ruckstell rear end

When the Ruckstell is in "high" gear, it is direct drive-meaning it is locked as a unit. When the Ruckstell is in "low" it is an underdrive. Many people install high speed (3:1 or 3.25:1) ring and pinion gears in the Ruckstell. This really splits the gearing options well giving you a taller direct drive and a more usefull underdrive range.
There were other period overdrives made for the Model T such as Warford, Muncie, etc. They are additional transmissions and mount behind the standard T transmission-and require shortening the driveshaft and radius rods.
 
Some of the original advertisements for the Ruckstell implied an overdrive with faster speed, in reality it was an underdrive axle unit as stated above with a new 3 to 1 set of pinion and ring gears. I suspect many original owners never understood it!
 
Make sure you put in some better brakes no matter what if using a Ruckstell. Even a set of lined shoes might save your ***.
 
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