Trials in a T

Odometer 67964

New River, AZ


Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Sunset over New River, AZ

 We sure did.

Wheel shattered on right hand turn- we end up on sidewalk

 On our last T- tour to Cave Creek Joan and I were driving the 1915 while the 1917 was waiting on parts.  We made a sweeping turn off Carefree Highway to get fueled up and got an unexpected ride.  While we were in mid-turn the left front wheel spokes broke and we lost our steerage when the axle dropped to the pavement.  I'd like to say I did a great job of maneuvering the car out of traffic, but in fact I had nothing to do with it- we just ended up here!

Replacement wheel arrives

Replacement wheel is installed and we are ready to go

Ralph saw my predicament and headed for home (13 miles) for a replacement wheel right away and we were back on the road in less than an hour.  The Model T has a spare tire mounted to a steel rim so the wheel is not replaced in a normal tire change- just the rim with tire attached.  This situation is not normal and the very old wheel spokes just got too fatigued.

Our visit to a local collector yielded a new casting for the front of the 1917 motor.  As you can see in the picture above the parts that broke were parts that bolt on. (shiny black color in the photo above). We opted to go with a later model casting that belongs on a 1919 or later car and has the option of  accepting a gear drive generator in this location. (or as shown in the picture even an alternator)

Sheet music cover page

Some friends of ours were gifted these booklets of sheet music that have early car themes.  The titles are just hilarious!

More music -Henry Made a Lady out of Lizzie

Sheet music with a motoring theme

Music to drive a Ford by- you could whistle it!

A love story in a song about two cars

Rain floods the driveway to our friends shop

It has been a fairly wet Fall.  Luckily we have a lot of shop projects that we can do while we wait for the rains to pass.

Our favorite route to the hardware store gets closed when the arroyos start to flood the low spots.  This stream is labeled "Skunk Creek" - really !  99% of the year it is a dry road crossing.

Next several days are going to be in the mid to high 60's with lots of sun- yea!

Your Traveling Friends

Jeff and Joan