1939 LaSalle - Rear Shock Absorbers

39LaSalleDriver · June 14, 2021, 10:30:37 AM

Question for those in the know, I'm finally getting around to having the rear suspension rebuilt in my 39-5019. I already have an order in to Eaton for my rear springs, and I have all the new rubber components in hand. Today, I'm going around to some local shops to line up someone to remove and install them since I don't have that ability to do that here at the house.

My question is, is it possible to do the rear shocks separately from the springs? In other words, can I have a shop do the springs, and then do the shocks myself at my leisure when I get it home? Are they under any kind of tension or pressure that would require specialized equipment to take them off and then put them back on after having them rebuilt?

The reason I ask is because I plan on having Apple Hydraulics rebuild my shocks, but obviously I have to have them off the car to send them for rebuilding, then wait for them to ship them back for a reinstall. I'm not wild about having my car doing an overnight stay away from the house as it is, but I REALLY don't like the idea of leaving it somewhere for 2-3 weeks while waiting for the parts to come back so my local shop can install them. Not to mention the potential of charges for them keeping my car around tying up a bay somewhere. From what I can tell, in theory replacing the shocks is something I should be capable of here at the house unless it requires tension to be removed from the springs before doing so.

harry s · June 14, 2021, 12:44:44 PM

There's no tension on the rear shocks. They are held to the frame with two large bolts and there is s link that attaches the shock arm to the rear end.
Harry

z3skybolt · June 14, 2021, 02:29:57 PM

You probably already know: Apple will ship you rebuilt shocks and then you have 90 days to return the old ones for credit. They hold a deposit of $100.00 each until your old ones are sent back to them.

That is what I did. Have had the rebuilt shocks for 3 weeks or so and waiting for an opening at my local shop to have them and the new springs put on.

Bob R.

toybox · June 14, 2021, 03:13:20 PM

Hi Jon,
No the rear shocks are supper easy. Three bolts each, although they can be tight. Apples turnaround time is amazing. I just had the fronts done on my 46 . Two weeks and they were sending them back to me. I'm not sure why your sending your car out for springs to be installed. Again they may be tight but its just 8 bolts. My springs were not pre loaded or tension-ed and I took one off , cleaned and reassembled it in about 8 hours. I do understand we all have different comfort levels . Best of luck.Tim

39LaSalleDriver · June 14, 2021, 05:22:34 PM

Quote from: harry s on June 14, 2021, 12:44:44 PM

There's no tension on the rear shocks. They are held to the frame with two large bolts and there is s link that attaches the shock arm to the rear end.

Harry

Thanks Harry, that was my suspicion, but wanted to make sure before I got myself into something I couldn't get out of.

Quote from: z3skybolt on June 14, 2021, 02:29:57 PMYou probably already know: Apple will ship you rebuilt shocks and then you have 90 days to return the old ones for credit. They hold a deposit of $100.00 each until your old ones are sent back to them.

That is what I did. Have had the rebuilt shocks for 3 weeks or so and waiting for an opening at my local shop to have them and the new springs put on.

Bob R.

Bob, I thought about doing that, but I think I'd rather have my original shocks back on there if possible. Just seems like it would eliminate any variables that way.

Quote from: toybox on June 14, 2021, 03:13:20 PMNo the rear shocks are supper easy. Three bolts each, although they can be tight. Apples turnaround time is amazing. I just had the fronts done on my 46 . Two weeks and they were sending them back to me. I'm not sure why your sending your car out for springs to be installed. Again they may be tight but its just 8 bolts. My springs were not pre loaded or tension-ed and I took one off , cleaned and reassembled it in about 8 hours. I do understand we all have different comfort levels . Best of luck.Tim

Tim, thanks for the vote of confidence. I certainly was able to do the whole front end myself so it's not like I'm incapable in theory. I would imagine the difference here is I am reinstalling all new springs, which according to the manuals and all sources I've read, requires a special rig to spread the springs out to get them to fit back in. It's definitely not a pull the old ones out, bolt the new ones in straightforward proposition unless the shop manuals and such are mistaken. If I were reinstalling my old springs, I could see that possibly they lose a degree of tension and that tool may not be so critical, I don't know. But I certainly don't want to get halfway into the project and find out I've overestimated my abilities and underestimated the physics involved in getting the new ones back in. And I most certainly don't want to be performing gorilla gymnastics under my car while it's propped up on jack stands.

I'm pretty confident I'm better off spending the $300-400 I just got quoted at my local vintage car shop to have the pros do it on a lift.

Now the shocks on the other hand...looks like I'll be doing them myself.

LaSalle5019 · June 14, 2021, 11:11:31 PM

I ended up getting off the shelf rebuilt shocks from Apple and sent my originals as cores due to a timing need. I was reluctant to do that but it turned out to be a blessing as two of the shocks on my car where not the correct design and must have been swapped out over the years. In the end, doing the swap corrected two problems I had...one in the front end and one in the rear.

Joe G 12138 · June 15, 2021, 07:49:01 AM

A car can be driven without rear shocks. It just wouldn't be fun to drive it all day, everyday . From shop to home and back while waiting for rebuild should be no issue if you want to have your own cores used. Just take it easy crossing railroad tracks and such or the car will be bouncing up and down for miles! Joe Gibeault

toybox · June 15, 2021, 09:44:31 AM

Hi Jon,
Do your new springs have liners between the layers. There are many different kinds out there on line. I chose one that is Teflon with a bead alone both edges so it will not work its way out. Rodders have been using these for decades on 20's,30's and 40's cars to soften the ride. It worked so well the first time I did it that I do it to all my cars now. It doesn't cost much and makes a huge difference in the ride quality and road noise.
Hope this helps make your car what you want it to be, Tim

39LaSalleDriver · June 15, 2021, 10:27:30 AM

Quote from: LaSalle5019 on June 14, 2021, 11:11:31 PM

I ended up getting off the shelf rebuilt shocks from Apple and sent my originals as cores due to a timing need. I was reluctant to do that but it turned out to be a blessing as two of the shocks on my car where not the correct design and must have been swapped out over the years. In the end, doing the swap corrected two problems I had...one in the front end and one in the rear.

Scott, glad you got that sorted out. I guess I'll find out when I get them out and sent off. So far as I can tell, mine are the correct ones (at least they look right, and fit correctly), but I'm more concerned about if the core is too worn out to be rebuilt more than anything. If that's the case, I guess I'll do what I have to do. I've even given consideration to seeing if I could "rebuild" them myself as I have seen others do online with other types of lever action shocks. There again, I'm going to have to get them out first before I even consider something like that to see what I would be getting into. For all I know they just need a cleanup and refilling, as I'm pretty comfortable in saying that hasn't been done in a long, long, long time.

Quote from: Joe G 12138 on June 15, 2021, 07:49:01 AM

A car can be driven without rear shocks. It just wouldn't be fun to drive it all day, everyday . From shop to home and back while waiting for rebuild should be no issue if you want to have your own cores used. Just take it easy crossing railroad tracks and such or the car will be bouncing up and down for miles! Joe Gibeault

Joe, that's kind of what I was thinking. To be honest, as far out of conditioning as mine are, I doubt I would notice any difference if the shocks are mounted or not!

The whole time I have owned and driven my car, it tends to float over things like I'm driving a water bed. With new springs and shocks, I have a feeling I'm going to notice a substantial difference in performance. As an added bonus, it won't look like myself as the driver weighs 500 lbs. to the cars behind me.

Quote from: toybox on June 15, 2021, 09:44:31 AM

Hi Jon,

Do your new springs have liners between the layers. There are many different kinds out there on line. I chose one that is Teflon with a bead alone both edges so it will not work its way out. Rodders have been using these for decades on 20's,30's and 40's cars to soften the ride. It worked so well the first time I did it that I do it to all my cars now. It doesn't cost much and makes a huge difference in the ride quality and road noise.

Hope this helps make your car what you want it to be, Tim

Yes, they are being made with liners per the original specifications (albeit with more modern materials). I'm not sure what hot rod guys do, or type of performance they expect since I have no interest in that aspect of the car hobby. According to Eaton Detroit Spring, they make their units from original GM blueprints using original GM specs. So far as I know or have been told, the only difference from the original springs will be the lack of a center channel which they told me is no longer available in stock steel. Being that they are highly regarded among the car restoration community, I have no doubt that their product will meet all of my expectations.

39LaSalleDriver · June 17, 2021, 01:22:51 PM

Got the rear shocks out okay though the linkages gave me a bit of a fight. Cursory inspection indicates to me that they are in pretty good shape so should rebuild nicely.

When buying parts, I opted to pick up a pair of Axle Rebound Pads, but in looking mine over...they actually look and feel pretty good. Very surprising to me for 82 year old rubber parts. I cleaned off the old dirt, grease and grime and what I found was some degree of suppleness, no cracking or obvious deterioration. So far as I can tell, these don't seem to get a lot of wear anyway, and least there's been very little on mine. I'm thinking now about keeping the originals, and returning the replacements. Any thoughts on this?

Finally, when I placed my order with Steele, I failed to order new bushings for the shock links. Steele can be very frustrating to me at times with their descriptions (recommending parts not specifically for that car, but listing them anyway; multiple choices for items which may or may not apply to your car). Anyway, they list two types of bushings that are for shock links. Can anyone clarify for me which ones I should be ordering? My old ones are so worn, mummified, and deteriorated that I can't tell what type I should have.

Tom Boehm · June 17, 2021, 04:50:02 PM

Hello Jon, When I restored the rear suspension on my 1940 50 series, I thought the rubber in the rear shock links could not be changed. I reused the old ones. Since then on occasion I have seen entirely new shock links for sale. New rubber and new metal. Maybe at Allcads?

If I am wrong about being able to replace the rubber in these please chime in!

Brad Ipsen CLC #737 · June 17, 2021, 10:09:02 PM

Cannot replace the rubber in the shock links. The rubber is swaged in and captured. New ones have been available but I don't think for 39. Lengths and orientation vary. The new ones could be cut and lengthened or shortened as required. The Steele parts you show are for the rear sway bars on some models and the front roll bar links.

z3skybolt · June 18, 2021, 07:17:45 AM

Yesterday I had my rebuilt shocks from APPLE HYDROLICS installed on my 1940 5019. New links came with the shocks and the installation was perfect. Given the 5019 for 1940 appears to be identical to 1939.....perhaps APPLE would be a source for new links.

Bob R.

Tom Boehm · June 18, 2021, 07:32:50 AM

According to their website, Apple Hydraulics sells new rear shock links in various lengths and claims they can rebush your old ones.
Thanks Bob

39LaSalleDriver · June 21, 2021, 01:53:35 PM

Finally had a chance to get in touch with Apple Hydraulics this morning. Bob and Tom are correct in that they can either provide new shock links or rebuild the old ones.

This old hillbilly with hard hearing sometimes gets thrown off by foreign and/or New York accents, but I understood the fellow to say that it was cheaper to let them provide new shock links so that's what I'm going to do.

Also got notice on Friday that my new leaf springs had shipped from Eaton. I was impressed...they were done in 2 weeks rather than the 5-6 week lead they suggested. This should all work out great as my appointment to reinstall the springs is for August 2nd. Now I'll have time to get under the rear of the car to clean up the small amount of accumulated dirt and grime on the differential/axle housing and frame in anticipation of painting it when it gets back from the shop. It should also give me time to paint the springs and shocks before they get reinstalled.

Thanks to all who have provided guidance to this project, it has been most helpful.

News:

1939 LaSalle - Rear Shock Absorbers