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Flathead Fever · 05-24-2022, 01:12 PM

As the car accelerates and stops the forces are transferred from the rear end through the torque tube to the engine. It wants to push and pull the engine forwards and backwards. Models A had solid motor mounts which prevented this but the 1932-1948 sit on those rubber biscuits and the engine can move. That was the reason for the steady rods. If you look at the 1932 rods a lot of them have broken and have been welded, that is how much force is on them. In 1933 they increase the diameter of the rods. Everybody calls them clutch chatter rods but they engine steady rods

If you look at when Ford eliminated the torque tube and switched to the modern slip style driveshaft with parallel rear springs, the castings in the block for the steady rods were eliminated. If you put a '49-53 motor into an earlier car with a torque tube you need to make some kind of bracket to stabilize the engine. Hurst made ones that bolted to the front rubber biscuits.

My dad's 1932 roadster that he bought over 25 years ago and never drove more then a few times, pulls "hard" to the right when you get on it. It has an 8BA and I need to see if anything was done about the steady rods with that 8BA in there. Maybe that is the cause of it making right turns under acceleration? Lots of Mickey Mouse things on the car I need to fix. I'm starting at the rear spreader bar and fixing all of it as I move forward.

05-24-2022, 01:12 PM	#4
Flathead Fever Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Yucaipa, CA Posts: 1,095	Re: engine steady rods ??? As the car accelerates and stops the forces are transferred from the rear end through the torque tube to the engine. It wants to push and pull the engine forwards and backwards. Models A had solid motor mounts which prevented this but the 1932-1948 sit on those rubber biscuits and the engine can move. That was the reason for the steady rods. If you look at the 1932 rods a lot of them have broken and have been welded, that is how much force is on them. In 1933 they increase the diameter of the rods. Everybody calls them clutch chatter rods but they engine steady rods If you look at when Ford eliminated the torque tube and switched to the modern slip style driveshaft with parallel rear springs, the castings in the block for the steady rods were eliminated. If you put a '49-53 motor into an earlier car with a torque tube you need to make some kind of bracket to stabilize the engine. Hurst made ones that bolted to the front rubber biscuits. My dad's 1932 roadster that he bought over 25 years ago and never drove more then a few times, pulls "hard" to the right when you get on it. It has an 8BA and I need to see if anything was done about the steady rods with that 8BA in there. Maybe that is the cause of it making right turns under acceleration? Lots of Mickey Mouse things on the car I need to fix. I'm starting at the rear spreader bar and fixing all of it as I move forward.