Strust vs. Shocks (was Re: Need Struts)

[George Roffe]

cowboydren@b15sentra.net wrote:

>I'm pretty damned sure that the rear damper in a B13 is not used to
>locate the hub or anything that resembles keeping geometry, which makes
>it a shock absorber.

Nope.  Wrong.  Hopefully by now you have read my previous post about how
the top of the strut absolutely does and must swing.  Or rather, the strut
swings from the top.  It most certainly does locate the suspension...  just
not in the "conventional" sort of way, such as with double wishbones.  But,
this is precisely why OEMs like struts.  They reduce the number of parts
and while they introduce their own complexity of sorts, they are in fact
less complex to produce.

>Shock absorbers resist oscillation; struts are a structural or geometric
>component.

Correct.  The B13 has struts front and rear.  The B14 has struts in front
and "shocks" at the rear.  The P10 has "shocks" in front and struts in the
rear.  The P11 has shocks front and rear.

George Roffe
Houston, TX
91 SE-R (well modded)
91 G20 turbo (well modded)
84 944 SCCA ITS race car under construction
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