I gave some bad information


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Posted by Clint Dixon [216.248.73.1] on Friday, August 17, 2012 at 12:44:33 :

Lower down, a question was asked about why the rear PTO pillow block on WDX-WM300 model Power-Wagons were designed offset to the driver's side at the back of the truck.

Ever since I answered, and I reread what I posted, I have been thinking that something didn't sound right about my explanation. So, I went to several sources and looked up various A.S.A.E. standards established up through the years. What I found does not help answer the question as to the design intent in the placement of the pillow block on the Power-Wagon, but it does point out a gross error I made.

I stated that part of the A.S.A.E. standard was that the hitch point on the drawbar was allowed to be offset from the axis passing through the length of the rear PTO splined shaft by 1-inch to either side (either driver's or passenger's). I was incorrect in stating this. What the A.S.A.E. standards say is that the axis of the PTO can be offset from the center line of the tractor by up to 3-inches to either side, but, the axis of the PTO and the hitch point must be in line.

These particular parts on the Power-Wagon are obviously not in line. The drawbar is centered up side-to-side to the back of the truck, but the PTO pillow block is offset 1-inch to the driver side of the truck. So, in this instance, the Power-Wagon did not meet the A.S.A.E. standard. If the pillow block had been left where it was (1-inch over to the side) and the drawbar set 1-inch over to the same side, everything would have been fine and the A.S.A.E. standards would have been met. Both could have even been moved two inches further and all would have still been okay. So why did Chrysler not try harder to meet the standards? There were several more standards concerning PTO and drawbar placement and their relationship to each other that were met, but not the side-to-side alignment. Maybe Chrylser's thinking was that it was a moot point in the bigger picture. No note was made of the discrepency in the Nebraska Tractor Test reports filed after the Power-Wagon was tested as a tractor in 1951. Maybe Chrysler thought that one could just drill a new mounting hole in the adjuster plate under the drawbar if the customer needed the two to be inline.

In any case, we still do not have a definative answer as to why the PTO was offset to the driver side. In the first post, I tried to rationalize it all in kind of through the back door way. In the process I incorrectly quoted the A.S.A.E. standards and gave out some bad information.

My appologies for any confusion.

Junior



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