Does anyone run the '26-7 Ford factory accessory snubbers on his/her car? If you do, would you please post a photo? I've seen lots of accessory type shocks but never a Ford original.

I think I have 8 complete sets, mostly NOS, but have never put any on my T's. They are very simple to mount and old timers have told me they do make a difference on rough roads. A very interesting and rare accessory.

I've got a pair but they are frozen and need complete rebuilding. I have also heard that the rear snubbers were made with two different mounting brackets depending on what body style they were used on. With my luck, I'll have the wrong one for my application.

If you refer to the Fed. 1926 Ford Factory Service Bulletin on page 13 there is a good write up on the Ford factory supplied snubbing units. The Ford factory supplied accessories are an area of Ford history that has never been treated with the importance they deserve. The 26-27 improved car was really a prototype for the Model A in my opinion. The kingston vaporizer carburetor, Trico vacuum windshield wiper. bumpers, wind wings. dash light,wire wheels, use of very little wood in construction of the improved bodies, different body colors, etc. were all used to decide if they were feasible for use on the new Model A in my opinion. It makes no sense that after all the years of making a car with virtually no accessories available from Ford that Ford would have made all these accessories available for a car that they knew was going to be phased out as soon as they could do it unless they were just testing these accessories to see if they should be used on the all new Model A. My Grand Father, Frank Mossberg who owned both Frank Mossberg Co. and Apco, once told me that the Improved Model T was a testing ground for the Model A, he was of course involved in designing and manufacturing some of the parts and tools to manufacture and repair the Model A for Ford so had some inside information on what was going on with the 26-27 Fords. That is why I think the 26-27 Model T is really a testing ground for improvements to be incorporated into the Model A.

There were indeed two different shocks made for the rear axle for the Improved Car of 1926-27. One is for the touring car, and one is for every other car. See the photos below. The one on the left was made for the touring, and the one on the right was made for everything else. All cars used the same front-axle shock. (Ford called them shock absorbers, and never officially used the word snubber.) The rusty-looking one on the right is actually NOS. It still has the keeper for the steel cable, which comes off after you've bolted it to the frame and the diff.

Why, you may ask, was there a different rear shock for the touring? I'm not sure. The only difference is the steel mounting bracket, which bolts to a spring shackle on the frame. The bracket for the touring sets the shook absorber one inch lower. The implication is that it had to be lower to not interfere with the sheet-metal pan under the rear seat, where tools were to be stored. I've owned a 26 touring, and I don't think its pan was any lower than the tudor, for example, which uses the shock that is placed an inch higher. Perhaps there were plans to make the under-seat storage space a little bit deeper.

These units are single-action, recoil friction shock absorbers, and they are surprisingly complicated. I've studied these things for years, with the help of some great research by Chet Vander Pyl, and there's still a lot to learn. Jim