On This Day

Thursday 11th January 1917

103 years ago

The Ford Model T truck - the 'TT' was introduced. Initially the TT was sold as a chassis with the buyer supplying a body. The price was $600. Starting in 1924, the truck was available with a factory-produced body. By 1926 the price had dropped to $325. The rear axle of the TT had a worm drive[4] and crown wheel, unlike the Model T's crown wheel and pinion. The worm was located at the end of the drive shaft and above the crown wheel. The wheelbase of the Model TT was 125 inches (320 cm), compared to 100 inches (250 cm) for the Model T. It was often equipped with an accessory gearbox, such as the Ruxtell or Jumbo gearboxes, which allowed the truck to have intermediate gears between low and high, useful for hill climbing. The Model TT was very durable for the time, but slow when compared to other trucks. With standard gearing, a speed of not more than 15 mph (24 km/h) was recommended, and with special gearing, a speed of not more than 22 mph (35 km/h) was recommended.Standard worm gear ratio was 7.25:1, and special gearing gave a ratio of 5.17:1. Because of this, accessory catalogs offered items to help give the Model TT more power. It was replaced by the Ford Model AA truck in 1928.