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Discussion Topic:
1935 Banjo rear end and Speedo drive gear change
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Howie1935 |
01-12-2026 @ 10:19 AM
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Member
Posts: 40
Joined: Sep 2024
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In early spring I'm removing the banjo rear end on my 1935 Fordor touring sedan. The speedo drive gear at front of torque tube is worn out.
Questions:
1. Can I remove the retainer, and speedo drive gear without having to disassemble the torque tube from differential?
2. Can I remove the roller bearing, roller bearing sleeve, and grease retainer (I suspect not) without torque tube removal from rear end?
3. The retainer ring/clip at front of torque tube; is there a special tool to remove? I have two tools for the circlips with holes in end but I believe this does not.
4. The U-bolts that hold the transverse front and rear leaf springs are reversed on my car. That is the longer ones for front are on the back and the shorter ones for the rear are on the front. All show significant rust but I can't seem to find them available for sale at the usual places. Anyone have a source or a way to fabricate these rusted mounts?
Thanks in advance for your help. It is appreciated.
Dennis
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40 Coupe |
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01-13-2026 @ 7:37 AM
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Senior
Posts: 1806
Joined: Oct 2009
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1 Yes
2 Yes but the rear end and torque tube has to be removed from the car or at least moved rearward.
3 no need for special tool for the clip
4 35 the rear spring U-bolts are longer that the front. The rear spring is taller than the front. Michael at Third Gen Auto in Tenn has the castle nuts. he may have the U-bolts or Southside Obsolete in Minn. Both places have web sites.
Suggest you get a copy of the 35-36 restoration book from this web site. It can answer many questions!!
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Howie1935 |
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01-13-2026 @ 9:18 AM
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Member
Posts: 40
Joined: Sep 2024
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Thanks for info. The front leaf spring has 10 layers, the back has 7. Front spring is thicker requiring the longer U-bolts. I'll check out those two sites. The shorter for rear are the rusted ones under radiator. That's what I must get.
Thanks,
Dennis
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51woodie |
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01-16-2026 @ 8:57 AM
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Senior
Posts: 567
Joined: Jan 2017
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Howie,
Here is an excerpt from an article I submitted to the Southern Ontario EFV8 Newsletter, about removing the rear axle/torque tube to change the torque tube center bearing on my '46 Super Deluxe Coupe.
The job started by removing the front floor mat and transmission cover, jacking and placing safety stands under the frame, removing the rear wheels, disconnecting the speedo cable, rear brake line at the torque tube, e-brake cable, shock links and sway bar. As I was doing this job by myself, I had to sit back and think about the next steps, of taking the “clamsh*ll” apart and lowering the rear axle to get it from under the car. Two things were necessary; make the assembly easy to move around, and keep the spring compressed enough to get the needed clearance under the gas tank and bumper. As in the picture, a 2”x2”x41” steel tube, mitered 45 deg. at each end, was positioned between the spring eyes before removing the weight of the car, to hold the spring from arching. A pair of wheel dollies with some blocking made it easy to move the axle/torque tube assembly around. After the spring U-bolts were removed, the clamsh*ll disassembled and the driveshaft moved back. I removed the u-joint from the back of the transmission to have a good look at it, and noted that a previous “wrench” had not used the proper dished washer on the bolt that secures the u-joint to the trans shaft. I called to have the correct washer added to my parts order. While I was in the back of the trans area, I tightened every nut and bolt I could access. Three of the eight bolts that hold the clamsh*ll housing on the back of the trans, were loose. Those bolts are only accessible when the u-joint is removed.
This message was edited by 51woodie on 1-16-26 @ 8:57 AM
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TomO |
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01-16-2026 @ 4:33 PM
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Senior
Posts: 7391
Joined: Oct 2009
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I answered your question about the U-Bolts back in May.
"You may have the wrong springs installed. The bottom plate comes in different thicknesses to accommodate different number of leaves in the spring.
The spring leaf width is different between the front and back. The space inside the U is 2.64" for the front and 2.88" for the rear."
If your bolts are too long, look for the correct bottom plate. I don't think that you can replace the rear U-Bolts without removing the body from the frame. The Chassis parts catalog has the P/N for the different number of leaves for the front and rear springs.
Tom
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51woodie |
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01-20-2026 @ 10:50 AM
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Senior
Posts: 567
Joined: Jan 2017
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A point of clarification on my post, when I wrote about "removing" the spring U-bolts. As TomO says, they can't be removed, but what I actually did was to "swing" them to the side to allow removing the axle assembly.
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