# Struts or shocks? 96 Sentra



## pksjay (Oct 27, 2002)

My wife has a 96 sentra, what does the suspension consistof front and back? Are they all struts which i wont touch or are some shocks?


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## barnoun (May 7, 2002)

Struts in front/shocks in rear.


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## zeno (Sep 17, 2002)

^^^^yep^^^^

Why are you so affraid of the struts, they are mostly time consuming to swap but not all that technical.


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## pksjay (Oct 27, 2002)

So its not struts all the way around...

Struts are inside the spring.


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## zeno (Sep 17, 2002)

> Struts are inside the spring.


ummm.....so are the shocks.


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## pksjay (Oct 27, 2002)

Well tes, but inorder to get to the struts you need to uncompress the the springs,
Where as with shocks or atleast the ones i have done, they just drop out after they are unbolted. Is this not true?

Also Haw is it there ia a rear strut tower brace in my car if it has shocks?


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## barnoun (May 7, 2002)

You can buy a rear sturt tower brace for the rear, but the car doesn't come with one stock. You're right about needing to uncompress the front springs, but you can just rent a compressor at the local car parts store.


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## pksjay (Oct 27, 2002)

So i am amazed, i was under the impression that the back had to be struts due to the strut tower brace.

However now that i am tolde they are in fact shocks, how can they be changed?

I am thinking jack the car, remove shocks from te bottom, No need to uncompress springs.
Where do they mount to the top?


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## barnoun (May 7, 2002)

They mount inside the trunk...take off the grey carpeting to see the attachment points.


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## Guest (Jul 21, 2003)

hi, im new to this whole suspension stuff and was just wondering whats the difference between struts and shocks?


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## barnoun (May 7, 2002)

They both serve the same purpose, struts are just also part of the suspension structure, while shocks aren't. Look under your car and you'll see what I mean.


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## 2SR20DE (May 17, 2003)

barnoun said:


> *They mount inside the trunk...take off the grey carpeting to see the attachment points. *


does the B14 not have struts in the rear, they changed that also when the eliminated the independent rearend?


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## barnoun (May 7, 2002)

Yeah, the multilink setup in the B14 uses shocks...


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## nissan_dude (Apr 23, 2003)

b14s have the Macpherson struts up front and shocks in the back. shocks are essentially the same as struts in that they both seat the spring and dampen the suspension over bumps. the way they are diff is mainly in their design/housings:

this is a strut (well a cutaway pic of it)..








this is a shock..









notice the larger spring seats in the strut and the diff mounting holes.. u cant put struts in place of the rear shocks b/c they wont fit

in my experiences w/ struts & shocks, our rear shocks r easier to drop out and disassemble than our front struts


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## Wont Be Beat (Sep 20, 2002)

A strut essentially acts as an upper control arm as well as a shock.


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## 2SR20DE (May 17, 2003)

barnoun said:


> *Yeah, the multilink setup in the B14 uses shocks... *


Ok... yeah makes sense.


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