Greetings thrill seekers, thanks for the input on my recent GM HEI no-spark issue. Its now resolved. My new question is, what do you guys prefer for front shocks, hydraulic or gas? My 34 ford roadster has tired Pete&Jakes (series 1086) on a four link tubular straight axle. They have a dragging like resistance when Im manually compressing and expanding them. They are old and I will replace, but reading various articles it seems a bit confusing on choice. Gas or hydraulic. I also read where my worn Pete&Jakes series 1086 are really for the rear. I don't know, so what would you guys install?
I made the change from old, mushy Pete and Jakes to the Bilstein Chrome gas pressure design Speedway sells on my roadster. The improvement made me wish I'd started out with the Bilsteins.
All telescopic dampers are Hydraulic, a 'Gas' damper has an additional precharge of Nitrogen or other similar gas to stabilize the oil within the damper and stop it 'frothing' at high cycle speeds. the gas charge can also provide additional Rebound assistance but fairly limited once under the weight of a vehicle. The perceived 'higher performance' of a Gas damper is more likely due to more investment into the damping performance of the unit with better valving and oil control. Also that dragging resistance you are feeling is meant to be there, that is your Rebound damping, the 'shock' is there to control the spring movement NOT support the vehicle
I found out a while back that unless you are ordering specific shocks for hot rods it is hard to find a plain hydraulic shock now. Most every offering from the main manufactures is gas. I was looking for a plain old shock for someone and couldn't find a plain old Monroe Matic style non gas shock
Chrome Bilstein's on all 4 corners of my roadster and I stuck another pair on the back of my '41 PU I am building.
Just ordered Bilstein's F4-BOA-0000788 from Speedway. Thanks for all the input. Life's short eat dessert first.
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