Rear axle ID needed

[viv w]

Hi All,

 Lying in Bulawayo Zimbabwe is this rear axle with wire wheels, can anyone identify it please.

Many thanks

Viv

[Leif Holmberg]

Looks like 1920s Buick Master.Diameter on the wheel can tell more what year it can be.

Leif in Sweden.

 

[Dave Mellor NJ]

Looks like the gas tank in the background for that Model A cowl in a different post.

[1912Staver]

That's is a great find. Too bad you are half a world away or I would be interested in it.

Greg in Canada  1918 McLaughlin Buick 6-45 which would look great with wire wheels.

[Leif Holmberg]

O.Yes they should look great on your car Staver, but just remember that you need the hubs too if you are buying wire wheel like those ones.(ten times harder to find hubs I think.)Picture on my 1924 4 cyl.wire wheel.

Leif in Sweden..

[Larry Schramm]

On ‎5‎/‎27‎/‎2016 at 8:41 AM, Leif Holmberg said:

Looks like 1920s Buick Master.Diameter on the wheel can tell more what year it can be.

Leif in Sweden.

 

 

What a statement on how far and wide from Flint  & Oshawa Buick cars were exported to the rest of the world.

[Leif Holmberg]

Sweden has imported a lot of 1920s Buicks,there has been no problem to find 1920s Buick Std.parts for me here in Sweden so far?But sadenly almost none with wire wheel what I know.My wire wheels came with a Swede-American who went home to Sweden with the 1924 4 cyl.model in late 20s.(not the hole car but the wire wheel come from that car.)

Leif in Sweden

[viv w]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I've looked at my original picture enlarged, it does not seem to have holes in the wheel hub for drive. I think it may be spline driven. I hope to get back down there towards the end of June and will try to get some measurements. I don't know if the gears are worth trying to salvage, but the wheels and hubs will be recoverable.

 These parts are in a deceased estate and there is mountains of stuff. I've managed to identify all the Ford A and T , 20's chevy, Overland/whippet, mid 20's Dodge and some other stuff. My instincts were that this axle could be Buick or similar.

 We had a lot of American cars here pre 2nd WW, sadly a lot has left our country but there is still a lot of unidentified parts around.

 If your'e interested have a look at classiccarsinrhodesia.co.za  you will be amazed at what was in this country.

 Viv.

[1912Staver]

They probably won't be spline drive. They appear to be Buffalo #5  wheels that used an internal "knuckle" to drive the wheel. Hard to describe but if you Google Buffalo wheels you will see photos of the drive system.  The most popular spline drive in this era was Rudge - Whitworth. They were British but were license built in a number of other countries including the U.S.A.. The overall look is quite similar but the center nut is a two piece affair on a RW wheel and they are generally found on cars quite a bit more expensive than Buick's.

 

Greg in Canada

[pepcak]

The axle surely looks Buick, must be 1927 or earlier. What puzzles me, is the wheel - this wire wheel looks like "dental drive"  and has the central spring loaded locking feature; to my knowledge Buick did not use this system you would find on Cadillacs or another cars. The ASH / BUFFALO wheel Leif posted (and Buick offered as option) is the "pin drive"; on some types pins went through, on some types were hidden. They locked the main nut by mean of smaller nut with opposite thread. 

[1912Staver]

I have seen these wheels on 2 or 3  1922-23 era Buicks. Always top of the line sport tourings or sedans {expensive compared to open Buicks}. Wire wheels are listed as a factory option for these cars but the catalog illustrations are too indistinct to tell for sure which ones.  They must have been among the first cars to offer these wheels , most other makes were pin drive style until 1925 or so.  The Ash style wheel seems to be very rare. A fair number of 1916 and up Buicks had pin drive wheels ; generally Houk , but I suspect they were either dealer installed or aftermarket.

Greg in Canada