The Ford Barn

Doug 845 · 06-08-2016, 05:00 PM

I figured I'd share some information about my personal observations regarding shock fluid. I had a '33 front drivers side shock rebuilt by Bill Wzoreck and it turned out great. God bless him. I took off my front passenger side shock and clean it out with kerosene and put hydraulic jack fluid in it. I drove the car a couple miles and noticed that the resistance of the hydraulic jack fluid wasn't the same as the 30W hydraulic fluid used by Bill. W. I tried to find 30W hydraulic fluid and could only find 5 gallons of 30W instead of quart sizes. I decided to use Castor oil like Ford used in the day and replaced the hydraulic jack fluid. I was amazed at the difference. The viscosity and resistance of Castor oil and 30W hydraulic fluid is identical in both shocks.

rotorwrench · 06-08-2016, 06:13 PM

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Hydraulic oils haven't been graded in SAE for a long time now. They use ISO grades now like 32. 46, & 68. SAE 30 is very close to ISO 100.

Castor oil and glycerin can go rancid over time but the mineral base stuff won't.

06-08-2016, 05:00 PM	#1
Doug 845 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Fishkill, NY Posts: 180	1933 Shock Fluid I figured I'd share some information about my personal observations regarding shock fluid. I had a '33 front drivers side shock rebuilt by Bill Wzoreck and it turned out great. God bless him. I took off my front passenger side shock and clean it out with kerosene and put hydraulic jack fluid in it. I drove the car a couple miles and noticed that the resistance of the hydraulic jack fluid wasn't the same as the 30W hydraulic fluid used by Bill. W. I tried to find 30W hydraulic fluid and could only find 5 gallons of 30W instead of quart sizes. I decided to use Castor oil like Ford used in the day and replaced the hydraulic jack fluid. I was amazed at the difference. The viscosity and resistance of Castor oil and 30W hydraulic fluid is identical in both shocks. Last edited by Doug 845; 06-09-2016 at 05:14 AM.

06-08-2016, 06:13 PM	#2
rotorwrench Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 17,410	Re: 1933 Shock Fluid Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) Hydraulic oils haven't been graded in SAE for a long time now. They use ISO grades now like 32. 46, & 68. SAE 30 is very close to ISO 100. Castor oil and glycerin can go rancid over time but the mineral base stuff won't.