VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 1938 Master Shock Absorbers

I just replaced the tube shocks on the front of my 38 Master using Monroe 32207 shocks. In case anyone has this rare Canadian setup, those shocks are a perfect fit. What a difference it made in the ride etc. I now will replace the rear ones with I think the same type of shock. My rear shocks appear to have a pipe plug with a square head, in the lower body. I am wondering if they are an old style that could be refilled.

Are the rears tube?
Were the original fronts tube?

Good to know the gas charged shocks work well.
Can you post pictures of the rears eventually as they might be the original rebuildable Delco units.

Gene, he has tubes on all four corners like mine.

Does your car have the front sway bar too or was it just a Pontiac "feature"?

So my 38 Master has tube shocks at all four corners, from the factory. I will try and get some pics in the next few days.

looking forward to these pictures. I would like to switch mine over to tube shocks

Here is a photo of the front shock mounting.

Here are three photos showing the mounting of a rear shock on my 38 Master. I believe it is an original type shock which can be disassembled for rebuilding.

Here are some pictures of my front mounts as they are essentially the same as Freds but some different angles. I have a factory sway bar. These are Canadian 1938 as well.

Attached are some pictures of my Rear Mounts for 1938 Canadian Coupe. Same as Freds mounts but some different angles except these have a small skid plate on the front to protect the shock.

It's so nice to be able to post pictures now! I hope you don't mind Fred but I figured the more Canadian pictures together the better so people can see these shock mounts really exist.

It is really nice to be able to post photos. Your frame off pictures show a lot more than mine. It would be interesting to know if the mounting points in the frame are the same as that for the "conventional" shocks, as GM called them.

I have some info from a guy that converted 1937 Coupe original rear shocks to his own fabricated version based on my pictures. He was able to use some existing holes.

Good to see the pictures.
Looks like Old216 has original shocks on his since based on the small square plug visible at the bottom which was used for refilling hydraulic fluid.
It appears that the rear shocks on CanadianTim's car have been replaced but his car still has the original stone shields which are missing on Old 216's car.

The 1939 shop manual has instructions for refilling the tube shocks used on front leaf spring models.
The modern tube shocks are throw-aways and if they leak and require refilling they are disposed of..

I thought maybe my shocks were OK. Then the other day i read a comment of Gene's about how they stop the bouncing. I thought mine bounces a bit and maybe that is because of the shocks. I put the new ones on the front and it made it more stable, gave a firmer ride and stopped the nosediving when braking! I know that the back originals are shot.

I remember years ago they sold adjustable shocks. I think you would compress them and turn the two halves and they would click from setting to setting.

I have the conversion kit for my 38 to add tube shocks on front end. Once I'm done with replacing my broken axle, i will work on the front end. Good topic
Michael
38 Town Sedan

Your profile and in previous posts says you have a 1938 Master DeLuxe. That model has the enclosed knee-action. There is no way to mount external shocks and it does have shock absorbers built in to the knee-action units that work well as long as the units are filled.

In an earlier discussion, it was determined the prior owner or owners removed the original suspension and installed a leaf spring setup, you said they made a kit at sometime and folks occasionally did that for lower maintenance costs. I have the kit to install tube shocks, but caught up i cleaning and painting undercarriage. My 38 came from Texas so I keep finding these mud insect nests that have been long vacated.

Front suspension U bolt size? Are the stock leaf spring u bolts a standard size as I need longer u bolts for the tube shock installation?
Thank you
Michael
38 Town Sedan

When I bought U bolts for my 38 master, I bought them from a Classic truck parts supplier. I bought bolts for a 38 Chev half ton. I had to cut some off the length. If you removed one and took it to a spring service place, they could probably match them up.

Most any spring shop that rebuilds/builds springs make up their u-bolts to the size needed. They will need to know the thread size-distance between centers of the legs and top style (round or square). Try a truck and trailer spring shop.

I had some problems with the inside radius of the U bolts not fitting into the perch. My existing bolts had a tight square corner on the inside of the bends whereas the replacements had a round radius.

Thank you gents for the advice, I will probably into all of your suggestions. My current u bolts are slightly square on the top. Keep you all posted, my temp fix is working well, stock shocks are not rattling around and I’m getting no crazy vibrations when I hit a some bad surfaces

upon installing some temporary grommets, i found the car feels better as though the shocks are working. I realized i have the same shocks in the rear and the bushings are in the same poor condition. I realized i can simply order replacement bushing made for my car so I did until I install tube shocks if ever. If i were to service my shocks, what to i put in them? I see they have a filler type removal bolt.
Thanks you
Michael
PS. I'm trying to really get busy on my 38 so I can drive her with confidence so the thank you all for your help and expertise.