Gabriel Snubber

[1922bigsix]

I have disassembled the Gabriel snubber shock absorbers on the front axle of my 1922 Studebaker EK. The fabric belts are unbroken and not worn through and I hope to reuse them. The brass anti-friction strips are worn and broken in both snubbers and consist of at least three pieces in each snubber. I think that the original may have only had two, one long brass strip attached centrally and the other end unattached, and a second brass strip that is riveted to the belt. I think that the long strip may have broken into two pieces in my snubbers. I would like to confirm the original design before trying to replicate it. Let me know if youcan help me with the restoration. Thanks

Tom

Edited January 16, 2012 by 1922bigsix (see edit history)

[Earl B.]

Big Six, look under the restoration thread and look for the 1921 Packard. Bernie rebuilt his snubbers, and are pronanly the same ones used on your car. Good luck, B

Edited April 12, 2012 by Earl B. (see edit history)

[Nevadavic]

Hi Tom,

I have a set of Gabriel Snubbers I bought from a fellow club member that I'm in the process of restoring for a 1925 Stearns-Knight.

I found this literature, "How to Adjust and Lubricate Gabriel Snubbers." Maybe you already have this:

http://www.dmacweb.com/documentation/tech%20docs/Gabriel%20Snubber%20Repair%20%26%20Adjustment.pdf

One of the snubbers is in great condition and it may be "NOS" by the looks of everything. The belt is in great shape and has two pieces of 0.031" brass. One piece is about 23" long and the belt is riveted to it with four (4) rivets where it connects to the sleeve casting. There is a second brass piece about 12" long that is riveted at each end with one rivet. There is another short piece of belt called "fabric filler strip" that is attached near the sleeve casting as well (see the literature above). I'm going to use this example to make a duplicate for the other snubber.

The belting is available from Restoration Supply Company in Escondido, CA. Their phone number is 800 306-7008. The belting is an extra heavy close weave used for the snubber application. You'll see in the above literature "How to Determine Size of Snubber." By the way, they no longer carry the 1 1/4" width if that's what you need.

I'll be taking some photos as I go through the process and will post them when I do, over the next few weeks.

Vic