Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Gary, here is a photo of the old and new shocks. The old damaged one came into contact with the rock shield that got bent. While it looks terrible, it was still functioning. Only the outer shield was damaged. My front shocks are the old type and are part of the upper A-arm. I filled them with hydraulic jack oil.

(o{I}o)

Attach file:

---

  (29.26 KB)

Has anyone converted the old style top of the a-arm shocks to the new style, and if so did it ride any better? I'd rather replace all 4 shocks every so many years vs just refilling the front ones and wondering if they're working well.

I know when they were out of fluid that the front end would some times dribble like a basketball when going over railroad tracks and the like. I attributed some of it to bias ply tires.

You can have lever action shocks rebuilt if you want to. Usually the only thing that wears out is the shaft seals, and the fluid leaks out. Before I spent hundreds of $$$$swapping them out for tubular shocks that are frankly inferior in quality I would top them up once or twice a year.

Rebuilt shocks cost more than tubular shocks but if you look at the cost of making new shock mounts etc. it would be just as cheap as changing over, and the rebuilt shocks would last the rest of your life if not longer.

To put it another way I don't think the tubular shocks have any advantage except low cost. In fact the most expensive cars like Cadillac and Packard kept the lever action shocks long after the cheaper models switched.

On the other hand the newest shocks are probably more sophisticated in design than those of the fifties but whether they would make a Packard ride or handle any better remains to be seen.

variable orifice and variable fluid rheology as used in some shocks would make a difference. A new but conventional tubular would not make much difference

Just to repeat, for those will refillable shocks, you can get a bit more resistance by going to a slightly more viscous hydraulic oil. Mobil for one offers it in both SAE 10 and SAE 20.

I continue to be amazed after all these years at how well the adjustable shocks work on the 34. As many of you know, it's dash-adjustable in 3 positions and you sure can easily notice the difference in the dampening effect.