1915 Ford Model TT? Or something else....

O

oldmotorsguy

Senior Member
I am preparing to go out and help somebody get what they insist is a 1915 Ford Model TT truck running. I am under the impression that the first TT trucks commercially available were 1917, or am I wrong here?

I hear that people used to convert Ford Model T cars into trucks by stretching the frame, adding odd ball cabs, etc, but the 1-ton parts such as Warford/Ruxstell rear ends, big beefy rear spokes/tires and the extended frame were only available from Ford starting 1917? Right?

This person insists the Illinois title backs up her claim. What could explain this, is this truck perhaps a WWI surplus unit, made prior to the commercial run in 1917?

Thoughts, anybody? What should I look for to figure out what this person has?
 
Many of the early conversions were chain drive. That would be an easy clue. Titles were sometimes mis-written when these vehicles changed hands. 1915 or 1916 would have a brass radiator and boxy hood and could have been fitted to a later chassis.
 
While the books say 1917 actual production for sales was the 1918 model year. A lot of the early production went to the war effort. (WW1) Ford did not make a truck per say till then. As stated above could have been one of the early conversions or is a car chassis with some sort of delivery body on it.
 
Went out and saw this TT: it appeared to be a genuine Ford TT, with Ruxstell rear end, 125" wheel base, larger rear wheels, hubs, axle, short running boards, the whole deal. The Illinois title says 1917, not 1915 but still not the 1918 production year.

The truck had a stamped steel radiator shell, and not the brass radiator, and it had an engine that was made in 1919. I suspect that this was a 1919 TT, and that through the many decades the title got corrupted as happens over a century or so.

Or at least this would be my best guess as to the answer to the 'mystery' of the 1915 Model TT Ford 1-ton.
 
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