This paper presents the effects of cylinder shell elasticity on effective bulk modulus of oil $K_e$ in automotive hydraulic dampers. A theoretical model of cylinder shell bulk modulus $K_c$ based on the elasticity theory of thick-walled cylinder incorporating not only radial but longitudinal deformation is proposed. In a cylinder, values of $K_c$ by the new model and traditional models are computed and the discrepancies among them are discussed. In a twin-tube type automotive damper, the variation of $K_e$ under different pressure values in chambers of the damper cylinder, based on different theoretical models for $K_c$ is computed. Through these computations, it is shown that remarkable discrepancies in computed values of $K_e$ might occur according to the $K_e$ models in connection with $K_c$ models.