Suspension Tuning

Shocks control unwanted spring oscillations and reduce vibrations caused by the wheels and chassis. When you hit a bump, the suspension’s springs compress and decompress, absorb vibrations and transfer energy to the shocks through their upper mounts, into their pistons. As a result, the shocks dampen the vibrations, making that bump virtually unnoticeable. The degree to which all of this happens depends on the shock’s internals: stiffer shocks slow spring movement while softer shocks do the opposite.

Shocks do more than just reduce vibrations and control spring movement, though; they also eliminate rocking, pitching, dipping, wheel spinning and all sorts of other things that aren’t supposed to happen when turning or stepping on the gas or brake.

So are the names Shock, Strut, & Damper allowed to be used interchangeably? No. Even though all three serve the same purpose, their names define how they are constructed and installed on a vehicle. A shock is an independent item that is added to a suspension system. A strut is a main structural component of the suspension system and a coilover is the name given to a design similar to a strut but with a very large range of adjustability