Free Wheeling Information 1932

[Walt G]

This information is part of a cardboard sheet published in 1932 by Check Chart Automotive Lubrication Information , Chicago.

Other full cardboard sheets gave all the detailed drawings of chassis of assorted cars and where the lube points were for 1932.

All of this was at one time in the collection of Bob Gegan of Florida an automotive writer which I had acquired some years ago .  I thought posting this here may be of interest or help for those who care to view it. ( no I do not have the time to take to scan/save resize etc all the lube charts)

Walt

 

 

[edinmass]

I have never seen a Duesenberg with free wheeling………l

[trimacar]

My 1931 Pierce-Arrow Model 43 phaeton, on the list, has a transmission which one can use as a normal shift, or use with free wheeling.  Flat land fine, any hills, no way one wants to use free wheeling, puts all stopping power on brakes.

 

Yes, Pierce-Arrows had great brakes, but in free wheeling down a hill….nope,not going there.

[Graham Man]

My 1933 Graham has free wheel, most places with hills never use the free wheel.  The design had two advantages, first was better gas milage.  Second, no need to use the clutch after first gear.  I have never tried it but that is what the literature says.  Most early free wheels were bolted to the back of the transmission so they had a separate chamber for lubrication.  Graham introduced in Second Series 1931 and they were gone in 1934.  Interesting, lots of tractors used free wheel into the 1960s for the same reasons.  Have to laugh at the "below 0" numbers, nobody ran cars in that cold, antifreeze as we know it was not affordably available till after WW2.  My 1933 Graham had never had antifreeze till I put it in 2000.  My Grandfather just ran alcohol till it got cold then drained the radiator till spring, he drove the Graham till 1952.

 

 

1931 Graham Free Wheel shifter was in front of seat, most owners do not know what the lever is for....

 

Early 1900s: Glycerol is widely used as antifreeze, but it’s expensive to produce and eventually replaced by ethylene glycol.

1918: Ethylene glycol is commercially produced, primarily for use in explosives.

1926: Ethylene glycol is first used as an automotive antifreeze. It’s widely used by the military during World War II.

Post World War II: Ethylene glycol becomes the dominant chemical antifreeze on the market. Propylene glycol and organic acid technology (OAT) are alternatives to ethylene glycol, which still enjoys the lion’s share of the market.

 

[edinmass]

Free wheeling “Provides you with the economy of momentum.” Was the sales pitch……..not true. No benefit to milage. It did help out with brake fade and excessive wear on the linings. The shifting with only using the clutch from first is fun, and I demonstrate it often to people in my 36 Pierce 12. The car is not safe to operate on unknown roads with it in free wheel, as hills can really become dangerous if you are not aware of them. I only use my overdrive on interstate roads because it only works with the free wheeling. 

Edited November 21 by edinmass (see edit history)

[Gary_Ash]

1932 Studebakers with freewheeling had an indicator in the gauge cluster to show when you were in Free Wheeling or CONVENTIONAL mode.  It was linked mechanically to the pull-out knob.

 

[Walt G]

I am glad I posted that chart, it is giving many a real awareness of exactly Free Wheeling was, and more important comments on those that have used it. I have used it years ago and even then was told by long time collectors  don't (- leave it dormant) and I agreed as well. This all was 45-50 years ago too.

Again , I am glad to see some discussion about this. Better understanding in the old car lexicon.

Walt

[Shootey]

I’ll tell you all my freewheeling story. In the 1960’s my dad bought a 1932 Chevrolet 6 wheel coupe, a baby Cadillac. It had a big ol’ freewheeling knob to the right of the steering column. My dad explained to me what  it did. He never used it. He bought the well preserved car from a old family friend who worked for the San Francisco Municipal Railway and got free rides on Muni in the city; hence low mileage on the car. It sat in his SF garage for decades. My dad drove it to his school every day where he taught junior high school boys woodworking; not woodshop but woodworking. 

[ply33]

14 hours ago, Graham Man said:

. . .  Second, no need to use the clutch after first gear.  I have never tried it but that is what the literature says. 

That is true, or at least true on my '33 Plymouth.

 

Sharing stories, back in 1978 I loaded up my '33 Plymouth, attached a small utility trailer which carried all my spare parts and headed west from Baltimore following the old National Pike. I don't recall why, but I had the freewheeling enabled coming down into Wheeling, WV. As I came down a long downhill sweeping curve a red traffic light came into view. The narrow drum brakes on my Plymouth are definitely not up to modern standards nor even the standards of 1978 and with a full load and including a pretty heavily loaded brakeless utility trailer I knew I was in a bad situation.

 

The 1933 Plymouth instruction book says to disengage the freewheeling you need to have the engine pulling the car. So I had to accelerate, disable the freewheeling, double clutch down to second to get some engine braking then use both the foot and hand brakes to barely stop at the light. That was the last time I ever used freewheeling other than on flat ground on known roads to demonstrate it.

 

[edinmass]

Guess I should pull out the 36 Pierce and do a video of the free wheeling shift set up.

[mikewest]

My dad had a bunch of cars when I was kid , always a dozen and usually more. Only a few had  free wheeling that I remember because they were mostly cheap cars. We would go over some hills on our rides and dad would  coast to the bottom and he always called it "Chinese Over Drive" I dont know where the term came from but I still use it..

[Milburn Drysdale]

43 minutes ago, edinmass said:

Guess I should pull out the 36 Pierce and do a video of the free wheeling shift set up.

That would be terrific. I would like to understand this better.  Thanks in advance

[Buffalowed Bill]

Many years ago I was looking at a 1932 Studebaker with a friend. I was being schooled on what I was looking at and what to look for. When he got to the free wheeling knob it wouldn't budge. A quick look verified that the F/W linkage had been welded-rendering it inoperable. Without hesitation he made the comment that it was an original Washington state car. He then went on to explain that in the day the state of Washington had required all new cars with F/W have the feature be made inoperable. The obvious reason was that with the state's hills and mountain passes it was considered a safety issue.

 

I don't know if other states did the same, or if they might have handled the situation differently. The mandate obviously went away since F/W became an integral part of the overdrive transmission that was soon to supersede it. I would be interested in finding out if any other states or provinces followed the same path? I would also like to know how long the requirement lasted in the state of Washington? 

 

 

[Porsche 68]

My 34 dodge coupe has the freewheeling and the automatic clutch which I promptly disconnected after the first time I drove it I’m rebuilding a trans for it From what I’ve read the F/W device was outlawed in a lot of states 

[arcticbuicks]

did the US law banning freewheeling.......apply to factory overdrive units that free wheeled also i wonder ?

[nat]

     In the early 70's I test drove a Saab.  I didn't know it had freewheeling and thought something was drastically wrong with the transmission.

[Leif in Calif]

On 11/22/2023 at 7:22 AM, arcticbuicks said:

did the US law banning freewheeling.......apply to factory overdrive units that free wheeled also i wonder ?

As a SAAB aficionado, I'm not aware that it was ever banned. I did not know so many older cars had it! (Why I love this forum).

 

I can tell you that SAAB had it because they were originally 2-strokes (easier to start in cold weather) and as such, the intake charge travels through the crank case, so there needs to be oil in the gas. If you went down a long hill with the throttle closed, you were also cutting of the lubrication to the engine, so they had the freewheel feature to allow the engine to not be spinning at high revs with the throttle closed. After they switched to the Ford V4, they kept it because....well, it was just how they did it.    

The SAAB model 99 was the first car without it. 

[AzBob]

 

On 11/22/2023 at 8:22 AM, arcticbuicks said:

did the US law banning freewheeling.......apply to factory overdrive units that free wheeled also i wonder ?

I don't recall any law banning the factory overdrive cars. Studebaker, Ford, and others sold a lot of them.

 

Free Wheeling on the Borg Warner overdrives was via a governor switch that only allowed engagement of the overdrive at speeds above around 30 MPH. Overdrive stays engaged until speed decreased below ~30mph then overdrive dropped out and you were in free wheeling. In other words, you are using engine braking until you drop down below 30 MPH.