Sterling chain drive

A

Alan O'Connell

Well-known member
I know that this has nothing to do with Ford but when I was a kid there were still some Sterling trucks with chain drive on the road. What was the point of having the differential forward of the rear axle with two chains, one on each side connecting the differential to the axle and wheels?
 
Mack used early chain drive as well. The chain drive allowed changing the final drive ratio by merely changing sprockets. One differential would fit all contingencies. The final drive ratio could be easily matched to the job to be done. Hope this helps.
 
I remember seeing a few running the road back in the mid -late 40's.Are we showing our age,LOL ken ct.
 
I restored a 28 AC Mack truck. The sprockets are easy to change and gives you an unlimited choice. Mack offered a variety depending on the work the truck would do. Highway driving to work in a quarry.
 
There was an older vegtable vendor driving a Mack chain drive flatbed truck in downtown San Jose California in the late 60's when I went to San Jose State. He didn't drive it very fast as I remember but it did keep up with city traffic.

The chain drive did let you know he was near by. :-)

Mark
 
I rode in a Mack chain drive when I was very young. My dad drove truck for 30 years for U.S. Truck in Pontiac Mi. at one time we lived very close to the terminal & my dad took me for a ride in the Mack, it was used primarily in the yard to push other trucks & spot trailers etc. (many many years ago)
Gary.
 
That reminds me of when I was a kid. My father worked for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He drove a 56 Ford dump truck. Once in a while during the summer if he was going on a long trip to another state hospital somewhere in MA, he would pick me up and I'd go with him. I loved how the Ford sounded when he shifted it.
 
Pacific Car and Foundry built a six wheel drive tank retriever in WW2, dubbed the "Dragon Wagon". It had a conventional front differential and one rear differential with chains to front rear and rear rear axle.

I believe some of the early tractor/truck conversions for the Model T utilized chain drive.
 
My fathers first job was at a sand and gravel pit. They had old Macks. This was in 1928. He told me that you couldn't turn the front wheels when it was standing still. You had to move it and turn the wheel. From a standstill it was too tough.
 
I remember when I was a kid a local quarry had bunch of Mack chain drives that transported rock from one quarry to another for a distance of about 3 miles. There was a long hill through a residential area and I could walk about the same speed as the trucks. G.M.
 
Like this one?
 

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I think that on the Macks, at least, the differential was in the same housing as the transmission. Chain drive allowed that monstrous combination to be mounted solidly to the frame, reducing unsprung weight among other things. IMHO
 
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