Re: Broken ring gear
The transverse rear spring on a Model A Ford can easily bounce the rear wheels off the road when going over a speed bump, railroad tracks, or on a rutted road. During the brief period the wheels are clear of the pavement if you have your foot on the gas the engine will speed up and the drive shaft with the pinion gear on the end will speed up several times the speed of the car and so will the rear wheels. When the wheels reconnect with the pavement something has to give and since there are only a few teeth engaged between the ring and pinion and it can break the teeth off either or both.
When in high school some friends and I were traveling down the road in a 1928 Model A at about 45 MPH when we went over some very rough rail road tracks. The driver kept his foot on the gas and it cleaned off all the teeth on the pinion gear. Moral to the story, take your foot off the gas when going over rail road tracks or speed bumps.
Tom Endy
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