The Function of Shock Absorbers
Shock absorbers are hydraulic (oil) pump like device, which aid in controlling the impact/shock and rebound movement of your vehicle’s suspension and springs. The main purpose of the shock absorber is to make sure that the vehicle’s tyres stay in contact with the road surface at all times making sure a prompt braking response and the safest control from your car and smoothen out vibrations and bumps. That means if your vehicle is in motion or at rest, the bottom surface of your vehicle’s tyres is the only component of your vehicle, which remains in contact with the ground/road. Whenever a tyre’s contact with the road is broken, your capabilities to drive, steer and brake are seriously affected. Unlike the widespread belief, shock absorbers don’t uphold vehicle’s weight.
Shock absorbers function by consuming the kinetic energy (movement) of your vehicle’s suspension and then converting it to thermal energy (heat) that is then dispersed into the environment through the heat exchange mechanism.
Nonetheless, it is not as complex as it may sound. As stated, shock absorbers are merely oil pumps. A piston is fixed to the end side of a piston rod and functions against the hydraulic fluid in the pressure tube. As the suspension moves up and down, the hydraulic fluid is pushed through small openings (orifices) in the piston. As these small openings just let a tiny amount of fluid through the piston, the piston is slowed that consecutively slows down the movement of spring and suspension. Shock absorbers automatically adapt to road conditions because the speedier the suspension moves, the more resistance they offer.
Shock Absorber Types
All the shock absorbers do the same job, but as the vehicle and suspension design type differ, it needs a different type of shock absorber, which may have a different appearance. Irrespective of the application, all shock absorbers typically fit into one of the three generally defined types namely struts, conventional telescopic and spring seat shocks.
Conventional Telescopic: It is the basic and simplest shock absorber type, which is normally replaced and not repaired. It is reasonably priced and can be found on both front and rear suspension systems.
Strut: This type of shock absorber does the same job; however, struts replace part of the suspension system, and thus it is robustly built to handle greater loads and forces. It can be found on the front and rear of small to medium cars; however, bigger cars are now leaning towards strut based suspension design. Further, the strut category is split into repairable and sealed units. Repairable (McPherson) struts can be fitted with replacement strut cartridges whereas sealed units need to be replaced.
Spring Seat: This particular type combines the features of both strut and conventional telescopic shock absorbers. Similar to struts, a spring seat shock is a suspension unit and damping device in a single unit, but they differ to struts, as they aren’t designed to be subject to high side loads. It is made utilising same parts as conventional shock absorbers, but spring seat shock absorbers are also sealed, hence it require full replacement.
Auto Parts Direct 2U is a leading auto parts retailer in Australia that supplies various auto parts online including shock absorbers for cars.
