83' Hurst Air Shocks?

[KiaTia]

Well I am finally getting my car back on the road and was wanting to replace the rear air shocks. I purchased the AC Delco models on Rock Auto but they are a different design they are missing the boot and the air delivery has different routing. Does anyone have a source for the correct replacements?

Thanks

 

[69hurstolds]

Long gone from GM. They didn't even offer the production units as a kit, either, so even if you find them, you have to buy everything separate.

You would be searching for 22046433 and 22046434 for the shocks. Monroe Max Air shocks LOOK more like the factory Delco ones, but the connector as you say, is different.

You can get new tiny o-rings for the factory plastic tubes from the aftermarket. Can't recall the size, but I've done this repair before. This is the main culprit of leaks. They're tiny, dry out and don't make good seal.

It's recommended minimum of 25 psi in the shocks with a max of 90 for the factory units. Don't run them flat for too long.

On your 83, they were OPTIONAL. 84 H/O and 85-87 442 the air shocks were standard equipment. If I had to do it all again, and not worry about originality, I'd put some HD shocks back there and call it a day.

 

[Supercharged111]

Factory air shocks? How period correct is that! I never knew.

 

[KiaTia]

Long gone from GM. They didn't even offer the production units as a kit, either, so even if you find them, you have to buy everything separate.

You would be searching for 22046433 and 22046434 for the shocks. Monroe Max Air shocks LOOK more like the factory Delco ones, but the connector as you say, is different.

You can get new tiny o-rings for the factory plastic tubes from the aftermarket. Can't recall the size, but I've done this repair before. This is the main culprit of leaks. They're tiny, dry out and don't make good seal.

It's recommended minimum of 25 psi in the shocks with a max of 90 for the factory units. Don't run them flat for too long.

On your 83, they were OPTIONAL. 84 H/O and 85-87 442 the air shocks were standard equipment. If I had to do it all again, and not worry about originality, I'd put some HD shocks back there and call it a day.

Thanks for all of the great information. I don't think mine are leaking so I may just leave them alone.

 

[Maryland G-man]

Thanks for all of the great information. I don't think mine are leaking so I may just leave them alone.

Rock Auto is indicating that the Monroe MA789 is an air shock for the 1984 Hurst/Olds. Do we think that this shock has a connector that will not mate with the existing air tubes?

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=61809&cc=1219250&pt=7556&jsn=6378

Rock Auto also sells the Air Tube kit for the shocks, but it is AC Delco, not Monroe, so I guess this would not help with connector and shock compatibility.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=4742229&cc=1219250&pt=10646&jsn=6382

 

[69hurstolds]

The new stuff is NOT like the old stuff. The newer shocks WILL NOT work with the original air tubing.

If you need the factory style tubing, GM sold a long piece of it with the correct molded ends on it for the factory shocks and o-rings/boots/clips.

GM p/n 10005354 for the tubing. 2 needed per car if you can find them. They can be shortened by cutting out the middle section and splicing them together with the union assembly- 1 piece of GM Union, p/n 10005238 and 2 nuts for it, GM p/n 3176207. I usually just tape up and keep the extra length coiled up and tucked up in the frame out of the way. I have some union kits, but that's just more friggin' work.

 

[Maryland G-man]

The new stuff is NOT like the old stuff. The newer shocks WILL NOT work with the original air tubing.

If you need the factory style tubing, GM sold a long piece of it with the correct molded ends on it for the factory shocks and o-rings/boots/clips.

GM p/n 10005354 for the tubing. 2 needed per car if you can find them. They can be shortened by cutting out the middle section and splicing them together with the union assembly- 1 piece of GM Union, p/n 10005238 and 2 nuts for it, GM p/n 3176207. I usually just tape up and keep the extra length coiled up and tucked up in the frame out of the way. I have some union kits, but that's just more friggin' work.

Sorry to belabor this topic here. What about this AC Delco air shock kit, available from Summit Racing:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ado-504-564

It is a pair of AC Delco shocks, with the air tubing. Looks like they are referencing a GM Part Number 88946654, with the Summit Part Number ADO-504-564.

Summit's "Check Fitment" feature shows it fitting the 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass with Engine Code "9", the H/O of course.

Are you confident this will NOT work on the '84 H/O?

 

[69hurstolds]

Sorry to belabor this topic here. What about this AC Delco air shock kit, available from Summit Racing:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ado-504-564

It is a pair of AC Delco shocks, with the air tubing. Looks like they are referencing a GM Part Number 88946654, with the Summit Part Number ADO-504-564.

Summit's "Check Fitment" feature shows it fitting the 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass with Engine Code "9", the H/O of course.

Are you confident this will NOT work on the '84 H/O?

The kit will likely fit and function, but you have to use the entire kit and totally abandon everything that came with the car from the factory. The connection points for the air lines are different than the original configuration, all the way from the valve to the shocks. The originals used ONE line from the valve to the driver shock, and a second nub ran a line from the driver shock across to the passenger shock. The connectors were all the same in the factory system, with those tiny little o-rings. Kind of a bad design, but cheap enough for GM I guess.

 

[Maryland G-man]

If anyone is interested, I just installed these new AC Delco air shocks. Everything 69hurstolds stated is 100% correct. I had two choices:

1. Keep nearly 4 decade old, 60,000 mile AC Delco shocks on the car

2. Refresh the pair of rear shocks with brand new ones, that forced re-doing all of the pneumatics.

I went with (2.). The installation was rather straightforward. I had to get a little "creative" in routing the excess pneumatic lines. I used the original factory metal clips that secured the factory lines.

Note that the fill valve has a little sticker that advised of a 25 PSI minimum, 200 PSI maximum pressure. I filled to 100 PSI.