# **Newb Qustion Alert** Struts and shocks



## Nissan200sxSER (Dec 20, 2002)

Whats the difference between struts and shocks? I've noticed some people use them interchangeabley.


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## UNISH25 (Aug 12, 2002)

Hmm...they really both mean the same thing(unless I"m mistaken).


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## himilefrontier (Jan 21, 2003)

Struts are an integral part of the suspension that replaces the need for an upper control arm.A shock is just there to dampen spring oscillations and is not a stressed member of the suspension.A car with shocks can be driven without them on the car(but it would make you a little seasick!)whereas on a car with struts, if they were removed, the wheels would no longer support the weight of the car since you just removed half the suspension and the springs.Hope that clears it up a little.


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## Guest (May 29, 2003)

what he said


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## Nostrodomas (Jun 15, 2002)

Thats a shitty pic, but its a strut. 









Now here we have a shocks.


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## Nissan200sxSER (Dec 20, 2002)

Nostrodomas said:


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So this is just a strut, there is no shock on it? 

Do people either have a strut or a shock, or do they use a strut/shock combo?


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## dry (Oct 21, 2002)

this is actually a good topic since I always used to words interchangable... a B14 has just struts then I assume?


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## dono200sx (May 2, 2002)

You beat me too it! I was about to ask the same question. Can anyone give an indepth description of what the difference is? Methinks this would make a good article for Mike Kojima to explain on NPM. Maybe an article on all the different components in a suspension, what they do and how they all work/fit together.



himilefrontier said:


> *Struts are an integral part of the suspension that replaces the need for an upper control arm.A shock is just there to dampen spring oscillations and is not a stressed member of the suspension.A car with shocks can be driven without them on the car(but it would make you a little seasick!)whereas on a car with struts, if they were removed, the wheels would no longer support the weight of the car since you just removed half the suspension and the springs.Hope that clears it up a little. *


Would I be correct to say that an example of shocks would be found on a truck where there is no coilover? And that in a coilover setup that there are struts?


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## chris13bsr20 (May 2, 2003)

It's not much more in depth than Himilefrontier said... a strut is basically a shock built into a suspension link. Shocks just connect to a suspension link. Both should be considered dampers since their purpose is to dampen the energy of a spring whether it be a coilover spring or a leaf spring like you'd see on a truck, etc. My old first gen CRX had torsion bars and front struts with no springs. That would be the third type of set up and I believe that's about it.


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## zeno (Sep 17, 2002)

I've always been under the impression that a strut is actually holding the upper and lower parts of the car together while a shock is simply a dampener and nothing more (kind of elementary, himilefrontier's explanation sounds a lot better) 

I found some nice little diagrams concerning the two on a 96' 200SX SE-R. 

First you have the front which has a strut. You can notice all the hardware and how it pretty much holds everything in place.










Next is the rear which simply has a shock that pretty much bolts right in.










Hope this maybe helps.


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## himilefrontier (Jan 21, 2003)

Yeah, the British actually call both of them "Telescopic dampners" as a generic term(as opposed to the old lever action dampners seen on old MGA's ,Triumph TR-3's etc.)


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## Brad67 (Apr 30, 2002)

read kojima's article here... http://www.sentra.net/tech/garage/suspension.php?S=1072f18c10623ce6285afc44020f4afa
it will answer all of your questions and then some


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