Kanter Shocks or ???

[Bingster]

I'm looking to get shocks for my '47 Desoto. Now, there are NOS shocks and Kanter shocks, etc. etc.

I'm told by one fella that his Kanter shocks worked great. I don't know about NOS shocks. Anything to be wary about there?

I've heard about using Monroes but that the weld can break and that they have to be reinforced with new welding.

Any ideas. I lean toward NOS if they would perform okay after sitting all those years.

But for a few dollars more Kanter might provide an even better ride with the gas charged.

[aero3113]

Try www.rockauto.com thats is where I got my shocks

[Bingster]

Yeah, shocks from Kanter Auto Parts.

[Don Coatney]

I personally would not buy NOS shocks as I think the rubber seals would age on the shelf. I personally would not buy shocks from a high priced old car vendor when new replacements can be purchased at any auto parts store most likely for less money and no shipping expense.

[Bingster]

Okay, that answers my suspicions about NOS. Bad rubber seals..

As for the shocks. I was a member of another site for Desoto pwners - not the official desoto site but another that I cannot think of the name now - and I know that one of the guys bought Monroe shocks and they broke where the weld meets the "eye" to mount them. He took them to a welder to beef up the weld. I thought at the time that when you add the price of the weld it didn't make a lot of sense to me to but off the shelf shocks.

Now, I recall discussions on this board about new shocks and there was a specific Monroe part number that would fit on the front on my '47 Desoto. But again, after hearing other stories, I never followed through.

Could the design be different for Dodge and Plymouth than Desoto for that year? Maybe they work better on those than Desotos.

[greg g]

I believe the Dodge and Desoto shared Chassis components. Assumming you do not have a commercial (taxi, airport limo etc) car.

[greg g]

Also the rear shocks from later Mopar A body cars are said to be a reasonable facsimile, and can be had in the gas charged variety.

[BobT-47P15]

I can't offhand recall the stock numbers, but I used the same numbers

that other people here listed - and bought gas shocks at NAPA.

Seem to work OK.

[Young Ed]

I've got 8K miles on my ply with shocks from napa. If I recall they were monroes. The plymouth was even in their computer system for them to look up the shock #s.

[greg g]

rear shock cross reference numbers, monroe 5752, gabrial 82156.

[De Soto Frank]

I put Monroe's on my '41 De Soto last year ('07).

The numbers Shel quoted look right:

5752 front

31000 rear

They've worked fine.

I got them from my local Mom'n'Pop store.

I think the beef-up welding tip came from Jon Robinson at DeSotoland.

I think he had some problems with the eyes breaking-off when he put shocks on his '50 De Soto.

De Soto Frank

[Bingster]

I think you're right. It was him who posted that on that site. And since it was a '50 not a 46, 47 or 48, that doesn't count. It seems that enough of you fellas have used them with no problem. I sure don't mind saving the money!!

[Normspeed]

I have a nice chart from Monroe showing shock numbers, connection types and lengths both extended and compressed, but can't post it here, it's a PDF file and exceeds the allowed file size.

[Don Coatney]

I have a nice chart from Monroe showing shock numbers, connection types and lengths both extended and compressed, but can't post it here, it's a PDF file and exceeds the allowed file size.

Send it to GTK. He can add it to the reference section of the main web page supporting this forum.

[Bingster]

I went into Napa today and they couldn't find the number 5752 for the front shocks so he phoned Monroe, and the Monroe guy said they only had shocks for the '49 and '50 Desoto and it was the 5752 for the front. I assume that even though Monroe doesn't list the 5752 as being for the '46-'48 Desotos, that it will be the correct shock for the front???

Do you think there is any big difference (besides the price) of the Kanter shock listed for this year?