Panheadguy
Member
Are spindles and steering gear the same?
Thank you
Thank you
A vs Aa
- Thread starter Panheadguy
- Start date
Joe K
Well-known member
Steering gear is the same column/box, pitman, drag link, tie rod.
Prior to about Feb 1929 the front axle is the same except for the wheel hubs. About February a "recall" of sorts occurred and the spindles were upgraded. The recall/modification was free and widely applied - today not many of the OEM axles are found.
So no - areas around the spindles changed between Model A and Model AA.
Later, improvements/upgrades continued to be made to the front axle, but the steering geometry continued fhe same.
Until about October of 1929 when the Borg-Warner bevel gear axle was incorporated. Ford took that upgrade to upgrade MORE parts of the front axle including the beam and the steering arms.
Neil Wilson has not completed a front end analysis - a lot more is changed in drill in details of the brake drum/wheels/hubs/wheel nuts. But he describes the recall in some detail at https://aafords.com/aa-chassis/aa-3030-front-axle/
Look around Neil's site and you'll find many more AA "nuggets" aafords.com
I find many sellers of parts for the AA front axle on Ebay attempt to "elevate" their item claiming "AA" status and charging more for them - when in reality the part is the same as the Model A equivalent. So do your homework and "caviet emptor."
Another good place to do research on a specific part is the "Parts Price List" some of which have been reprinted for various "half-years" through the Model A era. USUALLY it is "annotated" if there was a substitution made.
Another good place is the 1948 published "Ford Green Book" which lists Model A and AA chassis parts but usually in the descriptive will describe "part anomalies" should they exist. Shop around for the Green Book on Ebay. There are a lot of sellers, some of whom think they have gold and some who sell the "used/fingerprinted" version considerably cheaper. There is even a CD/ROM out there for about half price of a written copy (about $30 usually)
Joe K
Prior to about Feb 1929 the front axle is the same except for the wheel hubs. About February a "recall" of sorts occurred and the spindles were upgraded. The recall/modification was free and widely applied - today not many of the OEM axles are found.
So no - areas around the spindles changed between Model A and Model AA.
Later, improvements/upgrades continued to be made to the front axle, but the steering geometry continued fhe same.
Until about October of 1929 when the Borg-Warner bevel gear axle was incorporated. Ford took that upgrade to upgrade MORE parts of the front axle including the beam and the steering arms.
Neil Wilson has not completed a front end analysis - a lot more is changed in drill in details of the brake drum/wheels/hubs/wheel nuts. But he describes the recall in some detail at https://aafords.com/aa-chassis/aa-3030-front-axle/
Look around Neil's site and you'll find many more AA "nuggets" aafords.com
I find many sellers of parts for the AA front axle on Ebay attempt to "elevate" their item claiming "AA" status and charging more for them - when in reality the part is the same as the Model A equivalent. So do your homework and "caviet emptor."
Another good place to do research on a specific part is the "Parts Price List" some of which have been reprinted for various "half-years" through the Model A era. USUALLY it is "annotated" if there was a substitution made.
Another good place is the 1948 published "Ford Green Book" which lists Model A and AA chassis parts but usually in the descriptive will describe "part anomalies" should they exist. Shop around for the Green Book on Ebay. There are a lot of sellers, some of whom think they have gold and some who sell the "used/fingerprinted" version considerably cheaper. There is even a CD/ROM out there for about half price of a written copy (about $30 usually)
Joe K
Last edited:
Panheadguy
Member
Thank you for the very informative reply. I have a customer with an AA roadster pickup originally configured as a small firetruck water tanker. He does not use it due to slow speeds. I'm exploring what would need to be done to fit it to an A chassis.
Joe K
Well-known member
Your best bet would probably be to buy an entire A chassis and work from that. Around here an A chassis minus the engine/******/radiator runs around a grand. And that includes "roll around wheels" usually. (I don't like old rubber due to cracking but it works fine as a roll-around)
You may or may not use the AA front. The AA rear is kind of specific to that wheelbase - but you'll be stuck with 42mph tops. Plus between the A and the AA there are brake drums/linkage differences. Better to get past that immediately by using a donor chassis.
There have been some good "translations" to industrial vehicle done to a Model A using what was on hand. The rpu body is desirable all by itself, probably worth equivalent to the rest of the AA chassis, including an engine of unknown life/durability.
You'll want to look for the "pickup truck" 10 leaf rear spring if you go with an A chassis. IIRC there were three 10 leaf rears available but the pickup/station wagon spring is the stiffest. Sometimes determining exactly what a 10 leaf is can be challenging. And you can "add" a leaf if you think you have the lesser two capabilities.
Good luck. Sounds like a worthy project. Save those AA parts - don't scrap. I see Snyder's now gets $58 for a single rear trunnion pin - which is a simple 1" steel dowel 4 inches long with a notch for the retainer - available from McMaster-Carr as 4140 steel 12" long make three for about $12 - cut your own retainer slot.
Joe K
You may or may not use the AA front. The AA rear is kind of specific to that wheelbase - but you'll be stuck with 42mph tops. Plus between the A and the AA there are brake drums/linkage differences. Better to get past that immediately by using a donor chassis.
There have been some good "translations" to industrial vehicle done to a Model A using what was on hand. The rpu body is desirable all by itself, probably worth equivalent to the rest of the AA chassis, including an engine of unknown life/durability.
You'll want to look for the "pickup truck" 10 leaf rear spring if you go with an A chassis. IIRC there were three 10 leaf rears available but the pickup/station wagon spring is the stiffest. Sometimes determining exactly what a 10 leaf is can be challenging. And you can "add" a leaf if you think you have the lesser two capabilities.
Good luck. Sounds like a worthy project. Save those AA parts - don't scrap. I see Snyder's now gets $58 for a single rear trunnion pin - which is a simple 1" steel dowel 4 inches long with a notch for the retainer - available from McMaster-Carr as 4140 steel 12" long make three for about $12 - cut your own retainer slot.
Joe K