Difference between stocks vs struts
06-27-2003, 05:30 AM
#1
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Difference between stocks vs struts
Did a search, but couldn't find an answer I understood.Question. I don't understand the difference between shocks and struts. What do I need to do to lower my Civic properly? I was thinking no more then 2" drop. Would that need a camber kit? I also think I would go with lowering springs and not coilovers. Unless you have a better opinion about the difference between the two. I don't think that I would want to bother with lowering and raising the car all the time. Oh well, please educate me. Here is a pic of the car that needs to be lowered. Thanks to all.
06-27-2003, 05:43 AM
#2
Still here... sorta...
Shocks generally have eyelets at the top and bottom where they connect to the suspension. Struts have an eyelet of some sort at the bottom, but have a threaded rot that sticks straight out of the canister section.
Left is a shock, right is a strut.
I enjoy having coil-overs because I like to be able to raise my car up when my family comes to town or something where I need to carry a lot of people, but I can still be low when I want.
You could just get some lowering springs like Eiback, H&R, Neuspeed to have a perminant drop.
You will also want to replace the struts because the stock ones won't stand up to being lowered all that long.
hih
Left is a shock, right is a strut.
I enjoy having coil-overs because I like to be able to raise my car up when my family comes to town or something where I need to carry a lot of people, but I can still be low when I want.
You could just get some lowering springs like Eiback, H&R, Neuspeed to have a perminant drop.
You will also want to replace the struts because the stock ones won't stand up to being lowered all that long.
hih
06-27-2003, 10:47 AM
#4
Still here... sorta...
You only have struts on your civic... no shocks. 
I don't have a camber kit, but it couldn't hurt. I put Skunk2 coilovers and Koni Yellow struts on at the same time and I'm extremely happy with my setup.
I don't have a camber kit, but it couldn't hurt. I put Skunk2 coilovers and Koni Yellow struts on at the same time and I'm extremely happy with my setup.
06-27-2003, 11:05 AM
#5
it's my D in a B
Ground Controls (400f, 400r) w/ koni yellows. Only lowered about a half to 3/4" to be nice to my tires and not attract attention. 
h:
Yeah, definitely easiest to do it all at once.
h: Yeah, definitely easiest to do it all at once.
06-27-2003, 11:13 AM
#6
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Westcoaststyle is a knowledgeable guy but I have to disagree with his explanations to the questions you were asking.
Damper = device used to convert the springs movement into heat to slow it down.
Strut (Macphearson strut) = a damper that also acts as a supporting piece of the suspension. You'll notice that many cars with struts will have bearings in their upper caps because they actually turn in the STRUT tower.
Shock = a damper that doesn't play the same part in the geometry of the suspension as a strut would. To the best of my knowledge, our 92+ civics with their "double wishbone" suspensions have shocks.
I hope that makes sense... My explanations probably aren't the best so if you want, I might be able to provide some examples later.
To lower your Civic properly, you'll want a setup that allows your suspension to move in a range that will allow it to work properly. That means you should have enough ground clearance to drive where you usually do and you should have enough suspension travel for the suspension to do it's job. 2" IMHO, is a bit lower than optimal but I do admit it looks good. You'll also want shocks that are properly matched to the springs you choose.
A camber kit will make your tires last a longer time but the most important thing to do is to get an alignment.
While we're on the topic of terms and definitions, I should say that technically, a coilover is a setup where the coil spring goes around (over) most of the shock. So our cars have coilovers from the factory.
But I know what you mean. The main benefit to height adjustable setups like the GC sleeves or threaded body setups other than being able to set your ride height, is that you can cornerweight the vehicle. A lot of people don't bother with this stuff and for street driving, it's really not too critical unless your settings are WAY off so regular springs are a cheaper good solution if you know you won't be raising and lowering the car.
Good luck to you and if you have any other questions, just ask.
Damper = device used to convert the springs movement into heat to slow it down.
Strut (Macphearson strut) = a damper that also acts as a supporting piece of the suspension. You'll notice that many cars with struts will have bearings in their upper caps because they actually turn in the STRUT tower.
Shock = a damper that doesn't play the same part in the geometry of the suspension as a strut would. To the best of my knowledge, our 92+ civics with their "double wishbone" suspensions have shocks.
I hope that makes sense... My explanations probably aren't the best so if you want, I might be able to provide some examples later.
To lower your Civic properly, you'll want a setup that allows your suspension to move in a range that will allow it to work properly. That means you should have enough ground clearance to drive where you usually do and you should have enough suspension travel for the suspension to do it's job. 2" IMHO, is a bit lower than optimal but I do admit it looks good. You'll also want shocks that are properly matched to the springs you choose.
A camber kit will make your tires last a longer time but the most important thing to do is to get an alignment.
While we're on the topic of terms and definitions, I should say that technically, a coilover is a setup where the coil spring goes around (over) most of the shock. So our cars have coilovers from the factory.
But I know what you mean. The main benefit to height adjustable setups like the GC sleeves or threaded body setups other than being able to set your ride height, is that you can cornerweight the vehicle. A lot of people don't bother with this stuff and for street driving, it's really not too critical unless your settings are WAY off so regular springs are a cheaper good solution if you know you won't be raising and lowering the car.Good luck to you and if you have any other questions, just ask.
06-27-2003, 11:18 AM
#7
it's my D in a B
I thought a strut was just a shock where the spring mounts over it, so the shock supports the spring perches(as in your definition of c.o), like 88-01 civics. Whereas a shock was just a damper mounted somewhere other than through the middle of the spring. Am I wrong?
06-27-2003, 11:43 AM
#8
Still here... sorta...
Originally posted by white_n_slow
I thought a strut was just a shock where the spring mounts over it, so the shock supports the spring perches(as in your definition of c.o), like 88-01 civics. Whereas a shock was just a damper mounted somewhere other than through the middle of the spring. Am I wrong?
I thought a strut was just a shock where the spring mounts over it, so the shock supports the spring perches(as in your definition of c.o), like 88-01 civics. Whereas a shock was just a damper mounted somewhere other than through the middle of the spring. Am I wrong?
h:I just know for sure that we have all struts and no shocks.
06-27-2003, 12:00 PM
#9
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A strut and shock are the same. They're both used for dampening but for different designs. A strut suspension has a lower control arm only. Shock suspensions have upper and lower control arms.
Double wishbone suspensions uses shocks.
Double wishbone suspensions uses shocks.