[Marco Tahtaras]

I would expect variations in the jack handles for reasons that hopefully will make sense from what I describe below. As many of us know well, Ford had outside suppliers to supplement production of nearly every part of the car. The suppliers were required to follow ford's specifications in every detail. However while the majority of the car was Ford's design and controlled as such (with good reason), other items were general in nature. These items were commonly used throughout the industry (although versions may vary) and produced under patents well outside of Ford's control or interest.

Ford's engineering drawings and corresponding release documents were created differently depending on circumstances. Some of Ford's designs or design changes were created on paper, dated, and implemented as soon as feasible (could be months). Some items by design had to be patterned in real life, real time, and only then committed to paper after the fact. This primarily applied to soft good such as interior and top trim but also applied to minor but important changes to functional items where changes had to be made on the fly in production.

Finally there was the documentation of items solely engineered and patented by outside suppliers. Jacks (and handles) were a major example of this. All the applicable patents I've found were assigned to Auto Specialties of San Francisco (screw type jacks) and Walker Manufacturing of Racine, WI (ratchet jacks). There doesn't appear to be any jack patents held by Ajax. Ajax was likely just a manufacturer capable of supplying a functionally equivalent product under the patents of the other companies much like Spicer produced shocks under the patents of Houde engineering Corp. Ajax did supply both screw type and ratchet type jacks but all with stamped steel housings.

With items such as these Ford had nothing to do with the design on paper or otherwise. When the engineering department approved such a product they committed it to paper and assigned a part number. For something like the jack Ford likely had simple requirements such as closed height, etc. The vendor would likely submit a sample product for consideration and approval. Reading Ford engineering documents it's very clear there were two methods of drawing a vendors product for the records. One method was to create a basic drawing from the sample provided by the vendor (likely in this case) and the other method was to create a drawing by essentially copying the vendors own engineering drawing but including only that information deemed necessary. It's worth noting that if the folding jack handle was a Ford item it would be labeled "Jack Handle Assembly" and the drawing would have a part number assigned to each component that makes up the assembly.

Now, when another vendor steps in as an alternate supplier they didn't necessarily have to follow the example from the first or primary supplier. Theirs would however need to be approved by the engineering department and be compatible to be carried under the same part number. Subtle differences did not require documentation but larger ones such as the optional hinge support designs would be and were drawn upon approval. We know there were a minimum of two suppliers for the common jack handle (A-17081-B) and I'd be surprised if there wasn't more. On one of the jack handle drawings Ford specified "Handles from any supplier must fit jacks from any supplier".

As alluded to above, there was not necessarily anything unique to the jacks and handles that Ford supplied. Tom Moniz sent me the era ads below from Pep Boys and Western Auto. Although they are described as being 1/4" taller than what we use they are essentially the same and cost slightly less than Ford's retail price!

Finally, a few specifics. The jack handle in question (A-17081-B) was first introduced in January 1930 and used for approximately two months when it was discontinued and used "for repairs only". It was drawn as 39" in overall length with a 4-1/4" handle. This was likely Auto Specialties' "off the shelf" version. In early July 1930 it was reinstated for use with all jacks from that time forward. The new drawing however shows the handle to have a total length of 36" including a 4" handle. There is no way to know if the shorter version was requested by Ford or the vendor but it remained as such for the remainder of production. At least one subsequent drawing of A-17081-B shows an angled off-set.