Rear bumper support length?

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fly_25

Greasemonkey
Oct 20, 2020
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My rear bumper supports have different lengths, does anyone know the proper length? One measures 4 1/8" and the other 3 3/4"
 

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oldsmobile joe

Royal Smart Person
Nov 12, 2015
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help us help you. not all gbody rear bumper shocks are the same length. what gbody model do you have?
 
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403Olds

G-Body Guru
May 31, 2014
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I had one of mine that was collapsed from a tap. I was able to put it in a vise and wiggle it back out to the original length.
 
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fly_25

Greasemonkey
Oct 20, 2020
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help us help you. not all gbody rear bumper shocks are the same length. what gbody model do you have?
Oh for real? It's an 85 cutlass supreme. One of them looks like it has been collapsed and reset into position already but the shorter one is just too rusty to tell
 
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69hurstolds

Geezer
Supporting Member
Jan 2, 2006
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Looks like both of them took a little tap at one point or another.

If I get to the shop today, I'll measure an NOS one and see.
 
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69hurstolds

Geezer
Supporting Member
Jan 2, 2006
8,090
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You won't like this. The measurements you got are both short. By a good amount.

The 22016700 rear absorber, new, clocks in at 4-5/8" measured to the bumper face to the frame face, just like you measured yours in the pic.

In contrast, and just for the heckuvit, I measured a new Cutlass front absorber 22016704, and it clocks in at 6-1/8" same measurement points. Point is, I got a feeling these will be a hair variable, as they put shims in there to adjust the bumper out as needed. But you need to be about 4.5" on the rears and 6" thereabouts on the fronts.

Unfortunately, there's no "spec" that I can find on them other than compressing them 3/8" of an inch and if they return to normal, fine. If not, replace.

Under the GM guidelines, yours would need replacing. BUT, the problem is, where you going to find them? Not at GM anymore, and hard as heck to find them.

Anyway, there's your measurements. There's an orifice rod in there that controls how much fluid gets transferred to the outer side of the unit's piston and how fast it travels through the orifice when there is a collision. It's possible you can slowly force the piston/cylinder apart to 4.5" -ish and re-use it. If it won't go to at least 4.5", I'd probably try to think of something different.

SLIGHT dampness around the seals or crimp seals in back, etc., isn't considered a big deal. Constant dripping is.

79-85 E and 82-85 K body (Eldorado and Seville) Cadillac rear uses the 700, as does the buick G-body 2-door and Olds G-body 2-door and wagon 78-88. Buick and Olds interchange with the fronts (704) too. 78-81 Malibu wagon uses the 700s in the rear as well.

Good luck.
 
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fly_25

Greasemonkey
Oct 20, 2020
136
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Wow this is a lot of great information, thank you very much! I will try to work them out with some tools and try to beat them back into shape. They have definitely seen better days
 
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