OK, I have the original shocks for my roadster. Before you say they are junk let me tell you about them. The car was bought new in '28 and taken off the road in '40. Judging by the overall condition of the car, they weren't used much. The original owner took off the shocks, primed them and mounted them to a board. There they sat until I purchased the car. The look like new except the base gasket is seeping what ever fluid is inside of them on all 4 of them. Is there a way to test them or tell if they are still good off of the car? I want to run these shocks for the front at least. Thanks.
sounds like you need to get them rebuilt.go to www.applehydraulics.com .it sounds like they just need the o - rings.ALOT less expensive than a full rebuild.after that refill em with oil and they should be good to mount & use.good luck.if you have any questions,PM me Troy
With that in mind, if the shaft still turns, I'd get the shock oil from any Ford supply house and fill them up. My rebuilt ones show signs of seepage from just sitting on the shelf for a few years. They probably leaked some on the show room floor. It was common for them to freeze up when they got old. Often the link was removed and and they kept on trucking. I've read that if they are frozen or the shaft has side to side slop in the body that they are not rebuildable.
A. You should feel strong resistance and slow movement working then by hand with stock levers, resistance one way a bit less than other. B. There's a spec test involving a longer lever with a weight clamped on...X seconds for weight to fall. If test "A" is satisfying, they will likely do fine on road. There is an outer cover that may be the leakage point...getting that off and resealed MIGHT be easier than the total thrash. These things in general are very hard to disassemble--huge forces on parts needing special gripping tools.
Here, from and old Barn post: Posted by Arlyn Bieber from cpe-24-94-20-17.san.res.rr.com (24.94.20.17) on Sunday, April 01, 2007 at 10:22PM : Found this interesting information on testing Model A shock adsorbers. This comes from the July 1930 issue of Ford Dealer and Service Field magazine. "In the final factory test, at 70 degrees F. a 100# weight attached to the end of the arm should take just 8 seconds to move the lever from one extreme position to the other with the needle valve closed." The shocks were filled with either chemically pure or commercial glycerine. Murray Fahnestock was the Technical Editor of the magazine. Even though he did not author this article one could assume he must have approved the content which give some creditabiliy to the information. This is the first time I have seen detailed information on the actual test of the shock. The Service Bulletins gives pictures of shocks in various stages of disassembly and great pictures of the special tools but does not give the test weight or the arm length of the testing tool. Just food for thought. That plus a look at service bulletins should get you running. I think these may be two different tests--pretty sure bulletin is showing lighter weights. Mebbe your two kids add up to about 100Lbs and with some string and duct tape you'll be on your way. Just realized the 100 test uses stock arms, so sounds reasonable. Test at dealer level used long extensions.
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