Did allis make the WC transmission?

Just for fun, what is the year and kind of car and is it a 3, 4, or 5 speed?

I was thinking that a couple of years ago there was talk on here that the WC trans was in a truck or pickup with a five speed. Maybe even a 5 speed in a WC.

Edited by Unit3 - 18 May 2015 at 9:39pm

willy jeep tranny?

Talked to an older gentleman at our local show who said he worked for A-C, we discussed my WD wherein he mentioned the transmission was made by Clark. Not sure if the WC was a similar situation, the rear housing does look more like an automobile.

My understanding is that both the trans and rear end were made by another company for trucks. Way heavier than needed for the WC engine! When I took mine apart both had Timken parts in them.

I'm sure there were multiple possible vendors for transmissions and axles.

The Ford model TT 1 ton truck stock drive train used the same engine and transmission as the car, but a worm drive rear axle with a higher ratio so the top speed of the truck was about 25 mph. In later years a second transmission was a factory option that mounted between the car transmission and the driveshaft. Typically a three speed forward and one reverse like GM used, shifter on the floor just in front of the cab seat. I don't know if they moved the rear axle back or made a special shorter drive shaft. I do know that there were at least 6 different makers of that transmission in the factory offers. How many aftermarket transmissions I don't know.

Today there are a few makers of transmissions world wide like Allison, New Process, Tremec, Toyo Kogyo, Mazda, Borg Warner, Clark, and Van Dyke based on the list at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ford_transmissions I'm sure some of these brands have been captured by major automotive makers, but some are independent and likely willing to make any design they can make in quantity at a profit using their expertise in casting, machining, and assembly.

Today Dana-Spicer is a big axle vendor, but there likely are several more including vehicle and tractor makers. Many a big 4 wheel drive tractor has come to the market with purchased axles on both ends, including Deere, Steiger, and no doubt AC. The Deere WA-14 and WA-17 made by Wagner from 1969 to 1971 used a Fuller truck transmission and Clark axles were an option. Engines were bought too.

Remember AC bought Waukesha engines before they made their own from the Leroy factory that they bought for early B, and WC. Buying transmissions and axles would not have been unusual and I'm sure they had several sources to price from. And if they insisted and ordered a large enough quantity they could get them marked to look like cast and machined in the AC factory.

Continental and GM (2 stroke) specialized in making engines for most any application from big garden tractor to aircraft, tanks, ships, and locomotives. Cummins is big in that business today. Waukesha is still making large engines for stationary electric generators.

There are many vendors to choose from plus internal manufacturing. The successful tractor maker gets the best designs by mixing and matching, but hasn't as much control of details when buying major parts, while saving on factory investments.

Gerald J.

Stutz and Mason, I'll have to dig deeper. Here is the picture I brought home from that 2011 trip.



Gerald J.

The transmission in a WC is in fact a Spicer. By default, the gears/countershaft setup in a WD is the same. Allis may have made them under license, I'm not sure about such an arrangement.

The vehicle easily observed having the actual Spicer transmission common to a WC, is a '37 Chevrolet medium duty truck. The giveaway is the reverse lock-out on the gear pole.

I was told by some old Allis mechanics that they would routinely rob the Chevrolets of their transmissions to replace the gears in a WC and WD. They knew exactly how to tell which Spicer/Chevrolet transmission internals would mate up to the Allis input shaft. That was information I wish I had actually written down - but I was in my early teens back then and frankly didn't see any 30's Chevy trucks in junkyards anymore either.

I'm also going to guess that the WC differential is also Spicer - but never really investigated that. Although the idea of finding a 2-speed differential that would interchange used to enter my mind.