1950-1966 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup
A while back I asked what people do about the Armstrong lever-action shocks on the back of a 95: live with them, fix them, convert to tube shocks, or what?
Thanks for all responses; eventually I decided to try fixing them, and it turned out really well. I thought people might want to know what I did:
Before I started, I did the bounce-on-the-bumper test and found that basically, I had no damping at all back there... the car would bounce several times after a good push on the bumper.
So, I removed the shocks, which turned out to be easy: remove the three nuts securing the shock's mounting plate and the one holding the vertical link to the suspension.
Once a shock was removed, I first cleaned it up with a wire brush and parts cleaning fluid. Then I clamped the mounting plate in a vise and removed the big hex nut at the bottom; this retains the valve assembly. There's also a spring that wants to stay inside the shock body, so I fished that out too. With the valve assembly out, I worked the arm a few times to pump out some of the fluid, which was a horrible gray color.
There's a filling hole in the top, but it's so small I figured it would take forever to get anything through it. So instead I removed the top by unscrewing the six Phillips screws that secure it, then gently prying it off (careful, there's a cork gasket underneath; you don't want to damage that.) With the top off, I un-vised the unit and turned it over so the fluid could drain out.
While the fluid was draining, I cleaned the valve parts. There's a rubber O-ring on one of them, and if damaged I suppose it could allow the shock to leak, but mine were in good shape. Once the fluid had drained and the valve was clean, I screwed it back into the bottom of the shock body.
Although I had learned that there are various things you can use to refill the shock (such as motorcycle fork oil or ATV suspension fluid) I decided to order some genuine lever shock oil from the Moss Motors website. One bottle is more than enough to do both shocks.
I filled up the shock with this fluid, then working the arm until air no longer bubbled to the top. Once the air was out, I topped up the fluid and put the top back on the shock body. That was it.
Once I had the shock assemblies reinstalled on the car, I tried the bumper test again. Now I had a LOT of damping -- it felt firm and didn't bounce, just like a car with good tube-type shocks. The streets are too cruddy to test-drive it yet, but I'm confident that the problem is solved. I'll be interested to see how long they continue to perform.
I'm sure there are advantages to converting to tube shocks, but refilling the originals didn't seem too difficult.
posted by 68.227.170...
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
