Dodge Brothers top rest saddles

[Mark Gregush]

Thanks I will have to look closer.

[Pete K.]

I stand corrected Ray, as you did state earlier your car body was Aussie made and saddle holes were filled in. Your saddles appear tall enough to keep top off my spare in rear but I still need to fix the angle of mounting pin as yours are straight, as I need about a 15 degree angle pin. At least I would have "real" saddles instead of my Frankenstein saddles I'm making from scratch. I'll send off an Email to you soon Ray.

[JayG]

Here's a 1921 Dodge on Facebook Marketplace right now.  Shows the saddles clearly.  Looks to be a bend in the mounting stud to get the saddles to line up with the bows.

[72caddy]

I think the blue car top clamp is just rotated. Below is a picture of the clamp on my car (1919 ; not the proper number BTW). The mounting stud comes straight out of the body and the clamp itself can pivot on this stud. The main difference I saw when searching for these is where the clamp mount to the body stud is located.

As mentioned, mine probably sit to low. The top would touch the spare tire top if I had a top. 

Edited November 16, 2020 by 72caddy
Added car year (see edit history)

[nearchoclatetown]

72 Caddy, the correct saddle for a '19 is number 140. The mounting clamp is about centered on the height which would raise yours several inches. 

[72caddy]

9 hours ago, nearchoclatetown said:

72 Caddy, the correct saddle for a '19 is number 140. The mounting clamp is about centered on the height which would raise yours several inches. 

i think you helped out with the proper numbers many, many years ago on this very forum. Just was unable to find a set.  At this point the car may never have a top under my stewardship and at least these keep the bows from bouncing around when their was only the straight support bar...

[JFranklin]

20 minutes ago, 72caddy said:

i  was unable to find a set.  At this point the car may never have a top under my stewardship and at least these keep the bows from bouncing around when their was only the straight support bar...

Just buy some Model A ford saddles until you run across some proper ones.

Edited November 16, 2020 by JFranklin (see edit history)

[Pete K.]

The two major factors are the height of the saddle to the body and the angle, if any. My '25 has an angle needed since the mounting socket is right on the curve of the tub. My saddles need to be "way up" high for the top bow to miss the spare tire on rear of car. This is imperative since the bow will break if the weight of the top is touching the spare and while driving, a bump in the road will exponentially increase the stress factor on the bows, whereas the bow may even break over the spare, not to mention damage to the top irons. That top is fairly heavy. My guess is around 1923-'24, the saddle mounting sockets were located at the curved corner of the rear body and the saddles themselves had a mounting bolt at the very bottom of each left and right saddle bracket.

  I was lucky enough for Ray White to sell me his pair of '25 saddles with the bolting at the bottom but they were not made for a U.S. Dodge body. They were for an Australian bodied tourer without an angled mounting bolt. This issue can be engineered to work OK, whereas the "Ford Model A" saddles are NOTHING like Dodge saddles and will take custom made mounting rods (bolts) for the '25 and others. In the end, there is nothing to hold each separate bow either, you would have to just bundle them together and belt them up, don't know if the much heavier Dodge top would survive the ride and could cut the top fabric also. Ford tops were MUCH lighter. I've had them.