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76 Eldorado shocks replacement

Started by 7gen, November 11, 2016, 08:16:02 PM

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7gen

I'm going to replace one of my rear shocks. Looks straightforward in the shop manual. I have two probably stupid questions:

1) I need to lift the car so that the axle and frame are supported. Does this mean putting it on a lift or is there some way of doing this in my driveway with a floor jack and jack stands? Maybe I need four jack stands?

2) The manual talks about making a tool - a wrench bent at 45 degrees at the end. Is it possible to use a swivel socket and not bend a wrench?

Thanks!

The Tassie Devil(le)

I use a trolley jack to jift the car by the centre of the rear axle tube, then put jackstands under the frame, then lower the jack, but stopping before the weight is taken off the jack, so the shocks aren't fully extended.

Simple hand tools are all that is required to remove the shocks.

Are you replacing them with the overload shocks?   Or just basic shocks?

Bruce. >:D

PS.   Sorry I cannot supply pictures of the job, as I seem to neglect to picture stuff that is just plain basic maintenance.
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

7gen

I'm going to replace the passenger side rear with an air shock. My Automatic Leveling System is kaput and I'm not sure that it is worth the trouble to get it functional again. 90% of the time, it is just me and the spousal unit bombing around on the weekend.

The car already has air shocks and separate fill valves in the license plate bracket. The right rear is leaking, though. The left can hold air the entire season but the right needs a fill after about 2 weeks.

In your method, weight is partly on the jackstands, partly on the floor jack? Or is all the weight on the floor jack and the car essentially hovering above or just touching the jack stands?

The Tassie Devil(le)

The weight of the car is fully on the jack stands, and the jack itself is maintaining the weight of the axle, just stopping the shocks from bottoming out, and making it hard to do up the bottom shocker bolt.

Bruce. >:D
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

7gen

Got it. Should be straightforward then. Thanks!!

TJ Hopland

Interesting that its got separate lines.     If it was mine I would replace both and plumb them together and see how the car sits.    If the car does not sit level I would take a peek at how the adjusters are set for the front torsion bars.    On my 75 I did find that someone had cranked up on one side for some reason.   What I ended up doing is swapping the rear springs left to right then adjusting the fronts to get things back to the correct height and level side to side. 
StPaul/Mpls, MN USA

73 Eldo convert w/FiTech EFI
80 Eldo Diesel
90 CDV
And other assorted stuff I keep buying for some reason

76eldo

Working under a car on jack stands can be very dangerous.
it's a big heavy car. Make sure you are on level ground and that the weight of the car is on the jack stands.  You need the heavy duty kind not the old tripod pressed steel ones.

Both rear shocks should be plumbed to a T fitting so that they are both filled and checked to be the same.

Shocks should also be replaced in pairs.

Brian Rachlin
Huntingdon Valley, Pa
I prefer email's not PM's rachlin@comcast.net

1960 62 Series Conv with Factory Tri Power
1970 DeVille Conv
1970 Eldo
1970 Caribu (?) "The Cadmino"
1973 Eldorado Conv Pace Car
1976 Eldorado Conv
1980 Eldorado H & E Conv
1993 Allante with Hardtop (X2)
2008 DTS
2012 CTS Coupe
2017 XT
1956 Thunderbird
1966 Olds Toronado

7gen

Well, separate lines wasn't a great idea but it was something that I did when I found the back end was saggy. It was originally plumbed for a shared line. I had the dim idea that if a shock was just a bit leaky, I could air up that one when I noticed the tilt in the back end and maybe avoid the sagging. It got worse, though, and now I need to do what I probably should have done in the first place. Lesson learned.

Doing the project also helped me figure out that I had to replace the rear springs, as the car had the originals and they were not up to the task anymore. I replaced them with the springs for Eldorado towing, which are a bit more heavy duty than the ones you get without the towing package back in the day. I don't know if it helped or not but this season, the bottom bolt on the left side rear shock parted ways with the frame and I hope that having at least one independent shock back there was a benefit to getting home safely.

Now that I've got it figured out, I plan to go back to one T'ed line so I can fill both shocks at the same time. I'll admit, it wasn't my brightest idea but it got me into a project I could do with my limited skills and got me more involved with my car.

When both shocks are aired up and set to the same pressure, the car sits level all three ways, so I think this should fix my issues with sagging.

The driver's side shock was replaced about 50 miles ago, so now I'm replacing the passenger side, which I now know I should have done with BOTH when I got the car in April.

The Tassie Devil(le)

I have the "T" junction in my rear shocks, but have always wanted to run separate filling points to stop the air from passing from side to side as one goes around corners.    It was worse when driving on the Left side of the road, and sitting on the left as well, and with the road cambering away to the left, It felt like I was about to scrape the left side on the road, and the right side wanted to lift up way too high.

I have been looking for a type of airline shut-off valve that I can place in one of the lines, so I can open the valve when filling or emptying the air bags, and then shut the valve to isolate each one.

One thing I did do to enhance the handling of my car was to install a rear sway bar, and this really did a lot to stop the overall swaying motion of the car when cornering. 

Not sure if Sway Bars are available, so I constructed my own.

Bruce.  >:D
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

Carl Fielding

Sure , keep your discrete air lines. For the reason Bruce mentions. Now the next time you have the need for the surgery you have just performed , consider an alternative. Keep your original springs , and place urethane air bags in the coils. Again , separate lines. You can run about 6 - 25 psi as needed. Treat yourself to the very best gas shocks you can find. Now , the load of a higher springrate is carried where it should be , and not on the shock mounts. While you are up , put gas shocks in front too.

And now that you have gas shocks , and proper rear springrate control : I don't know what tires you are running , but here comes the broken record again. Remarkably, absolutely stunningly remarkably, engineering has evolved vastly superior tires in the 40 years since your Cad hit the showroom floor ! Imagine that ! ( For perspective , think about tire advancements during the 40 years prior to '76.)  Yup , even has progressed significantly in half that time. Believe it or not , even just the last 10 years or less , has given us safer , noticeably better handling tires. Visit your favorite 2 or 3 tire stores. Have a discussion about the state of the art high pressure asymmetrical or directional tires available regardless of cost. Front wheel drive cars benefit the most from this technology. I am using 50 psi @ max load tires , and at highway speeds I carry 45 - 47 front , and low 30s rear , depending on load. The difference is astonishing. I even got over the lack of whitewalls. Actually looks "performance" , or "roadworthy". "Formidable". Hmmmmmmm......... , I guess it is. No shame.  -  Carl

The Tassie Devil(le)

One thing about these Eldorados, they were designed to be used with the Air Shocks, and therefore the strain on the mounting points is not a problem.

My ALC does work, but not as I think it should, and as soon as I can get it working properly, I will still try and locate an in'line isolating valve.   

Bruce. >:D
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

Scot Minesinger

On the special tool, just buy an inexpensive 1/2" wrench and bend it, that is way easier and makes quick work.  I tried swivel sockets and all that to no avail.

On the shocks, seems that they should be replaced in pairs, not just one, but not going into that here.

The instructions about providing a stop for the shock while car is already raised is because the shock is the limiter so that the back axle does not exceed a length of lower travel when car is on jack stands where the brake lines would rip or kink and etc.  Without the shock limiting lower length of travel, it would be bad.  You are just using another jack stand, block of wood or whatever to safely keep rear axel from lowering too far when shock is not installed during replacement work.  Plus when shock is removed, without stop, axel would drop and maybe cause injury.

This is an easy job with the bent 1/2" wrench and understanding of the shock purpose.
Fairfax Station, VA  22039 (Washington DC Sub)
1970 Cadillac DeVille Convertible
1970 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1970 four door Convertible w/Cadillac Warranty

7gen

Dropping an axle on my head is probably not a good idea. I'll get a cheapie wrench and bend it as suggested. I appreciate all the advice!!

TJ Hopland

Also be careful not to drop the wrench while its up there.   I seem to recall either loosing or finding a 1/2" wrench wedged between the frame and body in one of these cars. 
StPaul/Mpls, MN USA

73 Eldo convert w/FiTech EFI
80 Eldo Diesel
90 CDV
And other assorted stuff I keep buying for some reason