Bumper shock aborbers

J

john r. lebetski

New member
Dec 20, 2006
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Oil filled and "I think" gas charged. No evidence of oil leaks is first criteria. Not a one time use device! They were supposed to absorb and rebound
in impacts up to 5 MPH per government mandate. All GM cars starting 73 front (unless they could survive 5 MPH by other means) and then later added
to rears.
--
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II
 
You could compare weights in case oil has left so long ago there is no evidence of leaking any more.
--
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II
 
Squeeze 'em in a vise and see if they rebound ??
--
Steve W
1973 : 23'
Southern California
 
I suspect a 5 MPH collision would turn the front bumper into a pretzel regardless of the condition of the bumper shocks. In my opinion, they are next
to useless. In fact I think the later coached did away with them.

--
Carl Stouffer
'75 ex Palm Beach
Tucson, AZ.
Chuck Aulgur Reaction Arm Disc Brakes, Quadrabags, 3.70 LSD final drive, Lenzi knuckles/hubs, Dodge Truck 16" X 8" front wheels, Rear American Eagles,
Solar battery charging. GMCSJ and GMCMI member
 
My 78 does not have bumper shocks

Len and Pat Novak
1978 GMC Kingsley
The Beast II with dash lights that work and labels you can see!
Fallbrook, CA new email: B52Rule
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/showgallery.php?cat=4375

www.bdub.net/novak/

-----Original Message-----
From: Gmclist [mailto:gmclist-bounces] On Behalf Of Carl
Stouffer via Gmclist
Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2020 4:47 PM
To: gmclist
Cc: Carl Stouffer
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Bumper shock aborbers

I suspect a 5 MPH collision would turn the front bumper into a pretzel
regardless of the condition of the bumper shocks. In my opinion, they are
next
to useless. In fact I think the later coached did away with them.

--
Carl Stouffer
'75 ex Palm Beach
Tucson, AZ.
Chuck Aulgur Reaction Arm Disc Brakes, Quadrabags, 3.70 LSD final drive,
Lenzi knuckles/hubs, Dodge Truck 16" X 8" front wheels, Rear American
Eagles,
Solar battery charging. GMCSJ and GMCMI member

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My 77 has them. The Feds had testing they had to pass. Was to stop nuisance insurance claims for parking lot taps below 5 MPH
--
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II
 
When I installed my Blaine hitch, the one bumper half was not parallel to the plate it was to bolt
to. Found the one bumper shock was in about an inch. So they don't apparently rebound as they are suppose to, at least not after 45 years.
--
Mike K.
'75 PB
Southeast Michigan
 
On the other hand, several years ago I replaced the front brake pads but
didn't reseat them for 10 days. When I backed out of the garage, the brake
pedal went to the floor -- then the rear left bumper stopped me at the 8"
diameter sweetgum tree. There's still a gash in the left rear "fender"
from the bumper flange -- but the shock absorber quickly restored the
bumper to its original position. There's also a slight depression in the
face of the bumper, but not worth a replacement.

I won't do that stupid trick again. I cut down the sweetgum tree.

Ken H.

On Sun, Mar 22, 2020 at 1:03 AM Mike via Gmclist
wrote:

> When I installed my Blaine hitch, the one bumper half was not parallel to
> the plate it was to bolt
> to. Found the one bumper shock was in about an inch. So they don't
> apparently rebound as they are suppose to, at least not after 45 years.
> --
> Mike K.
> '75 PB
> Southeast Michigan
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
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>
 
My 1978 does not have them, but it’s a Transmode. It’s my understanding that Transmodes had the bumper brackets and the GM built coaches had the bumpers. Can anyone shed more light on that?

> My 77 has them. The Feds had testing they had to pass. Was to stop nuisance insurance claims for parking lot taps below 5 MPH
> --
> John Lebetski
> Woodstock, IL
> 77 Eleganza II
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
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Since my '76 X-Birchaven (a Transmode) does have the shock absorbers, I
suspect all '76's had them. But that's only a WAG.

Ken H.

On Sun, Mar 22, 2020 at 9:06 AM Dave Stragand via Gmclist <

> My 1978 does not have them, but it’s a Transmode. It’s my understanding
> that Transmodes had the bumper brackets and the GM built coaches had the
> bumpers. Can anyone shed more light on that?
>
> >> On Mar 21, 2020, at 8:14 PM, John R. Lebetski via Gmclist <

> > My 77 has them. The Feds had testing they had to pass. Was to stop
> nuisance insurance claims for parking lot taps below 5 MPH
> > --
> > John Lebetski
> > Woodstock, IL
> > 77 Eleganza II
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > GMCnet mailing list
> > Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> > http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
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My pure guess. So far comments indicate 78 dd not have absorbers. Maybe true or not but they did up the GVW in 78 which may have exempted the
Passenger Car classification and moved them into 5MPH exempted truck class. ????
--
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II
 
My 78 Coachmen Royale has the non-absorb X style
--
1975 Glenbrook, 1978 Royale rear bath
Raleigh, NC
 
I thought the GMC's with the 403's had the new X style instead of the shock absorber bumper mount.
--
Scott Nutter
1978 Royale Center Kitchen, Patterson 455, switch pitch tranny, 3.21 final drive, Quad bags, tankless water heater, everything Lenzi. Alex Ferrera
installed MSD Atomic EFI
Houston, Texas
 
Well, that blows my 403 theory out of the water! I guess the common denominator is the year. 1978.
Scott.
--
Scott Nutter
1978 Royale Center Kitchen, Patterson 455, switch pitch tranny, 3.21 final drive, Quad bags, tankless water heater, everything Lenzi. Alex Ferrera
installed MSD Atomic EFI
Houston, Texas
 
The 2 1977 Birchavens with 455s we have has the piston style. The 1978 with 403 has the X type.
--
C. Boyd
76 Crestmont
East Tennessee
 
Look on the GVW tag. The last 26 ft. coaches built in 76-77-78 by Coachman.
Jimmy Industries, that had the higher GVW rating were technically TRUCKS.
They were exempt from the 5 mph bumper b.s. The 23 ft Birchhavens were
lighter, and had to meet that requirement. Get into the 49 states options
vs the California Cafe requirements on emission controls. A real tangle as
well. They can be I.D.ed by the TWO charcoal canisters vs 1 for the 49
states versions. As with ALL THINGS GMC, there are exceptions especially on
C.O.P.O. builds. (SPECIAL ORDERS).
Jim Hupy
Salem, Oregon

On Tue, Mar 24, 2020, 12:50 PM Charles Boyd via Gmclist <

> The 2 1977 Birchavens with 455s we have has the piston style. The 1978
> with 403 has the X type.
> --
> C. Boyd
> 76 Crestmont
> East Tennessee
>
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I think it was the 78 model year The one 1978 that I have here does not have them either.
--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
 
Both my 77s have them

Sully
Bellevue wa

On Tue, Mar 24, 2020 at 1:41 PM Ken Burton via Gmclist <

> I think it was the 78 model year The one 1978 that I have here does not
> have them either.
> --
> Ken Burton - N9KB
> 76 Palm Beach
> Hebron, Indiana
>
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It appears that the '78s did not have the compression mounts then.

I think the compression Cylinder has a compressible silicone fluid in it. Steve Ferguson drilled into the front ones on his coach, collapsed them,
and installed a bolt to keep them in place, in order to move the front bumper back. It looked good, and probably didn't make much of a difference in
case of a front end collision.

http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/2005-facelift/p10573.html
--
Carl Stouffer
'75 ex Palm Beach
Tucson, AZ.
Chuck Aulgur Reaction Arm Disc Brakes, Quadrabags, 3.70 LSD final drive, Lenzi knuckles/hubs, Dodge Truck 16" X 8" front wheels, Rear American Eagles,
Solar battery charging. GMCSJ and GMCMI member
 
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