I'm running the stock drivetrain on my '39 Tudor. Lately I've been getting a grinding noise from the left rear while making hard right turns. Tonight I got under the car and saw that the arm on the right rear shock is broken in half. My first thought was to replace the houdaille shocks with a pairof rebuilt originals. It looks like they cost in the neighborhood of $150 each with the mounting links. Not terrible but not cheap. I was doing a little research and found a guy on Ebay selling a bolt-on kit to convert the rear to tube shocks with no welding required. Here is a link to the kit. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1938...tZVintageQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories The kit is around $200 bucks before shipping. I did a little more research and found that Ford used to offer something simillar to this 'back-in-the-day' but that it is extremely hard to come by now. I tried finding a simillar kit through a vendor I had heard of but couldn't find anything. Anybody used this guy on Ebay or know of another kit available for this purpose? Should I just put in another set of originals? Thanks for all of the help/ advice. Jay
There was a nice forged piece that bolted to the back plate, I have one if you wanted it. How hard they are to find I dunno. the toughest part of the job will be pulling the hub and changing two back plate bolts to longer ones, and finding the longer bolts. I would go for a complete kit if one is made. I have found originals that still work, and I use used ones, if they work and don't leak. I would like to try getting some apart and re-doing them myself, but the communist state of NY has always used too much road salt, and you probably have the same problem.
ch***is engineering makes akit for 35-40 i used one my pu same frame seems like tey were around 75 bucks + shocks which were pretty reasonable tom
Really? I searched their site pretty throughly before posting this and then I just went over this again once I saw your post. The only kit I see for the rear is the shock mounting brackets for installing a parallel leaf spring rear end not the original banjo style axle. Jay
OR you could just get these as they were designed by for for the 46-48 cars. This HAMB Member "Purehotrods" make reproductions and see them for less than what your looking at. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=438377&highlight=shock+mount
If it were mine, the type of shock I would use would depend on the style of the car. If your car is all original you definitely want to keep your original Houdaille shocks (pronounced Hoo-Dye). If it is a traditional car then either the Houdaille or the tube shocks will fit the theme. If it's a high tech car with independent front suspension and coil over rear suspension then you need to take it to the car crusher, I hate those cars, they make me want to puke! The Houdaille shocks are very high quality shocks, if you ever take one apart you will appreciate their quality. They were used on Indy cars long after the tube shocks came out because they were adjustable and could be further tuned by internally brazing up and re-drilling the fluid transfer holes, often called 50/50 shocks. They have their issues, they are expensive and moisture can get in them, then rust will plug up the fluid transfer holes and check balls, this will cause the shock to freeze up and the arms will break or bend. I have been told that as long the shock will move and there is no side play in the shaft the shock can usually be rebuilt. When "Airplane type" or tube shocks first came out, Houdaille, Gabriel and Monroe made mounting kits to convert most cars. The different manufacturers kits all looked about the same, some of them have a little heavier forged brackets than others.These forged lower shock brackets that bolt to the backing plate holes are really slick. They require special longer bolts and special nuts. These parts are usually missing when you see the brackets for sale (I attached a photo of one of the brackets with the special bolt) there is a short bolt and a long bolt. I had a nice complete set and I gave them to a friend, this is what I have left. These brackets will not fit '32-'34 Ford rear ends because there is not enough room between the spring hanger and the backing plate. The '35'-'36 takes a different style lower bracket that clamps to the radius rod. That is just one of the reasons '40 Ford rear ends are so popular under '32 Fords, they are stronger, have hydraulic brakes and you can use the aftermarket shock mounts. What ever you do, never-ever-ever weld a shock mount on a rear end housing unless you have a way to straighten it again after the housing warps. The upper shock mounting studs are still available from most parts stores Here are a few pages from some vintage shock catalogs, neat stuff! For some reason when I post photos at the recommneded 800X600 dpi they always appear small? Just click on the pictures and they will get bigger and bigger with each click. Jerry
I have a set of the Ford Accessory Mounts for sale in the cl***ifieds section at the moment. They are rare to find. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=481619&highlight=shock+mounts These are the lower mounts. $75 shipped. PM me if interested. Alex
I have a 1940 Ford 2 door Delux Sedan which I am restoring and it has tube shocks on all four corners. The shock kit was manufactured by Gabriel in the late forties or the early 50's and was installed by a Ford dealer. at the present I am corresponding with Gabriel to see if I can get replacement shocks for the car. I am attaching a picture of the left front shock ***embly. The ***embly, when installed does not intefere with the stock 40 sway bars in any manner. Bill
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