Comments on: When SPRING-SLAP throws a party… (Jun, 1930)

By: JMyint

JMyint — Sat, 31 May 2008 02:49:46 +0000

Much of the Model T was made of wood, the wheels, floor boards, body mounts, rear leaf springs. It was done to keep the price down as Henry Ford wanted a car any working man could afford. You could buy a new Model T for under 300 dollars in the 20′s. The Depression didn’t occur until 11 years after the First World War. In fact most of the 20′s were an econmic boom in the US.

By: Benzene

Benzene — Sat, 31 May 2008 00:43:25 +0000

I’m guessing they were leaf springs. They could be made of wood, but I’m not sure why they did. Maybe coming out of WWI and into the Depression made it harder to get the right kind of steel.

By: Anne

Anne — Fri, 30 May 2008 21:44:33 +0000

Seems kind of strange that they used to make springs out of WOOD instead of METAL. Was there a good reason for this, or did they just not have the technology yet for metal springs?

By: JMyint

JMyint — Fri, 30 May 2008 19:29:51 +0000

My grandfather told me that int the 20′s before he would take his car on a long trip he would make up a spare set of springs out of maple. He said so many of the roads were rough and unpaved that is was pretty common to break a spring. The springs on the Model Ts of the time were usually made from oak but my grandfather thought maple gave a better ride.