1920 wheels rear end and other related questions

[Mark Gregush]

Tonight's questions; What is the rear end ratio and when did Dodge go from wood felloe to steel? Right now it has the 1924-26ish 21" disks on the front and 25" wood on the back. the wood wheels on the back have I think the steel felloe, but there is a set of the wood felloes that I could put on. Do the steel and wood felloe wheels use the same rim? Upper radiator hose, what is the inside diameter, I got the length but forgot the ID. Does anyone sell just the button and spring for the rotor? I got it running today! Running very lean because the throttle shaft is really worn. 🥳After everything was wrapped up, I looked at my camera and thought oh poo I could have shot a video of it running.

[Mark Gregush]

More photos

[Minibago]

Hi Mark,

Based on the sloping windscreen I believe your car should have 24 inch steel fello wheels but from what I can see the rear tub door is lower than the front door so what year is this please?

 

[Mark Gregush]

I noticed that jog in the lineup, the doors do seem to open and close fairly well. The rear tub was in the process of being grafted on. The rear doors don't have the metal folded over the top edge like the fronts, you can see the wood filler when looking down. Would that point to a time range that would have doors like that. I did see a photo some place that the doors looked like they had wood caps, but was not sure if that was and aftermarket dress-up item?

Ok re the 24" wheels, I have read so much conflicting information re size. As it is now,  it has poormans overdrive on the rear with the 33" over sized tires. Oh the engine number (633,892) put it as April 1921 but the info I am getting with the car it may be a 1920. It does have a number stamped on the passenger side upper firewall but I forgot to write it down and have not wire brushed the frame or cross member to check there yet. Being almost or is a 100 year old car, who knows what has been changed.

Edited June 18, 2020 by Mark Gregush (see edit history)

[22touring]

Mark, I think the rear axle ratio was 4.166:1.

 

It looks from the Master Parts List like the so-called "2nd series Kelsey rims" were the first to have all-steel felloes, and that DB stopped using wood felloes in January of 1920, beginning at car no. 434412, until they switched over to the 2nd series Kelsey rims completely at car no. 436468.  I could be wrong about this because I am going strictly based on the pictures of the cross-sections of the felloes in the Master Parts List, but if I am then I'm sure that somebody will chime in and correct me.

 

Wood spoke wheels were always standard equipment until about 1933, with disc and wire-spoke wheels being optional equipment. So any of the three kinds of wheels would be correct for your car.

Edited June 23, 2020 by 22touring (see edit history)

[Mark Gregush]

Update, I got the ID of the upper hose also the number off the cross member is, 440891 which it between Feb 11 and March 5 1920. The photos above, the car is on jackstands, with the car sitting on the ground, with the 21"s in front, quite the rake to her now plus having the dropped front axle. I have a set of wood felloe wheels that will be going on and think there are enough rims that will fit properly to make up a set.

There is a dealers tag under the starter button. It was sold, if it is correct, in Spokane Washington. I had family up there at the time, they very well may have seen it when the car was new. (They are all long gone)

Thank you for the information. Oh I posted a video of it running over on the clubs Facebook page.

[72caddy]

I was about to post that the gas tank looked 1919-1920ish, but I see the serial number is in that range. So, now the question arises about the sloped windshield. Are the windshield stations bent? or has a later model front been placed on the frame? This would explain the drop down behind the front seat to the rear tub.

 

BTW, my 1919 has the steel fellow, wooden spoke, 33 inch tires.

[Mark Gregush]

From what I understand, the slopping windshield came out in 1919 (?) so might be correct for 1920, if it's not, there are the straight stanchions in the parts stash. I have not got enough experience on the Dodge cars to tell what is what. If it were a Model T, no problem. I am going with the front half is original and the back half, don't know.

I spent a good part of 2 days working the clutch loose. It was good and stuck! Got it free.👍Backed it out from where it had been stored for who knows how long and drove it about 2 blocks. Does have some steering issues, which will be address when we get it home. 😁

Edited June 24, 2020 by Mark Gregush (see edit history)

[dwollam]

1920 was the 1st year of sloping windshield, also the steel top doors with the stamped steel hinges. Your rear tub is earlier as are the short rear fenders. You will find the hinges on the rear door and cast or forged, not stamp like the fronts. By the serial number, it's a 1920. Keep your eyes open for a 20-23 rear tub and doors and fenders. Do the rear fenders bolt to a curved angle iron flange on the rear tub? if so that's about 1918.

Check those wood wheels and see if the inner bearings fit the spindles.

[Mark Gregush]

14 hours ago, dwollam said:

Do the rear fenders bolt to a curved angle iron flange on the rear tub?

Yes they do.

I am going to swap out the front axle. The one under the car is later and has more drop.  If I use wood felloe wheels that were mounted on the spare that is getting put back, good to go there re bearings. While the wood felloe wheels would be wrong, they have issues and might work for a while.

Chances are because of tire cost, I might be putting together a set of 21s using Ford felloes and rims. I have to look into the cost of respoking the them, at least the guy is local so save a bundle on shipping.

Thanks for the info on the rear tub, I am going to keep my eyes open for the correct one. If I don't find, will make this one work.

Edited July 15, 2020 by Mark Gregush (see edit history)