Jump to content

1938 plymouth front shocks


38plymouth

Recommended Posts

as I said earlier I did some reading....while they would not come right out and say such, it seems the 37/38 tubular shock was the last of the one you can disassemble and kit...BUT CAN"T find that in writing and again no access local to anything 37/38  By all accounts and such I can find on the internet the first disposable shock was 1939....and for those in the know....IS THIS the first of the modern IFS..will be on look out for those dimensions....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On my 37 four door, that has not been on the road in about 40 years,

the shocks measure at a sitting height of about 17 inch.

They will compress to 14 inch, and extend to 20.5 inch.

is this off the car and measured center to center and what size bolt/stud holes (ID) in loops and what is the measurement of the loop in OD and width?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

is this off the car and measured center to center and what size bolt/stud holes (ID) in loops and what is the measurement of the loop in OD and width?

The 17 inch measured from center to center of the bolts while on the 37 four door.

My 38 Coupe measured 17.5 inch, center to center while on the car.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thanks...but what of the loop dimensions.....need that to get a cross reference...it would be great to have this info....

My fronts are mounted to a 5/8 stud that's 1 1/4 wide. The actually width of the shock loop without the bushings is 7/8.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I pulled one of my rear shocks and it is a Gabriel Red Ryder with two part numbers 42146 and 42318. They are not gas shocks like I thought so I'm going to try to replace these to. They measure 13 5/8 and 22 1/4. They will physically bolt onto the front but I think they need to compress at least one inch more to work correctly.

Edited by 38plymouth
Link to comment
Share on other sites

those measurement are good but does not include the rubber grommet as they do in their measurements on the website..but Ma Mopar loves the L1 loops...so should be the standard L1 on each end...for the specification given with length closed at 13.625 and extended at 22.250  that will be a fast cross to an actual Ranco RS5205 and that modern day application for those that would like to seek it out as being for a 84-86 Isuzu Trooper for one though there will be others....

 

DISCLAIMER..based on the given measurement and I was not told if front or rear..

 

The few companies that are big in ones stop shopping for the older buggies show that they sell all four corners as the same shock..getting back to the website that states cross reference will not be identical but will interchange...

 

I believe 38 Plymouth stated he still had originals...I am looking to see the specs clearly stated FRONT and REAR for better choices as to cross reference...

 

Trust me there is a simple low cost bolt on for you folks...give up the specification...get the number...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good news, I have 4 brand new shocks on the car. The ones I ordered yesterday would not fit on the front they were too long when they were compressed. They did however fit perfectly on the back. These were napa part # 94050, from a 1985 ram charger. The bushings on these were too wide so I cut them off and used my old bushings on them and they fit perfectly. The dimensions on them were nearly identical to the old ones

They spent almost an hour this morning looking up something for the front and ended up with a napa number 94227. I can't remember what he said they fit but they were from a newer model vehicle. These ones compressed were identical in length and when extended they were slightly shorter which was okay with me because the original ones were way too long. The bushings had a metal sleeve and it was too small to fit on the shock mounts so I drilled out the rubber bushings and also used my originals in the new shocks.

I still have to finish my brake job and get my wheels back from powder coat to give it a test drive but I'm sure it's going to be much better than the originals. All 4 shocks were just under $100.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

as you folks have these original shocks..only you can measure and post the dimension....there most likely are shocks out there for you.....post the dimension of the loops upper/lower.......once measured, identify them by the industry style letter/number and lets get searching....you shooting yourself in the foot going to a counter and not at minimum NOT taking your old one with you for a side by side...the engineers have already done all the work by creating the database and making it available online for you to surf..make use of it..

You mentioned this 3 or 4 times and are exactly right. Measure stock shock(or known working shock) fully compressed and fully extended center of mounting stud to center of mounting stud & mounting stud dimension. Exactly what I did for my '38 Ply Coupe. Took those dimensions to Napa and looked through their book myself, less than 10 minutes, had the part #'s I needed. Each page has the different mounting type designation & with that and the dimensions, found something within a 1/2" each way. My car is lowered, so I adjusted the measurements accordingly. On vaca, so no access to my car for part #'s, but I think all 4 were the same (again, lowered, so stock is out the window). Good luck.

Edited by deathbound
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I have a image of the Mopar shock compressed length.  Now how do I get it here for you all to see?  I have it in the images section.  Greg

along side a ruler.....

 

actually dimensions all around would help those yet to venture that way.....please confirm if front or rear shock with those measurement....thanks...will be a big help to others...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks like the front and rear are the same collapsed length for both '37/'38 (which applies to this thread). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
On ‎2016‎-‎08‎-‎11 at 10:14 PM, 38plymouth said:

My car is lowered a bit and im at 15 inches mount to mount. If you can find a part number i would be very grateful.

I've got a '37 Plymouth coupe with original front suspension. How did you lower it and how much? I want mine down 1 or 2 inches.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎8‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 7:28 PM, Plymouthy Adams said:

as I said earlier I did some reading....while they would not come right out and say such, it seems the 37/38 tubular shock was the last of the one you can disassemble and kit...BUT CAN"T find that in writing and again no access local to anything 37/38  By all accounts and such I can find on the internet the first disposable shock was 1939....and for those in the know....IS THIS the first of the modern IFS..will be on look out for those dimensions....

FYI  Plymouthy: I looked in my 1939 Desoto supplemental repair manual and there is a section on how to disassemble and repair the factory shocks and how to refill the shocks. So now we know they  carried the shocks up to 1939 at least. So if someone could look in a 1940's service manual then we might know if 39 was the last year that shocks could be dissembled.

FYI

Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The '36-42 factory service manual shows that "airplane type" shock absorbers were used from '37 through '42 and it gives refill and rebuild instructions for them. It looks like the '41 and '42 versions were slightly different in some respect from the '37 through '40 ones.

The '48 through '54 factory service manual says that all models had non-servicable shock absorbers and only gives procedures for testing and replacing them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

thanks for that info, good to know they carried through 1939....but I would not be rebuilding any when I can just bolt on modern shocks of better valves and materials all around...

Plymouthy:  I totally agree with you about not rebuilding an old shock especially when you can get New shocks that have better performance and are just a bolt-in application. As you can also see Todd posted some more info on the subject.

 

Rich Hartung

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

Terms of Use