How Shock Absorbers and Struts Work

Here's how the shock absorbers or struts work to keep the wheel on the road in your car.

The weight of a car is supported by suspension coil springs. When you hit a bump, that coil spring compresses, absorbing the impact of that bump. However, the coil stores that energy and releases it, and left undamped, can cause for a bouncy uncontrollable ride.

Enter the damper, which is responsible for controlling and limiting the bounce of the spring to maintain proper tire contact and comfort. It consists of a piston that retracts and expands with suspension travel. Inside the piston are valves that control the flow of oil through orifice holes. Thus the velocity of the piston is controlled through the oil flow, causing a dampening effect.

This video grinds open and breaks down a strut from a 2001 Toyota Corolla. It explains the major components of the strut and its function as part of the entire strut assembly and the vehicle in a mass-spring-damper type system.

The strut consists of the piston, piston valve, pressure tube where the oil pressure is built, a base valve at the bottom of the cylinder, and a reserve chamber outside the cylinder in the housing of the body of the strut. When the piston compresses, oil flows through both valves at varying rates - depending on the shock tuning. Each valve can be individually tuned to control compression and extension of the piston independently.

Shocks vs Struts: In this video the term shocks and struts are used interchangeably since the focus is on the damper portion of the suspension. Struts are the complete assembly when a coil is placed over a damper, while shocks are a separate damper with the coil spring (or leaf spring) placed separately on another part of the suspension.

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