Shock Absorber Piston Rod Spec.

[THouser]

I am trying to reverse engineer a vintage motorcycle shock and am stuck on what material to use for the piston rod. So far the only details I have is that the rod is 12.5mm in diameter and is hard chromed. I do not have resources to analyze the steel so I feel just a middle of the road spec to a supplier would suffice for the application. So far all suppliers want a detailed spec. And drawing. The drawing feedback is ok but without fallouts on straightness, chrome depth, steel material, roughness, etc. I have tried to educate myself on these various attributes and am not giving up on learning but this is for sure a specialty area.

My question is how can I obtain a detailed spec that a supplier would recognize for an automotive type shock rod. I wouldn’t think there are huge variations in rod quality but if so I just need a middle of the road spec. that would offer reasonable properties for this application. I can find pre-made rods in many sizes but not the 12.5mm diameter I need.

Thank you for any advice or recommendations.

 

[msquared48]

I suggest you delete your post here and repost the question in the Automotive Engineering Other Topics forum.

You will be more likely to get your question answered there.

Thanks.

Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA, HI)