Q:
My ’76 Cadillac Eldorado was hit in the rear, and while the bumper wasn’t damaged, it compressed a fair amount. I need to know how to get the ‘shock absorbers’ to extend back out. Can you help me?
Thompson Langley
Willmar, NC
A:
The ‘shock absorbers’ you’re describing were designed to minimize damage to the bumpers in minor collisions. It sounds like they’ve done their job!
Now that they’ve been compressed, they need to be replaced. You’ll have to chase down some replacement units now, and that may be challenging.
Most ’70s era GM cars used similar bumper shock absorbers, so if you can find cars of the same vintage in salvage yards, you may be in luck. We’d recommend removing your original units for comparison before you buy replacements.
Mark Simpson
Managing Editor
I have drilled a pair of holes one in the body and one in the shaft. The shaft got a stem from an air valve, the body hole got a grease zerk. The grease zerk was placed near the edge of the body. Pump in a lot of grease to help seal the body and air up the shaft. The shock should pop out. I refill the air and grease about once a year.
You should be able to pull them back out. Chances are they are stuck due to dirt and rust build up. May have to get a little forceful but It should stay out. This happened on my 1977 Buick Regal, pulled it back out with a ratchet come-along.
I agee that they should be replaced, but years ago I pushed the bumper in on my dads car, a gm with the same system, I gentle hooked a chain to the bumper and did pull it back into it’s stock location, and I also read in a magazine years back that they, the cylinders, can be drilled to allow the gas to escape and pulled back into shape, although doing that would compromise what the cylinder is designed to do
I have an 87 Buick Electra Estate and the bumper was hit and the shock compressed. I took a hammer and drove the shock out to the original length and you can’t tell the car was hit.