A shock absorber is a unit in which spring & bump stopper are arranged concentric (rather coaxial) with the damper to save space required for seperate installation of each.

A strut is a coil-over-shox with additional degrees of freedom for steering the wheel (provided by a bearing which partially replaces a ball joint) and articulation of the wheel (provided by the top mount which doubles in as the upper wishbone / control arm).

A strut is thus, a combination of a number of suspension components viz. spring, damper, bump stopper, upper control arm and probably one ball joint.

A strut and a coil-over-shox are not interchangable. If you put a simple coil-over-shox in place of strut, you won't be able to steer the vehicle and if you do otherwise, the directional stability will be lost. A strut is usually used in front suspension and a coil-over-shox is generally a part of rear suspension.

 

And the 2IS has no struts front or rears... it's spring and shock both front and rear.
(which is yet another reason it's goofy to put a strut tower bar on a 2IS)

 

I just got two shocks from Sewell. Can you guys tell me if this is just the shock or if it's the whole assembly? Also, how many hours should I expect my mechanic to take to install both these shocks?

 

^ thats only the shocks

 

Which is all you need:thumb up:


Lou