Mark - Thought I saw that your name was Jed from your "about me" page. Guess not.

I'll pull one of the adapters and take good pics and measurements and post them tomorrow. Stu

 

Absolute COOLEST trucks I have ever seen!

 

Hey Stu:

My front axle #is R32-572
You can see a picture of it in my gallery. Lots of other detailed pics there too. I remembered to send it with all the info to Mark but forgot you wanted it too.
I'll try to post the pic of the rear wheel adapter after I take the wheel off this afternoon. Hopefully I can get the lug nuts loose.

Dave

"Plan for the worst, expect the best, accept what comes"

1953 F-250 Marmon-Herrington 4x4

 

No Dave, I've just got a case of "old timers". I just went to enter your axle number in my log and see I already had it. Oh well. It's good to know that your truck was produced in Sept. '52 because that helps date other axles. For instance, Chuck's axle is #565 and it was from a '53. My #544 was also from a '53. But #561 is in my '52, so I'm pretty sure it was a replacement for a trashed original. Your #572 is the highest number I've come across.

How did you document your production date? On the Bonus Builts the Production Code block on the VIN plate is supposed to help with that, but we've not had good luck making the formulas fit the plate data. Do you have some other prior owner documentation that helped with that? Stu

 

hey guys, this is mark, or jed, or what ever. we call the 52 m-h jed. ive got a 60 that we call walt, etc. ive been called a lot worse than jed. i got the # for you stu. the vin# is F3R2HM53856, the chassis# is R32-4-53856-W, motor # 53856, chassis weight is 4500, total gross weight is 6800, and the axle #is R32-530. keep in mind that a 9 year old got the numbers off the plate in the cab because i couldnt get the door open far enough to get my large self in there. i need a bigger shed. i would love to know what any of this means and to see your list of others you have collected. is there a club or are we it. i also noticed i'm missing the hood badges, i bet they are right next to my rear adapters!!!

 

Those look like great numbers. The VIN means it is an F-3 obviously, "R" is the V8, "2" is 1952, "HM" is Highland Park, Michigan, which is where most, but not all, M-H converted trucks started life before being shipped to Indianapolis for their conversions. The 53856 is the unique number for your truck. My guess, based on that number and based on your axle number, is that your truck is a late year '52 production. You see above that my early '53 donor truck had axle #544. Logic says, and Chuck agrees, that they installed axles in number order. The M-H R-32 designation means that the truck is in their "R" series which included all trucks from F-2 to F-5. The "3" is the F-3, and the "2" is for two speed transfer case. The "W" in your M-H number says you have a Wisconsin transfer case as opposed to the Fuller manufactured case. Ignore the engine number because they didn't have numbers.

We are a small group. There are maybe five of us here on FTE. I've tracked down about two dozen F-2s, F-3s, and early F-250s having the five lug hubs. That includes the spare drive trains too, not just complete trucks. And I don't know that all of those trucks still exist. Some I've tracked down on the web then lost them, or was told that the truck was sold to an unknown buyer.

Hood and other badges are the easy part. Chuck has reproduced all except for the brass transfer case plate that is correct for our year trucks. He's talked about having a batch made, and since I need one, I'll loan him one that I've got to use as a pattern.

I'll have a good pic of the adapter posted later tonight or in the morning with measurements. I've media blasted and primed one today to make it more presentable. Interesting to me is that there are no numbers on it. Most M-H parts I've seen have their numbers cast into them, which suggests these might have been supplied by an outside source. The M-H manual shows the part numbers for them are OT4-5388 for the right hand side, and OT4-5389 for the left hand side. The only difference is the right or left hand threads of the lugs. If you want, down the road, I'll make you a copy of the M-H Maintenance and Parts Manual. I copied Chuck's.

In the mean time, building on the outside source theory for the adapters, I thought of something else that might help your search. A while back I was web surfing and came across a guy that had installed "Stemco Adapters" on his school bus to make it a dually. I tracked him down and swapped notes, then did a Google search on Stemco. I'll attach below pics of his adapter (different bolt pattern than ours), and will link to a site that describes the Stemco company. You might be able to contact them and get some leads that would yield a set of adapters. Here's the pics, and the link. Stu

Stemco, texas, united states manufacturer - company profile

 

Stu, you are a wealth of knowledge. im glad i found you and i would love to get a copy of that book. let me know what it costs. nice to know that im in a small group and that everyone else knows alot more than me. thanks for going to all the trouble with the adapter, and i will check back later.

 

I posted some rear hub adapter pics in my gallery that I took this afternoon. The wheel actually came off pretty easy with my big truck 4 way and a cheater pipe. Definitely left hand threads on the driver's side and right hand threads on the passenger's side. Banged my funny bone a few times putting the wheel back on and getting the lug nuts to seat correctly. I took some measurements of the hub adapter and here they are:

Width overall is 4 7/8"
Outer flange diameter is 10 1/4" thickness is 9/16
Inner flange diameter is roughly 9" I couldn't get a good measurement thickness is 1/2"
Inside diameter looks to be 3 3/4"
The gussets in between the inner nuts are 1/2" thick.

My inner bolts are the same size as the outer lug studs.... Bigger than the example Stu posted.

My truck's date code came from the data plate and/or Mark telling me I had an early 1953 F-250. I'll have to check the production code again to make sure of what it says.


Got to drive this bad boy today. Just a short trip from the trailer into the shed. I picked it up in March and hadn't unloaded it, just left it in the shed on the trailer. There is no cooling system so I couldn't play too long. It fired right up, purrs like a kitten but is no speed demon with the low gears. I'm also too big of a guy to fit comfortably between the steering wheel and the seat.


Dave

"Plan for the worst, expect the best, accept what comes"

1953 F-250 Marmon-Herrington 4x4.

 

Here's what I've got. These pics aren't the greatest. I've been fighting with the new laptop to let me crop and edit the pics but haven't got the hang of it. And I'm having no better luck editing in Photo Bucket. Maybe it's because I was up most of the night helping the wife with a new litter and am brain dead this morning.

My measurements are similar but not exactly like Dave got. I've got the same 10.25" diameter of the outer flange, and same 1/2" thickness. The inner flange has a 8.75" diameter and is 9/16" thick. The center bore/hole has a 4 7/8" diameter and is 3 5/8" deep. The overall thickness of the adapter is 3 5/8", same as the center bore. The webbing is about 1/2" thick. Interesting that Dave's inner studs are the same as his outers. I'm assuming Dave's outers are the same 3/4" x 16 tpi as mine, but my inners are the Ford stock 1/2" x 20 tpi. I checked my '53 spare and it's the same as my '52. So, here's the pics. Stu

 

thanks to stu and david for going to all the work of pulling the adapters and getting the measurements. they look like they should be easy enough to have made, just a matter of writing a check.

 

Best of luck with it. Stu

 

hey stu and dave, was wondering how thick the barrel is between the two plate adapters. i looked over your post again stu and it says the inside diameter is 4 7/8, if i could get the outside measurement i could figure the thickness. called aero today and they said no way, but talked to a local waterjet company and they said no problem. thanks again for all the help, hope it isnt to much trouble getting that last measurement....mark

 

When I took my measurements I guessed it at 5 1/2" by eyeballing it across the tape, but that seems too only leave about 5/16" wall thickness which seems too thin. I don't have a caliper that big to get it exact. Problem is the fact that it's got the indent areas and raised areas that make it hard to be exact. To me it's only important that the thing be sized to allow you to get a wrench on the inner lug nuts and to clear the bases of the outer lugs. Thicker is better.

Edit - Also keep in mind that the inner plates' lug holes must be champfered and matched to the angle of your lug nuts to allow the lug nuts to center on the studs. Stu

 

i was thinking the same thing, make it as thick as i can, and just make sure we leave enough room for the nuts and wrench or socket. as soon as my printer starts working im gonna down load the pics and measurements and take them in. shot a email to chuck about the badges, hopefully he has repops or something. thanks again for all the help and let me know on that manual at your convenience.

 

Chuck should have the repop badges. I've gotten some of mine from him too. I'll need your mailing address to send the manual. Rather than posting your address here, maybe email me direct and we can handle that off the forum. My email is stu_sandymcmillan at sbcglobal dot net. Stu