Front bumper shock?

[mwalsh]

My wife 'nudged' the garage wall with her front bumper and one of the shocks has pushed in. Does anyone have a good source for used ones? Are the shocks on the back the same as those on the front - plenty of those cheap on eBay? Can the shocks be pulled out again, even though they no longer have any functionality?

[Strife]

There is a LH and RH side, AND a F/R.

Beware, sometime around 1985, I think, the shocks were reduced in length and don't stick out as far as the earlier US models. I don't know what year you have. You can tell what you have by looking straight down over an (unmolested) bumper. IF you can see lots of concrete between the valence and bumper, you have a "long" set of shocks. If you see little or none, they are short. Personally, I think the short ones make the US bumpers much less offensive. But the earlier ones were made to the "5 MPH" bumper rules; the later ones may be made only to the 2.5 MPH bumper rules.

[sokoloff]

I'm parting out my '88 560SL. Maybe I can help.

Contact me at len@sokoloff.com.

[mwalsh]

Originally Posted by Strife

There is a LH and RH side, AND a F/R.

Beware, sometime around 1985, I think, the shocks were reduced in length and don't stick out as far as the earlier US models. I don't know what year you have. You can tell what you have by looking straight down over an (unmolested) bumper. IF you can see lots of concrete between the valence and bumper, you have a "long" set of shocks. If you see little or none, they are short. Personally, I think the short ones make the US bumpers much less offensive. But the earlier ones were made to the "5 MPH" bumper rules; the later ones may be made only to the 2.5 MPH bumper rules.

Thanks. Right now we have one long one and one short one. LOL!

Len, I don't think you can help me.....our car is a '79.

[dugald]

I read somewhere about purposely collapsing the shocks by drilling and draining them. The aim was to move the bumpers in a bit.
Seems your wife has found a shortcut.