1935 Ford Rear Shock Test

[cfrye002]

Got the rear shock absorbers off the car, can turn them by hand easily with no resistance. Added 30wt jack fluid with the same result...need to be rebuilt?


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[koates]

Yes, they need to be rebuilt. They would require some serious resistance in both directions to be classed as good. Even a length of pipe on the arm and push/pull like hell, that's the effort required to rotate them. Regards, Kevin.

[Jembow]

Same problem here. No one rebuilds them in the UK and they're heavy things to ship transatlantic. The Model A trick is to use MGB rears but on the V8 they foul the tyres. Rides a bit bouncy without them, I may have to fit tube shocks.

[J Franklin]

Don't you have machine shops in your areas. Or maybe a backyard shop somewhere that could fix the shocks, they are fairly simple mechanisms. Shafts can be hard chrome back to specs. O-rings and seals are available. Why not pay your machinist rather than postage?

[terry]

C&G Ford Parts offers tube shock kits for front and back. Terry

[JSeery]

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Here is some past info on the subject:

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showt...ghlight=shocks

[fordor41]

did you try to adjust them?

[Karl]

I have a set of rears that are just clearing customs
They where done By Andrew Falandes
$200 each including cores -Shipping to New Zealand was only $120
He did my fronts as well -same deal -and I am very impressed with his work

[rotorwrench]

Andy learned the trade from one of the Barn's old contributors Bill Wzorek. The cores can be rebuild as long as there is a decent housing and wing shaft. There is some good information on here about Houdaille shocks if you do a search.

[terry]

Karl, if you change flatbed to flathead that song becomes so much more interesting. Terry

[Karl]

Originally Posted by terry

Karl, if you change flatbed to flathead that song becomes so much more interesting. Terry

Yep when I play and sing it (both very badly) I always change it to Flathead. But still a great line by a great band - Karl

[blucar]

Originally Posted by Jembow

Same problem here. No one rebuilds them in the UK and they're heavy things to ship transatlantic. The Model A trick is to use MGB rears but on the V8 they foul the tyres. Rides a bit bouncy without them, I may have to fit tube shocks.

If you change the rear shocks to tube type, mount them like the '47-48 Ford/Merc's, on an angle rather than vertically.


I have attached a pix of the tube shocks on the rear of my '36.

[DavidG]

Judging from the photo, you did not change to tube shocks, you added them to the existing shocks. Two shocks per wheel?

[blucar]

Originally Posted by DavidG

Judging from the photo, you did not change to tube shocks, you added them to the existing shocks. Two shocks per wheel?

During my misspent youth, (1950's) I street raced my Ford on a regular basis. I wanted the car to be as stable as possible, therefore, I had double shocks on the rear, and a sway/panhard bar. Of course the addition of an anti roll bar on the rear would have negated the need to retain the original lever shocks. The front axle is modified also.

[Jembow]

I've been giving this serious thought.

Option 1 is get Andrew Falandes to do me a set. With shipping, import duty etc we're probably looking at $1500.
Option 2 is to make a set of brackets to mount tube shocks, probably cost less than $200. But as this is a nice original car, that is only a temporary fix, long term I want correct shocks on it.
Option 3 is J Franklin's suggestion of fixing them myself. I have read the original shop manuals, which mention a lot of specialist tools, but we all know you can often improvise this stuff. I have Les Pearson's Model A book, which goes into detail on Houdaille shock restoration. Some of it sounds complicated, and when he talks about how get a very old unit apart, slightly scary! It would be nice to do it myself but that's going to consume time and I have so many projects on the go, it isn't going to happen in a hurry. Looks like I've talked myself into Option 1.


Blucar, how does the other end of your panhard rod mount?

[rotorwrench]

I always got a kick out of folks putting them in a charcoal grill. If a person doesn't have a O/A torch then it makes sense. Very long cheater pipes are also used as well as very strong supports to bolt them to for disassembly.

[Jembow]

Les Pearson says forget making strong supports, bolt them back on the car or a spare chassis