Shock vs. Strut?
Junior User
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 69
Likes: 0
It has shocks both in the rear and front. The main differance between a shock and a strut is the shape because the strut serves the purpose of BOTH a shock and a strut . Cars with struts DONT have front coil springs either.
Junior User
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 65
Likes: 0
nope, shocks front and rear... The basic difference between a strut and a shock is that the strut is a structural part of the suspension where as a shock is not.
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beat me to it! However, i believe you are wrong about cars with struts not having coil springs. They still have coil springs, they are simply mounted over the strut.
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beat me to it! However, i believe you are wrong about cars with struts not having coil springs. They still have coil springs, they are simply mounted over the strut.
Elder User
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 624
Likes: 0
From: Houston, TX
Originally Posted by drahgon
nope, shocks front and rear... The basic difference between a strut and a shock is that the strut is a structural part of the suspension where as a shock is not.
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beat me to it! However, i believe you are wrong about cars with struts not having coil springs. They still have coil springs, they are simply mounted over the strut.
edit
beat me to it! However, i believe you are wrong about cars with struts not having coil springs. They still have coil springs, they are simply mounted over the strut.
Post Fiend
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 5,242
Likes: 0
From: Kiev, Ukraine
Sturts are used in MacPherson's front suspention from '70s. main plus of this type of suspention it is simple, requires not much room, easy to use with FWD. And ball joints life is twice longer. This suspention is used not only in cars, but in some vans, like Voyager, VW T4-T5, Ford Transit short, Mercedes Vito.... But old good long arm/short arm is better for heavy cars and vans.
Lead Driver
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 7,016
Likes: 209
From: SoCal
One problem with struts is that they can not provide the same amount of dynamic camber change that a double A-arm can. It may be important only for sports or performance cars that have to handle very well.
Another problem is that side loads from normal suspension forces can cause the damper unit to fail prematurely. The one exception to this is Bilstein's struts.
Yet another problem is that they have to be made very strong, being part of the suspension structure, so they tend to be very heavy, adding to unsprung weight.
So while replacing three components with one sounds like a good idea, it falls a little short in most implementations. However, companies like BMW and Mercedes seems to do pretty well with them in their sports cars.
Another problem is that side loads from normal suspension forces can cause the damper unit to fail prematurely. The one exception to this is Bilstein's struts.
Yet another problem is that they have to be made very strong, being part of the suspension structure, so they tend to be very heavy, adding to unsprung weight.
So while replacing three components with one sounds like a good idea, it falls a little short in most implementations. However, companies like BMW and Mercedes seems to do pretty well with them in their sports cars.
