Shocking Advice

Hey Mike V, Your opinion is greatly excepted, do you have any knowledge of using original on just one axle? just don't like the appearance of modern shock? From your experience who would you suggest for reproductions? Also i know how touchy some fellas are when a person makes a comment like ... my truck is 98% original ... Iam going to edit and change it to 97% , forgot when i replaced tires , non white wall ,that the air i let out was replaced with modern air. LOL
 
Just curious . . . Is there a way to "easily" tell if the shocks on the car are original or reproductions? The very late 31' Tudor acquired awhile ago was apparently overhauled mechanically. Mounted are four of those original looking can shaped shocks. As for ride, they seem to be pretty much worthless and look to be just decorative. Have owned six operating Model A Ford cars over the decades. Just tqo of those had the can type shocks. The lousy ride on that 1931 Roadster owned years back was attributed to the original shocks being worn out. Now, this 31' sedan seems to have shocks in it that have been overhauled along with the entire chassis and drive train. Still the ride is teeth chattering at best. If I were to use this car for more driving, a set of some type of reasonably priced tube shocks would be well considered .
 

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That looks like rust between the spring leaves there Capt. The spring leaves need to be smooth and greased with smooth greased joints so the wheels can go up on a bump. The shock arm should go up with little effort as there is quite a lot of resistance in those spring leaves.

When the wheel comes back down the shock should slow the rate of the spring pushing the wheel down, so there should be a fair resistance of the shock arm going down. This downward resistance of the shock takes the jarring out of an uncontrolled spring, and makes for a smooth ride as (far as the shock is concerned).
 
updraught said:
That looks like rust between the spring leaves there Capt. The spring leaves need to be smooth and greased with smooth greased joints so the wheels can go up on a bump.
Click to expand...

Exactly. If the springs are not working properly the ride is going to be extremely stiff.The shocks can't be expected to work if the spring isn't moving... :p:p
 
If I was going to use tube shocks I would spring for the Koni Special D. From another thread there are VW bug ones that might fit. I've had much success with Special D before on classic car suspension.

Here is a graph of the sports (yellow) and (red) normal Koni shocks:
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=293

Notice how there is little compression force needed (arm going up in Capt's photo) and the much more in rebound (arm going down).

I looked at the cost of good brackets to hold the tube shocks (hot rod type) and the cost of good quality tube shocks like the Koni and decided to go with the Stipe shocks for the front (partly to do with the original look too).
The Stipe shocks are still in the box, but I gather from another thread here they are one way adjustable like the Koni.

For the rear I'll probably use some tube or rebuilt original shocks as it is not so critical.

Some of the repo shocks sold by the vendors have a small oil chamber. For long distance driving this could be an issue as the oil could heat up quickly.

One thing I've learned from outback driving is how fast shocks can heat up and burst.
 
Before doing anything else on a Model A I would do the following, rebuild complete brake system, front end, new correct shocks, springs. Now you have a safe, well riding and handling car. Any money left could be spent on paint, engine, etc.
 
Modern shocks. There is a reason Ford went with the very much more expensive shocks used on the Model A from the factory. As I mentioned earlier, when done properly, a correctly restored Model A Ford is a great driving car. Light, fast, and safe. I would only use the best available factory correct parts.
 
canadian said:
Hey Mike V, Your opinion is greatly excepted, do you have any knowledge of using original on just one axle? just don't like the appearance of modern shock? From your experience who would you suggest for reproductions? Also i know how touchy some fellas are when a person makes a comment like ... my truck is 98% original ... Iam going to edit and change it to 97% , forgot when i replaced tires , non white wall ,that the air i let out was replaced with modern air. LOL
Click to expand...

Since you replaced the air with modern air I will not be giving you any more advice. :cool: But you did take off the white walls;

So, there are presently 3 manufacturers of "original" shocks. Stipes are built to function internally as the original ones were designed. Brattons and Snyders both make shocks with their own internal design. We have heard no real complaints in quite some time about any of the manufacturers' shocks.

I believe that the Stipe shocks can accept original covers for judging purposes.

Be careful if you choose "modern" tube shocks as there are some that are way too stiff.
 
Hi,
I am new to this list. After reading about the rear mgb lever shocks being direct bolt on, I got a pair to see how they might fit my 31 pickup. When positioned near/on the front shock mount holes, the body of the shock hangs only two inches above the tie rod and the top of the shock interferes with the underside of the fender. When positioned near/on the original rear shock mount holes, the top of the shock body interferes with the pickup bed sill. What am I missing?
 
Yes, I lowered the front of my Tudor and found that if I attached them in the stock holes the bottom would hit the axle, so I went with mounting them in the rear only. Still looking for something under a billion bucks for the front.

If you have a wide bed pu they could be a problem, but you could always place a piece of bar stock between the shock and frame to move the top out away from the bed. That would allow the top to clear the edge of the bed. We did something similar on a Coupe that they were just a wee bit too close for comfort.
 
Yes . . . when looking at the pictures awhile ago, I too noticed the rust around the ends on the front springs. Then, it was forgotten. Except for exercise runs around the residential circle, that vehicle is not actually driven much. We pulled off the rear drums and found the previous owner had so much grease in there that the shoes were even covered in the stuff. Many of the fittings look to be over-filled with grease. Actually, when acquired, two old time grease guns came with the deal. Except for checking the basic fluids and cleaning the spark plugs, I have done no other maintenance on that car. With that said, what is the procedure to lubricate that front spring?
 
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