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My '49 has mushy suspension. Going over railroad tracks or moderately rough roads, the front end vibrates like a machine gun. I can look at the original, rusty shocks in the rear and understand that part of the problem. However, the elbow-style shocks in the front are another matter.

I filled them with hydraulic jack oil last year, but didn't get much improvement. I see rebuilt shocks for a couple of hundred dollars, but spending anything near like that kind of money for front shocks is out of the question right now. Maybe ever.

I don't know, of course, what the suspension should feel like. I've never ridden in a (new) or fully restored car of this type. I'm just betting the original ride was a lot different than mine.

Is this a situation others also have to deal with? Are there any lower-cost solutions?

Jay

Jay, the handling you describe is most definately not what is to be expected from a well-maintained Packard. Your front end may require other work as well, king pins, knuckle pins, etc., but with poor shocks you'll never achieve a good ride. One question I have is, when you filled them with hydraulic fluid, did they retain the fluid, or do they continue to leak? If they don't leak significantly, your problems may be other parts of the front end. You could consider removing the knuckle from the shock end, and just manually moving the shock arm up and down to make a judgement of the resistance, hard to quantify but it should take a bit of effort to move it up and down, and it should take several seconds to make the stroke.

When I first got the '50, the shocks were empty. The car would make dreadful noises when the shock arm slammed into the petrified rubber bumper on the frame when encountering a driveway. I replaced the rubber bumpers and added hydraulic jack fluid but the fluid would leak out within a few days.

I bit the bullet and sent the shocks off to Apple Hydraulics for a re-build. Yes, it was expensive but I couldn't find any cheaper solution. Since the re-build and with new tires the ride is smooth and bumps are taken in stride.

The good thing about knee action shocks is that when they work, the ride is excellent but the bad thing is the cost to get them re-built when they wear out (they were never designed to last 60 years).

I'm very happy with the service and product I got, but there may be less expensive, equally competent places to get them fixed... I just didn't find any when I was looking.

Edit: Owen types sooooo much faster than I do.

I'll check tonight and see how much hydraulic fluid is in them now.

If the shocks leak, or if they don't work well, does it make any sense to fill them with something thicker like STP or something like that?

I really cannot afford to spend that kind of money with Apple. I read (at their website) what they do, and it sure looks great. I just can't do it.

When checking for front end looseness, should I also be grabbing the various rod ends and trying to move them? If so, should I do that with the front end on or off the ground?

Edit: Owen types sooooo much faster than I do.

Ah, the benefits of taking typing in high school! Plus that's were the girls were. Earned by beer money in college typing term papers and the like, I seem to recall something like 10 cents a page - boy does that date me. I guess I still do about 75 words a minute.

Jay, jack up the front end so the wheels are off the ground. Put a couple of jackstands under the frame so the suspension is hanging free. Crawl under while a friend grasps each front tire at 12 and 6 o-clock and rocks, see where the play is if any - could be kingpins or could just be loose wheel bearings and/or adjustment. Could also be upper and/or lower knuckle pins.

Then have your friend grasp the wheels at 3 and 9 pm and move in and out, look for play in the steering idler, tie rod ends, etc.

Lastly, have your friend move the steering wheel back and forth about 1/2 turn each side of center, and see what you see.

The above should pretty much identify what looseness exists and where. Let us know what you observe.

When working correctly, the original shocks should allow you to drive down a washboard dirt road with little or no notice of it at 50 mph. At least that's how my old '48 rode after filling up with shock oil. It's a real smooth ride, and the only car that ever came close was a T/L Packard.

On the subject of using STP as the fluid... I didn't try it but that was recommended by Dick Benjamin as something that might help. In my case I was losing fluid so fast that I knew STP wouldn't cut it for me.

Make sure you check for king pin looseness like OD stated. I found that I had one that was worn and the car drove fine until I hit highway speeds and the wheel bounced enough so the tire spent something like 50% of the time in contact with the road. I changed it and re-aligned the front end and it drove beautifully. Good luck.

Owen,

I finally got out there and did as you suggested. I wore my 12 yr old daughter out though before we got to the steering wheel part

The major movement I see is on the shaft coming out of the steering box, to which the pitman arm is attached. There's probably 3/16" movement in the shaft in and out of the steering box, and it accounts for almost all the play and noise.




You can see the movement in this video.

I had taken the pitman arm off in the past when I dropped the suspension enough to remove my oil pan. Is it on far enough? I confess I don't know now if it should be all the way down on the splines or if it is correct as is, and maybe have a steering box problem. I should mention, if it's not already obvious from the picture, that the steering box leaks.

Jay

That shaft in the steering box should not move at all, even with the pitman arm off the shaft. It doesn't look like it's on near far enough. I'd pull the top lid off and see if the adjustment screw and nut are tight or just worn off. That is what holds that shaft down, and makes your steering tight. Something is majorly wrong, and I'd start at the top. As for the leaking, if it's been that loose for quite a while, I can understand why it's leaking!