The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk single or double action shocks?

How do I tell on my 49 3600 chevy if I have single action or dual action shocks? Im trying to locate replacement bushings and bolts as my shocks have no bushings left in them at all on any of the four shocks.

Thanks

Seems like 49 had lever action shocks. Either way you disconect the link or one end & push & pull. A single action will only give resistance in one direction whereas a dual action will have resistance in both directions.

Yeah it does have lever action type shocks. I will try unhooking a link and vhecking as you said thanks for the info it was what I was looking foor.

My '49 3100 has single-action shocks. I'd bet a dollar yours are the same. I looked long and hard for new bushings when I rebuilt my shocks and couldn't find anything. I ended up purchasing some copper tubing from a local hardware store and cutting it to fit. It's not original, but it's the right size and it works. I figured it was better than nothing. I coated the interior of the tube with grease before I assembled it.

Just pulled the shocks off my '49 3100 and to me they are single action. I mounted one in a vise with the arm horizontal as it would be installed. I have resistance pushing down but they spring back to horizontal without any work on my part.
One had a lot of resistance and one was much weaker which makes me think that it needs fluid. The body also showed signs of fluid having been on there at one time.

I have dual-actions on my 49 3/4T. They appear different to the single-actions I have seen in catalogues, in that there is a cylinder extending on each side of the lever attach point. The ones in the catalogue seem to only have a cylinder on one side. I have the impression that singles were standard on 1/2tons, and the duals were on the 3/4tons.