Yes, 1949 had knee action shocks. 1950 was the first year for tube shocks.
Take the rear brake drum off (its easier) to see if you have Huck brakes or Bendix brakes. Do you have a shop manual? If not, get one on ebay for about $20. You'll see the difference in the brake styles immediately.
If you're used to working on drum brakes, the Huck brakes don't look like anything you've seen before. Here's a picture of my front Huck Brake
1950 Chevrolet 3100 (Ol' Roy)
1939 Packard Standard Eight Coupe (The Phantom) | 1956 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (The Bismarck) | 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 coupe |1966 Ford Mustang (Little Red) | 1969 Pontiac GTO (The Dishpit) I 1979 Ford F-100 | 1976 Ford F-150 (Big Red) | 1995 Ford F-150 (Newt)
