Shock Absorber Advice

philcobill

philcobill

Senior Member
ARGH! We are looking at what to do about our shock absorbers. Our 29 Special Coupe has been basically sitting for 20 plus years. Do we do a complete servicing? How about rebuilt shocks? How about brand new shocks?

The car bounces a bit in the front end (see my previous post on this subject) and the shocks are one of the suspects. My feeling is that I would like to have them looked at by our club mechanic and go from there.

Any advice?
 

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I am also working on a car that sat for about the same amount of time. I am having to disconnect all the shocks. Some are frozen and some are sloppy loose. They will all have to be rebuilt or replaced.

Your solution depends on what you want to do with the car and the condition of the shocks. If they move and don't have sloppy bearings then they could be rebuilt. I don't know where to send them to get them rebuilt. New kits, including new connections links, are about $1,500. If the shocks are not rebuildable and you just want to drive the car then modern shock replacements are about $500.

A simple procedure to determine your course of action would be to fill them with fresh fluid and see if they move and have some shock action. If so they you are dollars ahead. They are adjustable so you could try changing the adjustment to see if that helps.
 
Disconnecting and removing all shocks is a pretty good chore.
I doubt you’ll find out much without removing, inspecting , cleaning and refill.
NK suggested refill and see what happens….a good start!
 
If the shocks were service with some form of mineral oil then they may be flushable with mineral spirits to clean out the old and renew the fluid. If they had glycerin or castor oil then alcohol may be the only thing they can be flushed with. Those old fluids can deteriorate and turn into goo. If they don't respond to that then they should be disassembled and properly cleaned & inspected. Maybe they are still usable and maybe they are not. It's kind of a crap shoot in that respect.

Some new ones are sealed but that worries me from a service standpoint. Nothing lasts forever. The ones made by Stipe are the best but they are expensive if you can get them. There are also conversions available to use conventional piston type shock absorbers. They are more affordable but rather invasive to the front axle beam. I don't like drilling holes in the axles.
 
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Both of my Model A's have original rebuilt shocks. Both sets of shocks leak and they are a pain in the derriere to service. If I had to do it again, I would install modern shocks. I do not show my cars. They are built for safe touring.
If any of you have glycerin in your original shocks, drain them and use a petroleum base oil. If your shocks have hi-mileage, use STP as a fluid.
 

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Here is an excellent shock rebuilder. He is also reasonably priced.

Shock rebuilder: John Holland 330-483-3896
7208 West Law Rd.
Valley City, OH 44280
 
PM sent. I have several sets of rebuilts. Your shock looks to be a late 28- early 29 unmolested, and probably not functioning.
 
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I put used 9 inch sprint car shocks on mine. 10 years ago they were $10 each on eBay.
Build your own brackets. Identical to passenger car brackets.
Some could be had that were adjustable.
Think outside the barn.
 
PhilcoBill,
I went with rebuilt shocks from Mr Holland and they are excellent (Dick M provided contact info above). John is a great guy and provided beautiful rebuilds.
As nkaminar asked above, what are your plans for the car? If you want all original, you are going to spend some pretty serious money to get original shocks. You may want original shocks anyway because they work very well. If you are building a driver that does not have to be original, there are several kits to update to modern shocks. However, the one consistent piece of advice that I have seen is: Do not use gas charged shocks which are very common in the modern style (tube shocks). I have read many forum posts where the complaint is the new style shocks are harsh and too stiff. It seems that these complaints are rooted in the gas charged shocks. So, it you go that way, be sure you have plain, no gas charge, no gas bag shocks. Not all sellers tell you specifically that the shocks are plain.
 
Many people have run with no shocks for a good many years.

Leaf springs, especially rusted ones, come with a good deal of resistance.
Well lubed leaf springs, however, less so.
The story goes that Henry Ford took the new Model A for a ride over a field and on return said "put hydraulic shocks on it". If so, like the Model T, it was designed to run with no shocks, but is improved with them.
 
Shocks have to be designed for the car. I big heavy car will use a different shock than a light one. The Model A, being light, will use a different shock than a 3/4 ton pickup. The original shocks, being adjustable, are pretty good for the car. If you go modern, buy shocks that are optimized for the Model A.
 
I have a modern set of shocks that I’m taking to Hershey. I used them for 1 year until I could find original shocks for judging.
 
Hello, what post 14 is correct, even on the same make of car , had a Porsche 912 , 4 cylinder version of a 911 they are 6 cylinder, people would buy the 911 shocks and complain about a rougher ride on the 912 being a lighter car. So even though same make , both had different requirements for shocks.
 
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