DPS.01 Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 (edited) New to the forum… apologize ahead of time if this is not in the correct place. 1989 Reatta in need of rear shocks. From what I have found, these are no longer available new. The rear shocks for the Reatta (and the air assist version for Eldorado/Seville/Riveria/Toronado) come up either obsolete or unavailable. I am intrigued after reading the post about rear coil overs, but I am not sure that project ever went to completion. Before I fabricate a lower shock mount, and come up with a suitable length shock, I was looking for advice / see what others have done. Thanks. Edited February 24, 2022 by DPS.01 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon L Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 Welcome to the forum. Are you just trying to replace the shocks, or lower the car? I have a set of air shocks new, but the shipping would astronomical. I don't believe anyone has lowered their car, except me. Let me know what you are trying to accomplish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 920-540-6393 is my phone number or lemke1044@aol.com Thanks, Daves89 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS.01 Posted February 24, 2022 Topic Author Share Posted February 24, 2022 @jon L Right now the car needs shocks. If I am going the route of fabricating a lower mount, I certainly want to investigate the coil over option. Was not initially looking to lower it, but while I am doing the mount, it may make sense to allow for coil overs as well.. budget permitting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon L Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 Good luck. I tried that, but I found too many problems. also trying to find coilovers and spring combs is difficult and VERY expensive. I have set of mounts that I made up, but after I saw the prices and the spring combs, I decided to hold up on that project. I found another way to lower the rear and not change the shocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 Hi Jon. It looks like there is a supply of front struts but not rear struts. Is there a way one could use a different strut [or shock] to keep our cars on the road? As you know I use my Reattas daily for work [and pleasure]. If there was a different way to mount a strut I would be interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS.01 Posted February 24, 2022 Topic Author Share Posted February 24, 2022 @jon L Thanks for the input. It is appreciated. My plan will be to come up with a new lower shock mount that will accept a “universal” type gas charged shock with the correct amount of travel. I also spoke with the folks @ Monroe. They did validate that these parts are obsolete and are no longer in production / available. I would be suspicious of anything still on eBay as well. Any that I ordered were subsequently cancelled in a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 11 minutes ago, DPS.01 said: My plan will be to come up with a new lower shock mount that will accept a “universal” type gas charged shock with the correct amount of travel. Although the rear suspension has a component that looks like a shock, it is actually a strut in the fact that it is designed to play an important role in keeping the rear wheel in alignment. It is basically what controls the camber of the rear wheel as it goes up and down. When you remove the strut, the knuckle will just flop over as shown in the photo below. I have the wooden blocks under the knuckle to prevent it from pivoting out too far out and putting a strain on the cables and hose attached to it. The strut has a larger diameter rod than a regular shock that is rigid enough to keep the knuckle in alignment when the wheel is on the ground. I don't know if it would be as simple as just fabricating a new shock mount to accept a gas shock. I think a gas shock would have a smaller diameter rod that might flex or bend when hitting a large pot hole or bump in the road. It's not too hard to bottom out the suspension on a Reatta in those situations resulting in even more stress on the rod. It will be interesting to see what you come up with. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2seater Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 It has been a long time since I saw reference to cartridge style strut conversions. In simplified form, it involved cutting the outer strut body that contains the oil and moving parts, stripping the inside of said strut body and then installing a drop in cartridge. Maybe something to investigate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 In my conversation with the technical people at Gabriel they said that while the strut is discontinued they could find another in inventory that would match the specs [length of the tube and rod, and diameter] it is the bracket that makes it hard. I asked about doing an aftermarket weld, and the guys comment was that it would be a crap shoot as the person welding might burn through the case welding the mounts on. And they don't have the mounts so it would be up to us to fabricate the mount. My idea is to take them up on their offer to match the specs on the strut and then make a bracket with a screw down clamp that could come close to pinching the mounting bracket to the tube to stop the mounting bracket from moving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 Mounting bracket for the sway bar? Is that what would need to be added? If so that should be pretty easy to fabricate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS.01 Posted February 24, 2022 Topic Author Share Posted February 24, 2022 @DAVES89 It would be great to use the correct strut for the application (minus the sway link attachment). Attachment for the link should be simple enough all things considered. I would purchase a set or two if we can get a part number from Gabriel. @Ronnie Appreciate the detailed information. Hopefully DAVES89 conversation with Gabriel can come up with something. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 Dead end. guy was not helpful. he claimed that Gabriel never made a strut for the Reatta and last made a batch for the Riv in 2003. And that the Riv and Reatta were not the same platform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 51 minutes ago, DAVES89 said: Dead end. guy was not helpful. he claimed that Gabriel never made a strut for the Reatta and last made a batch for the Riv in 2003. And that the Riv and Reatta were not the same platform. Have you tried to get hold of someone at Monroe to see if they might be able to help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 Will try tomorrow. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 Just got off the phone with Dan at Monroe. As we know the rear struts are discontinued. However I asked if there he could check with the engineering department to see if there was another strut out there with the approximately same specifications [tube diameter and length, rod diameter, length and strut resistance]. I explained that having the mounting ears was not important as we could fabricate that because the ears sole function is to hold the sway bar in place. Here is the rub, we have to depend on him doing the work, there is no way I can talk to engineering or can I call back and ask to speak to Dan. We get to speak to whomever picks up the phone, there is no transferring calls at the help desk. He did take my contact information so that might be a plus. So we get to wait... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS.01 Posted February 25, 2022 Topic Author Share Posted February 25, 2022 I did some digging into the wee hours last night. I came up with the following part that is a B8 body style, but the mount for the sway link is different. The dimensions (in inches) are a bit off though: OEM: Body Style: B8 Body: 14.24 Compressed: 15 Extended: 23 Travel: 7 Potential Replacement: Body Style: B8 Body: 12.88 Compressed: 13.38 Extended: 20.25 Travel: 6.88 At this point, I am most concerned with the Extended Length and potential “topping out” of the strut. I am going to order one to see how it looks and take some other measurements such as piston diameter and upper rod connection length. It may be possible to use a small spacer between the upper strut tower and the top of the smaller strut to make up for some of the 1.75” of extended length as seen by the strut when installed? Thoughts / Concerns / Comments? Cannot believe struts are keeping me up nights… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS.01 Posted February 25, 2022 Topic Author Share Posted February 25, 2022 ….strut resistance is another wildcard.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 What about the diameter of the body and rod? The OEM strut has some unique features on the body that keeps it in place. I wonder if the replacement has the same? One important thing is the body diameter to keep the same clamping force on the body by the bracket on the knuckle the body slides into. There is also a tab and a depression on the bottom of the body for alignment and to keep it from sliding through the clamp. I imagine the strut puts a lot of force on the clamp when you hit a large bump. There is hardly room to even get a wrench in the space at the top strut mount so any modifications up there is going to be a problem. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 wow Ronnie, now that I see a strut close up it doesn't look like we can fabricate something easily. We can still wait and see what the guy from Monroe can do for us. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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