail. The more misalignment the more problem. United Pacific offers an adjustable dovetail if you want to go that route (I have a couple pair in stock). The repro "straight" dovetails are stainless and thin... if you have them its a wonder they have not turned into pretzels.
Third, try replacing the springs with stiffer springs. A good hardware store in farm country might have a decent selection, and of course McMaster Carr is your friend.
Doors tight, no play in the hinges, new UP latches, tightened the cowl, I have the adjustable UP dovetails, may try a one notch change in them. Karl, I'm not a rookie. This my 5th deuce truck. This winter I'm gonna get it on the lift and go over it from front to back tightening everything.
Karl Wescott
Well-known member
I know you are not a rookie... So consider my comments are for those who may read this thread 100 years from now with this being the best information available to them.
I traded for this truck and while I've done a lot of mechanical work on it other than new internals in the doors, plus the UP sheet metal I've basically driven it almost every day except salt season. The 4 trucks I built were all assembled with the bolts all using lock nuts. This truck is mostly plain nuts and bolts. This winter when I get a clear shot at my lift I think I'll go over the entire truck and tighten or replace most of the nuts with lock nuts. Over kill maybe but the trucks I built were tight with very few rattles. Another contribution is our extensive network of brick streets laid in the 30's plus a small town street dept that doesn't give the pot hole problem much attention. I'll bet that by next spring it'll be a lot quieter even if I have to totally disassemble it and put it back together. Gotta keep remembering it's almost 93 years old.
BoxCar Tom
Well-known member
Install deadbolts, positive lock and no Up Down In Out movement.
On my 3 window I have dead bolts. I had a shop I use working on the car a couple years ago and he forgot to lock the dead bolt on the driver side. The door came open but did minimal damage. Lesson learned. I have a friend with a 34 coupe that he has driven for 65 years with stock latches and dovetails and no safety latches and has never had a problem.
BoxCar Tom
Well-known member
John,
In the mid 60s when the car was my daily transportation the passenger door popped open at least three times which caused extensive damage to the door and rear fender. Late 60s early 70s rebuilt the car, no unexpected door opening since. All things considered I don't trust the "suicide" door latches. Yup, I intend to install deadbolts.
Kyrlon, I suggested deadbolts thinking they would arrest the door movement so that the dovetails could maintain door alignment.
In the mid 60s when the car was my daily transportation the passenger door popped open at least three times which caused extensive damage to the door and rear fender. Late 60s early 70s rebuilt the car, no unexpected door opening since. All things considered I don't trust the "suicide" door latches. Yup, I intend to install deadbolts.
Kyrlon, I suggested deadbolts thinking they would arrest the door movement so that the dovetails could maintain door alignment.
Attachments
Last edited:
Tom,
Thanks for the photo. The setup looks like it will work nicely. But I it seems those long cables would not be necessary, especially for the driver's side door. I was thinking that a simple spring-loaded slide just above or behind the cowl kickpanel would be work and not be intrusive.
Thanks for the photo. The setup looks like it will work nicely. But I it seems those long cables would not be necessary, especially for the driver's side door. I was thinking that a simple spring-loaded slide just above or behind the cowl kickpanel would be work and not be intrusive.
Karl Wescott
Well-known member
To follow up Gary's banging noise... He posted on another thread that the ultimate troubleshooting to isolate the issue was to take the door off and test drive!. WHY DIDN`T I THINK OF THAT (not that I am dumb... i just did not have the foresight to read this post, lol). Turned out the noise was an issue with the bed.