My '57 ford is in for a suspension overhaul this weekend, its getting new bushings, steering parts rebuilt, the usual. the finishing touch i need is shocks. i haven't been able to find what i consider a "suitable replacement" for the 50 year old tiger rides that keep on truckin along. they work great, i just dont know if they will survive removal. since they arent gas charged, i will need to find a suitable non gas charged shock to maintain the ride i enjoy. unfortunately i havent been able to find anything that ISNT gas charged. im 90% certain these cannot be rebuilt but i would if that was an option as they are in pretty good condition otherwise anyone out there have any leads?
It’s the fluid and valving that changes the ride characteristics rather than it being gas charged. Im going for Gabriel shocks on my later Merc. They should be reasonably close to the factory fit ones.
Gas shock still uses a hydraulic fluid. They just introduce a gas like nitrogen into it to reduce foaming.
I prefer Monroe. If your wanting to stick to something close, the twin tube design is most likely what you are looking for over a mono-tube. Unless the Tigers were a mono-tube? Monro-Matic are economically priced twin tube with a low pressure gas charge. Or the Reflex is a high pressure gas charge, they come in mono and twin tube which will make a difference. Matics- soft ride, Reflex- impact absorbing/damping efficiency.
the tiger rides appear to be monotube. i'll look into the monroematics, ive done some more research and apparently they ride like how they are supposed to
I would suggest trying to remove the old ones so they survive and try them after the rebuild, then swap to Monroes. Unless you are a test driver, you may not notice how bad your old shocks are, especially with worn suspension.
i havent seen anything about rebuilding this type of shock, only lever action, do you have any info on that?
Tube shocks are pretty much expendable items with a lifespan. Only rebuildable ones I’ve ever seen were modern race shocks designed to be rebuilt. There are charts that will help you select replacements comparable to what you have now.
I think the problem is the way they are designed. Most are a weld peak top after everything internal is assembled and aren't meant to be serviced. If it was it would be like a hydraulic cylinder (for the most part), and you can service and hone everything. Not to say it couldn't be done. But if you're that interested, I'd call a cylinder shop and ask their opinion. As far as I know, I haven't seen a shop to rebuild shocks. If they did the cost would be extremely higher than just buying shock replacements in my opinion.
after some Googleing, shocks have to be rebuilt with parts specifically made for the shock, which dont exist for tiger rides. vintage Monroes can be rebuilt, but cheap shocks are all welded together with no real easy way to get them apart. whelp, gonna get Monroes then, if i dont use them its not like they exactly expire, so i'll likely end up using them someday
Sorry for the thread hijack; am I reading it right that most of you rate Monroe as better than Gabriel?
I prefer them, but I also have always used them/sold them for years. Not like there is anything wrong with Gabriel. I'm sure they have better things on certain lines and vice versa. I don't know them enough to make a recommendation, I was curious about their Classic Shock Line. Is that the one you're going with?
A modern basic replacement shock absorber will do the job just fine for a comfortable driver. But if you want to tune the ride quality and comfort, you'll need to open that wallet and get into higher end adjustable shocks like those from Viking, QA1, Strange, Calvert, Penske, etc.
I run a custom Bilstein monotube on the OT race car, they’re fantastic but at £1500 a set they should be!
took some advice from my father aswell and ordered the monroe monromatic plus shocks, i got them for a steal on ebay, only 85 dollars with free shipping!
...and that's why we are suggesting Monroe. A fresh set of off the shelf basic shocks are almost certainly going to be better than the old ones on there. That is why I asked him to rebuild, then do a back-to-back comparison. A 1950s chassis set up for comfort and bias ply tires is going to respond to fresh components. It will be a lot better than worn out stuff. If Cat wants modern steering and suspension, I'd guess high end shocks will be on the list, but below different arms, steering, maybe spindles and certainly wheels, tires and brakes.
To be honest, I've never bought 2 sets of shocks for my stuff and done a real world A-B-A test to evaluate them against each other. I've gone for budget when money was tight or the car wasn't expected to be a handler. I've gone with higher priced stuff when money was flowing and it was getting upgrades all around.
I have used Monroes and lately I've put KYB Gas-A-Just on 2 of my rides and I'm really happy with them. They're monotube and I really like the ride characteristics.
Yup, plain old blue Monroe-matics. Gas shocks don't raise your car up like the boys down at the spit and whittle club claim. I used to install shocks as part of my job as a front end mechanic and never saw any car sit higher with gas shocks. at least not after you drove the car around the block. The thing with shocks is that too many people install shocks that are wrong for the ride they actually want or or the handling that they want due to one of several factors. I've had far more complaints from guys who bought the "heavy duty" shocks than the guys that bought quality oem type replacement shocks. I pulled off more than one set of those big fat yellow Monroe 500's back in the day that were installed because a coworker oversold or the customer thought he wanted the heavy duty ones but in normal driving they were far too stuff. Most likely when you get the shocks that are on it off you will find that they have little or no resistance at all when you get them out. You might want to check out Gabriel Classic shocks. They talk a good race. Front https://gabriel.com/product-search/light-vehicle-detailed-specs/?partnum=82099 Rear https://gabriel.com/product-search/light-vehicle-detailed-specs/?partnum=81270
i looked at those too, but after looking at reviews, it would make it ride rougher than i wanted so i went with the monromatics instead. im sure for most people who want their car to ride sportier its great, but i like my car because it floats, not in spite of how it floats
I have them on my 62 Bel Air. They didn't make it rougher or ride any harsher, but I noticed I have much better wheel control over bumps. Hope the monromatics give the ride you want!
The Jalopy Journal
