hey, i just put on eibach sports 1.8/2.0 and i love them, i am really interested in putting on some struts/shocks to give me a little lower of a drop and to complete my handling.
i plan on buying a set of struts separate from shocks, so i’m wondering what to upgrade first? when i go through turns, i feel the back end giving out (more than the front), does this mean i should get shocks first?
also, if i get say koni blues on the front, and yellows on the back, will it matter?
thanks for hte help
i’m confused by your question.
wiuts the diff btwn struts and shocks?
struts are on the front of the car and shocks are on the back, i believe struts are under higher compression?
i’m not quite sure of the difference…
to rephrase my question, i just got 1.8/2.0 drop, and i plan on upgrading my suspension. but i want to know if i should
and then
thanks
all 4 at the same time… and its my understanding that our tegs don’t use “struts” just shocks. HTH
Originally posted by 92GS-R
all 4 at the same time… and its my understanding that our tegs don’t use “struts” just shocks. HTH
Nope, our cars dont use shocks or struts. They use dampers, and all 4 of them are the same things, basically.
Definately do all 4 at the same time though, you will hate yourself if you dont.
Later,
BR
BR is correct, buy all 4 or you may ba kicking yourself in the donkey…and they’re technically struts, or at least thats what KYB said…i think the exposed rod is on struts…not that it matters
peace
aren’t struts and shocks the same thing. I thought struts were just glorified shocks. or do I have the wrong info? correct me if i’m not please.
ya struts/shocks/same ****. one has the spring around the shock blah blah. on our tegs they refer to them as struts. thats what the book says. technically they arent. try going to www.howstuffworks.com they might have a structural explanation . anyways just use struts for simplicity’s sake.
if youre gonna pay a shop to install em, i guess all 4 would be more practical. if youre gonna do it yourself, front is fine for now. all i would recommend is get adjustables for the front.
btw, 1.8/2.0? is this off a 3rd gen or civic or something? ours are supposed to be 1.8f/1.5rear, which is what i have. im gonna do the ef agx rear which will even it out a bit and compliment the agx up front =D
If I think waaaayy back to the old automotive days… . a strut is part of an assembly which contributes in maintaining suspension geomoetry and/or supporting the car.
A shock absorber does nothing else for a car other than just absorbing bumps. A shock absorber is NOT part of an assembly that supports weight or affects geomoetry.
Shock absorbers and struts are both considered dampers.
A strut is any shock mounted inside a spring. A strut will have mounting perches for the springs as part of the strut body. A shock is mounted next to, on top of, under, or even inside (they do not have mounting perches for the spring, so they wouldn’t be considered struts) of the springs. They each have their own mounting points. Our cars have struts all the way around.
HTH.
Later
Secret
Hey,
I don’t no where some of you guys get your weird ideas but struts are only found on strut type suspension vehicles, where the knuckle is attached directly to the damper or what is falsely called a shock.
Struts are not found on Honda’s with double unequal control arm suspension. Damper or shocks are. Struts are found on Nissan’s, BMW’s…
Struts attached directly to the suspension knuckles and control the motion of the knuckles.
Dampers or shocks attached to the control arms which is attach to the knuckles. Dampers control the motion of the control arms which intern controls the motion of the knuckles.
If you interchange the terms while talking to a knowledgeable person about suspension they will immediately know you don’t have any idea what your talking about.
Originally posted by DB2-R81
If you interchange the terms while talking to a knowledgeable person about suspension they will immediately know you don’t have any idea what your talking about.
Yep, I immediately knew you didn’t know what you are talking about.
The really tehnical term for our suspension setup is Combined Strut/SLA suspension. Or double wishbone, referring to the shape of the upper and lower control arms. It also uses a strut, and unequal length (Short Long Arm or SLA) control arms. Also, the strut will not turn with the steering knuckle like on more conventional strut designs (MacPherson and modified Macpherson setups). However, it does still give the steering geometry for the suspension.
Strut: A suspension component containing a shock damper cartridge and coil spring. It is used in many vehicles as a replacement for the shock absorber, front upper control arm, and some rear axle control arms.
Strut damper cartridge: A replaceable shock absorber-like component which is installed inside a strut housing.
Shock absorber: An oil- or -gas filled device used to control spring ocscillation in suspension systems.
The above definitions are from the ASE certification test. So I KNOW they are correct.
THEREFORE, I shall stick with my previous statement of:
A strut is any shock mounted inside a spring. A strut will have mounting perches for the springs as part of the strut body. A shock is mounted next to, on top of, under, or even inside (they do not have mounting perches for the spring, so they wouldn’t be considered struts) of the springs. They each have their own mounting points. Our cars have struts all the way around.
Don’t be a smart ass with my DB2-R81 when you have no idea what you are talking about.
Later.
Secret
Later.
Secret
Hey SecretAgent,
You are wrong, you haven got a clue about suspension. Maybe your Integra front lower control arm looks like a wishbone but not the rest of the Integra owners I know! Here is some suggested reading material do some reading just maybe you will learn something!
Race Car Vehicle Dynamics and Workbook (Milliken)
Fundamentals of Vehicle Dynamics (Gillespie)
Shock Absorber Handbook (Dixon)
All Carrol Smith’s
All Paul Van Valkenburgh’s
Racing and Sportscar Chassis Design (Costin and Phipps)
Racecar Chassis design and Construction and The Racer’s Guide to Metals, Fibres and Materials (Forbes Aird)
Inside Racing and Inside Racing Technology (Paul Haney)
Competition Car Suspension (Staniforth)
Race and Rally Car Source Book (Staniforth)Competition Car Downforce (Simon McBeath)
Grand Prix Car Design and Technology in the 1980s (Alan Henry)
Bosch Automoive Handbook (4th edition)
Data Power (Fey)
Race Car Aerodynamics - Designing for Speed (Katz)
Build to Win (Knoakes)
Formula 1 99 (Piola)
A Practical Guide to Composites (Multi-Sport Composites)
The Modern Formula One Car (Macknight)
Books on Suspension and Chassis
Herb Adams, Chassis Engineering, ISBN 1-55788-055-7
Forbes Aird, Race Car Chassis Design and Construction, ISBN 0-7603-0283-9
**Costin and Phipps, Racing and Sports Car Chassis Design, Robert Bentley, Inc., 1963
(defines suspension/chassis design sequence on pp 89-93, defines chassis functions in Ch 1 (pp 1-7))
Dixon, John C., Tires, Suspension and Handling, SAE, ISBN 1-56091-831-4
*Gillespie, T., Fundamentals of Vehicle Dynamics, SAE, ISBN 1-56091-199-9 (text for ME 432)
*Milliken and Milliken, Race Car Vehicle Dynamics, SAE, ISBN 1-56091-526-9
*Allan Staniforth, Competition Car Suspension, ISBN 0-85429-956-4
Paul Van Valkenberg, Race Car Engineering and Mechanics, ISBN 0-9617425-0-X
Originally posted by DB2-R81
If you interchange the terms while talking to a knowledgeable person about suspension they will immediately know you don’t have any idea what your talking about.
lol if i know anyone whos that concerned with suspension, i hardly think id be the odd one out. anyone who apparently has beef with haynes or helmes is definitely in a world of their own! im not disagreeing with you, im just saying at that level of technicality no one really gives a hoot.
im gonna have to follow the sheep and accept a strut is a coilover spring around a shock. the manual says so, honda says so, and the box says so, so it shall be so =P
Originally posted by SecretAgent
[B]
The really tehnical term for our suspension setup is Combined Strut/SLA suspension. [/B]
“Well, technically, its a ‘doohickie’.” … - junkyard wars 
All you have to do is read any technical review of the new Civic or RSX, and why performance minded people are disapointed with Honda in going to a strut suspension and away from an unequal length double control arm suspension with a shock or damper. There are no suspension struts on G2 Integra’s!
DA’s dont use struts. Unlike on a lot of cars, (my 240SX for example), we don’t have a macpherson strut suspension… the RSX and the new Civic use struts now, but other than those, almost all Hondas don’t use them…
the two terms are often used to describe the same thing, but technically they are not the same… which is why so many people get confused… 
Most people call our “shocks” shocks, which is probably close enough, although damper is a more correct term.
edit: I see that Marc already explained pretty much the same thing I just said… shoula read the whole post before throwing my $0.02 in, but just for the record, I’m with him on this…
Originally posted by XDEep
[B]
lol if i know anyone whos that concerned with suspension, i hardly think id be the odd one out. anyone who apparently has beef with haynes or helmes is definitely in a world of their own! im not disagreeing with you, im just saying at that level of technicality no one really gives a hoot.
im gonna have to follow the sheep and accept a strut is a coilover spring around a shock. the manual says so, honda says so, and the box says so, so it shall be so =P [/B]
That’s weird… for as long as I’ve been into Hondas I’ve never heard the dampers on a Civic or Integra referred to as struts… most people call them shocks, other than the few true Honda ‘experts’ I know, who generally refer to them as dampers… maybe it’s just a regional thing? 
May I suggest people look in their Helm’s service manual you won’t see them called struts, shocks, or doohickie’s. Only the word damper is used to describe the suspension component, which dampens spring oscolations and makes up part of a G2 Integra’s suspension. No, it is not a regional thing, it’s a misuse of the term strut, by peole who don’t know any better, or think they know to much.