navvet

Hello everyone
Planning on replacing my shocks next spring on my 64 88. I was thinking of spring booster shocks for the rear and a good quality for the front. The front coil springs are not original @ 5 years old, rear coils are @ 15 years old. I know this by the copies of repair slips that came with the car. My reason for booster shocks for the rear is the simple fact the rear end sits about an inch and a half
below specs. I don't have the money for a full set of coil springs and shocks but can handle just shock replacement....Your thoughts

OLDZGUY

I put Gas-Charged Shocks on the FRONT and Air Shocks on the REAR of my 1963 Dynamic Holiday 88 HC. They are a great fix for the rear since they are adjustable. (and ride is perfect) I bought them a here> www.kanter.com

navvet

Thanks I was going to use coil over shocks on the rear, but many said not to as this is too much stress for the connection points. My car sits @ 2" low in the rear. I need to measure for sure. The manual says the car should stand at 10 1/2 " front and back. Did your car sit low in the rear? Also do the shocks come with pivot bolts,cap screws and washers or do I have to order them.
Thanks

OLDZGUY

The original shocks needed replacing. I've always used Rear Air Shocks from when these cars were new for cargo weight adjustment.
I've had several 60's Full Size Olds.
Since my rear Summer Meats are BFG
P275/60R15 on 15x8 Centerlines, there is little clearance and the Air Shocks keep the inner side of the fender from rubbing when crossing railroad tracks etc. Fronts are BFG P235/70R15 on 15x7 Centerlines.
Kanter has the complete Kit for installation. Check out their On-Line Catalog.
As far as your Shock Upper & Lower Bolts, Washers & Nuts, replace them since you are doing the job. (with correct parts of course)

navvet

Just curious...how much "play" do I have with air shocks ( 1inch 2 inch.........) The rear of my 88 sits @ 1 3/4 low.
Thanks

OLDZGUY

They require a minimum of 30PSI. Raising the rear 2 inches...or double, is no problem.
It also depends on how many bodies you have in the trunk.

navvet

Lets see at last count I had........in the trunk...do ashes count!!!

Rocket Richard

Not sure if you've replaced the front shocks on this kind of car before, but I replaced all the shocks on my 66 Dynamic recently. They were the originals. I'm guessing the front shocks I have are similar to what you have.

How in the heck do you guys get the top nut off of the front shocks? There's a small rectangular end on the top of the shock bolt/rod that's supposed to allow you to hold the rod from turning while you get the nut off. I managed to get a wrench on that rectangular end and try to turn the nut but it was a no go. In the end I jacked up the lower control arm a bit and squeezed in an angle grinder on that shock rod. ...ZIP! I had the shock off.

Not saying what I did was right, or safe for that matter, but it worked well and it was a huge relief to be able to remove the shock.

And about the air adjustable shocks... aren't you still making the shocks support some of the weight of the car when you add pressure to jack the car up? Maybe not an issue since some here have been using those kind of shocks that way for years. Just wanted to hear your comments.

-Rich

navvet

I am confident the springs are in good shape and are taking the brunt of the car weight. OLDZGUY has a long history with this type of car so I am going with the airshocks.

navvet

I wasn't 100% confident on the measurements I made regarding the current stance of my 64 88. I did measure correctly on the height of the rear of the car but measured the front in the wrong location. The front is sitting 2 1/2 inches to low. The records I have show the front springs as being only 5 or 6 years old. Will new shocks do anything for the height or do I have to replace the springs to get correct height