Several people wanted to know the results of my putting air shocks on
the rear of my spitfire. I went with Gabriel shocks, they were 29.99
each, plus 7.99 for the air hose kit. Each shock is separately
adjustable.
It was a pain to do this. Ran into many problems. Even had to remove
the anti sway bar, the starter, the battery, and one of my front
speakers.
Just seeing if you're paying attention.
Actually, it was fairly easy, had to remove the rubber on the new
shocks, put the rubber from the old shocks on it. Had to spread the
upper clamp where it attaches a little, and found it went in much easier
if I put some liquid soap on the rubber first. Other than that, there
was no unexpected problems, even found 1/4 inch holes already drilled in
the trunk, where I could put the other end of the air hoses.
And, I found out why my spitfire was sitting so slanted. Must have had
a bad rear shock, even though they weren't that old. When I was done,
had about 50 pounds of pressure in each shock, put the car down, ran it
a little to reseat the tires and wheels correctly, and lo and behold, my
car no longer sits with a 2 inch slant on both the front and the back.
My tires even sit fairly perpendicular to the road, instead of the
slant, so I got more rubber on the road, and they will last longer.
I is one happy camper.
Brad richardson
Portland, Oregon
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