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Original Air Shocks?


ripleydale

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I was talking to some guys at the western meet who have seen their share of SS cars and they all suggested there was a splitter at the back for the air shock lines. When I pulled apart my 71 I found some very old shocks but the split was in one of the shocks. I reached out to the original owner and he said he never replaced the shocks (45K mile car) but oddly enough remembered a splitter somewhere. The shocks actually have what to me resembles a GM part number, but couldn't find it when I searched on Google. The single fitting shock has 3186384 and the double fitting has 3186385. Has anyone else encountered these shocks when pulling apart an SS? For those who think it had a splitter somewhere at the back, can you show me a picture since I'll be restoring mine with single fitting shocks. 

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Hey Kelly, My original shocks looked identical to those in every way but one hole in each. Now the 72 W code El Camino had Factory air ride BUT had those exact shocks in the rear now I see them. they filled off 1 inlet when the tailgate was down it was off to the right side in the pan with a tag that said do not fill more than 40lbs.

In the picture if you look close above the diff in my 71 SS you can see the load leveller trigger hooked up to the right upper arm. the leveller has two white lines, one for the left shock and one going to the right shock both seperate. What cant be seen but has the single brass port off the front and thats where the single black line feed would go from the pump up front.

hope that helps.....?

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Darren

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Darren from what I've read most if not all el Camino had factory air ride That's where I got my shock protectors from for my 70 right off the rear end in our el Camino.

 

Hello Mr King, hows things Rob ? Yes they all had air shocks for sure, in Kelly's Monte he had what appears to be Air Shocks from an El Camino from my guess as the one side had the double tube holes like my elky did. But........ my 71ss like Kellys monte had only one tube hole in each and ran off the air ride load leveller. it just seemed odd that Kelly's has what appears to be elky shocks ?

any input Rob ? did your elky have the two tube line in one shock ?

 

Darren

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Hello Mr King, hows things Rob ? Yes they all had air shocks for sure, in Kelly's Monte he had what appears to be Air Shocks from an El Camino from my guess as the one side had the double tube holes like my elky did. But........ my 71ss like Kellys monte had only one tube hole in each and ran off the air ride load leveller. it just seemed odd that Kelly's has what appears to be elky shocks ?

any input Rob ? did your elky have the two tube line in one shock ?

 

Darren

Darren on ours it had factory metal lines going to each shock location and used a metal or even a brass T at the rear to supply the air. By the time we got the car/truck some one had replace the the original air shocks with regular shocks. We did put air shocks back on it but ran the plastic air line with each having their own filler. And things are good still trying to sale items can't have all the toys any more. Now for Kelly's maybe the plant didn't have the correct shocks on hand and grab the ones that is on his Monte just a thought I mean we are talking about the 70's where different car items could be found as a swap part.

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What are guys that are restoring these cars using for replacements ?? Suppliers??  My car has had them replaced with yellow shocks (brand unknown) with a fill valve near the rear bumper. I'm going to restore the air lift system...

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Hi Paul, I lucked out on my 71SS. When I bought it From Ken who was part of the Eastern Meet guys two years ago. He had tons of NOS Parts that he threw in with the sale of the car he had bought back in 1978 and 1979 from GM before they became NLA (No Longer Available).

In One Brown colored box were two NOS Red Air Shocks from AC Delco with the GM sticker on the box and also a separate Blue and white box with the Comfort Ride complete Air line kit also GM sticker and NOS.  I did end up buying 1 more Pair of Black NOS Air Ride shocks from a member on here same deal with decals from GM on Boxes etc.... Red ones are on the 71 now to match the red on the front and the spare Black ones I will keep as spares.

lots repop them inc AC Delco but they have changed a lot in appearance from yesteryear.

 

Darren

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Monroe makes some that are similar, about $80 a pair. Mine came black, but I repainted them gray, like I believe some of the originals I've seen were.

 

I have some by AC Delco that don't look as much like the originals as Monroes do. They have a steel sleeve over the rubber bladder and the fittings are aimed down, 90 degrees from original. Also, the Monroes are made in USA, the Delcos are from Mexico.

 

Dan

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Went and found my valve and some pictures from the deconstruction. Thanks for the photos Darren and Dan. I'd like a better picture of Dan's where it splits in two. Almost looks like two ports. At least I can see how I can do mine now. What is the little black rubber hose hanging down off the valve?

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You can just see that in my picture as well Kelly, It's a purge or bleeder valve lets any condensation in the system or lines to bleed out and down the tube like the overflow from radiator. Usually when no longer under load and the system bleeds out thats where the condensation comes out.

 

Darren

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Here you go. The original valve fittings are a little different from the new replacement valve. I was able to use the original tee, though. I did the plumbing on the valve and the shocks today. Since the inlets of the shocks are near the tailpipes, I turned the shocks 180 degrees to keep the air tubing from getting hot. The original shocks had the inlets facing rearward a little to stay away from the tailpipes, and the new shocks aren't that way. The inlets on mine are facing the frame.

 

I pressurized the system this evening and the valve works great. When I lower the valve actuating lever to simulate removing weight from the rear of the car, after a short delay that's built into the valve, the valve released air to lower the car. The air comes out the rubber hose. The hose is connected to a check valve that keeps dirt and moisture out of the valve on the original valves, but the new valve doesn't have a check valve.

 

Dan

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  • 1 month later...

Another air ride compressor question, does the vacuum line from the engine push air to the compressor or suck air from the compressor? It sounds like a dumb question but I pumped air pressure to the manual valve and the rear valve and shocks seem to work fine. I the tried to pump air into the compressor and it seems to come out the vent or overflow. I'm not sure how to make sure the compressor isn't leaking. Any help would be great. Thanks

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The GM tech books state to testityou should first use the fast fill valve and put in 100 lbs of air then use a vacuum source and it should pump up to about 120 lbs. I test my rebuilds of the car.with no compressed air. I have a guage I put on the output side and vacuum pump on the inlet. If working properly you will hear a sort of tick, tick sound back and forth over and over. A steady no tick means it's not working. Also to test the tank etc for leaks you pressurize the unit and have a vacuum hose attached from the inlet filter connection to the vacuum inlet fitting both tight fit, and submerge the whole unit in a bucket of water, look for any bubbles of course.

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Also note these units even when working properly are very very slow to pump up to full pressure, that's why GM suggest to air air from an outside source to cut down on pump up time.

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