[Guest]

This is kind of embarrasing.. but what are struts? What do they do?

I'm working on upgrading the suspension on my '91 Sentra, but I don't know what to get.

I know I need springs and shocks.. but what about struts? Sometimes I see them sold together, other times not. Do I need to upgrade them too if I get shocks and springs? How much do they cost?

As you can see I'm very confused.. Anyone care to explain?

 

[Guest]

from what i can tell, the only difference is that struts have the springs perched on the strut housing, whereas shocks do not. they may also be valved differently, but i couldn't swear to that.

if you are installing springs, it is always better to replace your shocks/struts @ the same time. I imagine you have shocks on the front and struts in the rear.

[Edited by 2000SE (08-28-2000 at 07:52 AM).]

 

[jacen99SE]

Shocks and struts are both dampers.

I've wondered about the difference in struts and shocks also. But I know its not a strut simply because it has a spring perch. My rear shocks have a spring perch, as do my front struts.

I thought the classic had 4 'struts'

 

[Guest]

The Classic does have 4 struts. The strut is an intergrated damper. It is moundet to the body and to the hub assembly with the spring.

 

[Guest]

So do I have BOTH shocks and struts on the front and back.. or ONLY shocks or only struts..

I was thinking of getting AGX shocks for my car.. but am I going to need to buy struts too? Or are shocks and struts the same thing in that reguard and they just happened to call them AGX shocks but they are really AGX struts???

 

[Scarpa]

You have struts. 4 of them, one on each corner. A strut is a load-bearing shock basically. The springs sit on a perch that is welded to the strut body. Take a floor jack and lift the front of your car and take a peek under the fender and things will make sense to you. You have zero shocks (since the strut does the job of a shock).

 

[Guest]

So really I'm not buying KYB AGX shocks, but rather KYB AGX struts.. right?

 

[Scarpa]

Exactly. Unfortunately for your wallet that means you won't find any $30 deals. Struts are considerably more expensive than shocks.

You can get AGX's for cheap via a group deal that ends on Sept. 4th.

There has been a lively discussion on the mailing list about AGXs paired with various springs this past week. If you're not on the list I would reccommend you get on it, you will learn a TON.

http://www.se-r-list.org