What is the difference between shocks and coilovers

Suspension components are the second most important feature of your car. They are the messenger between the tires and your brain giving you confidence that your car will behave the way you want. Looking for a good online repair manual? Click Here for the 5 best options. Suspension determines whether your car will oversteer turn too much or understeer turn too slowly.

However, you may have some confusion about shocks versus struts or maybe someone mentioned you should upgrade to coilovers. Besides braking, shocks are critical for safe steering and proper handling as well. The components of a shock include a piston, a coil, and hydraulic fluid.

When your truck needs to absorb shock from a pothole, for example, that energy starts a cycle where the piston exerts pressure on the hydraulic fluid in the device. Struts, like shock absorbers, also serve the purpose of dampening forces from the road. However, unlike shock absorbers, struts are a structural part of a suspension system.

It integrates parts like the coil spring, spring seats, shocks, strut bearing, and steering knuckle into one, compact place. Along with its shock absorbing duties, struts serve as dual-purpose.

Here are a few signs that your shocks and struts are wearing down and to get them changed:. Even if you may not be experiencing these issues, it's good practice to replace your shocks and struts around the 50, mile mark. This is typically referred to as a strut but is sometimes called a coilover. In the field, the main difference between coilovers vs. Typically, original equipment manufacturer replacement struts or coilovers come with no options. Of course, in the aftermarket, there are many suspension upgrade options.

These are some of the factors to consider:. For vehicles equipped with adaptive suspension, look for coilovers with the appropriate electronics. Whether you use coilovers vs. To retain stock ride height and ride quality, original manufacturer struts are a no-brainer and require no additional adjustments after installation.

On the other hand, lifting or lowering coilovers is an easy upgrade for any home mechanic. Just a few hours and some basic tools can drastically improve the quality of your ride. Keep in mind that lifting or lowering your suspension usually changes alignment angles, which can lead to abnormal tire wear.

Likewise, the CRXs and Civics that Heeltoe caters to have struts in the front with a torsion bar for the spring. The damper above is a strut because there is no upper arm, but also notice there is no coil spring! This is not a coil-over strut.

Coil-over literally means there is a coil spring and the coil is over the damper. These days it is common that an adjustable-height suspension, one where there is a threaded spring mounting, to be called a coilover suspension. It is really nothing more than a damper and a spring, but you can adjust the height. Aside from a pretty color, coilovers are typically shorter in overall length allowing adequate shock stroke when the car is set to lower ride heights.

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