What is the difference between shocks and struts?
It is important to note that not all vehicles have both shocks and struts. Some have just struts and some vehicles have only shocks. While they are both very similar in function, they are very different in design. The job of both is to control excessive spring motion; however, struts are also a structural component of the suspension. Shocks Shocks are part of the overall suspension of your vehicle. While most people think that the shocks are what absorb your “hitting the bumps in the road”, it is actually the springs that serve that purpose. Shocks aid in dampening the spring as it bounces. If you didn’t have shocks what would happen? You got it, your car would be very difficult to handle and would bounce continuously. Struts Struts provide structural support for the vehicle suspension. That means struts deliver a bit more than shock absorbers, which don’t support vehicle weight — they only control the speed at which weight is transferred in a car, not the weight itself. How many mile
Simply put, a strut locates (connects) multiple suspension pieces together whereas a shock is independent of all of the other suspension components. For example, when you look at our front struts, there’s a bunch of other stuff connected to them (sway bar end link, brake line bracket, axle hub) whereas in the back, none of that stuff is connected to our shocks. Hope that made sense.
