This invention relates to improvements in the available means, methods and systems for creating and installing shock absorbers. It has particular advantage in application to those shock absorbers which are used in automotive vehicles and will be so described by way of illustration. It should be obvious, however, that its application is not so limited. Such is not intended.
Due to their ever changing structural design and load characteristics manufacturers of automotive vehicles have custom designed and continue to custom design the shock absorbers required for each vehicle. It will be obvious, under such circumstances, that a replacement for an original equipment shock absorber must of necessity meet the specifications of the original equipment manufacturer. As a consequence, the inventory of different shock absorber units required of each automotive parts supply house and maintenance and repair center has been ever increasing. At this point the variety of units and parts necessary to satisfy customer needs is unbelievably large. The problem in this respect has been compounded by the demand for different types of units variously categorized as standard, heavy duty and air type shock absorbers.
As will be self-evident, the capital investment required for each automotive part supply house or repair center to maintain an adequate inventory of shock absorber units is accordingly substantial and at a level to question its justification. The space requirement for maintaining an adequate inventory is even more burdensome. These factors tend to cause the part supply houses and maintenance and repair centers to limit their inventory of replacement shock absorber units and parts thereof, thereby limiting their capacity to give adequate and prompt attention to the needs of their customers.
There have been some efforts to alleviate the above noted problem. One has produced a concept whereby shock absorbers for automotive vehicles have been made in three parts. As proposed, these parts include a shock absorber body to each of the opposite ends of which is fixedly welded a male fitting which is externally threaded for threaded engagement by various adapter or connector devices. It has been suggested that by use of this prior art structure one may, by appropriate choice of the connector device, adapt a shock absorber body for use in more than one application. While the theory of this concept is good, the execution thereof suggested is not fully satisfactory. By the use thereof inventory may be reduced to a limited extent but not without raising other problems. For example, the structural arrangement provided by the prior art concept does not facilitate the production of a required shock absorber unit without much trial and error. There is really no definitive manner in which one may utilize the concept and accurately arrive at a required installation with any degree of certainty. In addition to this, the embodiment of externally threaded connector means on the shock absorber body or shell per se inherently produces problems in that the exposed threads are readily subject to damage, the undesirable consequences of which in attempting to effect various shock absorber assemblies are obvious.