Years ago, Gabriel sold a line of hydraulic shock absorbers called Adjust-O-Matics. As I recall, they had three settings (soft, medium, firm) and you set them by rotating the shock body to one of the three settings. Soft was approximately the same as a stock 1950s passenger car part; the other two settings were successively stiffer. I think that I learned of these from an article in R&C circa 1956. I used them on a couple of cars that I had back then, mostly in the firmest setting, and I thought that they improved the handling of the cars considerably. After a bit of internet research, it doesn't seem that these are made any more. Gabriel is still around, but none of their passenger car products appear to be adjustable. Anybody aware of any similar products available today? Seems like a convenient was to dial in the ride and handling to one's personal preference. By the way, old Ford Houdaille lever-action shocks were also adjustable. I bought a remarkably original '41 Ford that still had its Houdailles in place, and I was able to tune up the ride by adjusting them.
Competition engineering sells them, summit racing has their own brand too. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
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