Odd duck?

Posted by Dave Brownell On 2015/11/1 18:54:18

Several of our name-brand Packard vendors seem willing to sell me non-name brand front shocks for my 1956 with T-L. But the price seems steep (about $60 each, plus shipping), especially when it looks pretty standard to me. One eBay non-Packard vendor sent me a nice pair of Monroe 5751s for $22 each but that corresponds only to cars with a non-torsion bar suspension (I think).

My car has a rather conventional metal bar at the bottom bushing for two mounting bolts in the lower A-arms. However, the few pictures I could find in the 1956 Service Manual show only the in line (as in those Monroe 5751s), and I could not find any with that T-bar two bolt lower mount. Could my car be a retro-fitted "odd duck"? Everything looks rather consistent with other cars I have of that period. Before ordering again, I'd like to have assurance that a shock like a KYB4503 or Gabreal 82026 has the lower mount needed for my car. So far, no one can provide pictures before ordering for these models.

A funny thing happened when I went to my local Advance Auto store for their 5682 shown in the parts cross index. They were willing to sell me what looked like the Monroe 5751 for less than thirty Dollars each. But there was another listing for a 1956 (again, no picture). I declined when I heard the price was $352 each! Protesting that it must be a pricing error, the counter man said that it was because they are listed as Heavy Duty. Needless to say, I did not order them at that price.

My car currently has the smooth ride, so there's no hurry to pay too much. But I'd like to know if other late production T-L have a shock like mine, and where they got theirs.