Re: 1931 Shock Links

Posted by Greenfield On 2021/9/27 16:04:53

It was an emotionally jarring experience stroking the check to Apple to cover the cost of 4 rebuilt shocks at $445 per shock. BUT, a necessary one as in the three years of Packard ownership I've only seen a pair of front shocks for a 30/31 come up for sale once on Ebay. I didn't want to merely clean up what I had, see them leak everywhere and possibly damage them to the point of rendering them useless.

Assuming your shocks are like mine, to get the link off, you'll have to remove a cotter pin off each end of the link. Then you'll have to unscrew a plug on each end to release the tension on each adjoining ball joint. I removed the ball joints on the shock side by using a Harbor Freight ball joint separator. Be sure to place a towel over the works as I launched one of my balls about 30 feet when it separated. I soaked my links in Purple Power for a day, then disassembled, removed the decades-old grease, cleaned, painted everything etc. The original seals where the balls connect to the link look they were some sore of rubberized felt, about 3/16" thick. For $.99, I found a sheet of foam about the size of a piece of paper and about 5mm thick from Michaels Arts and Crafts, that seems like a perfect substitute. Its rigid but flexible, and compressible to seal everything good. I tested the foam to make sure it is grease resistant and it seems like it'll work.