Well said. I've often thought that the term "shock absorber" is a misnomer.
If you think about it, it is really the spring that "absorbs" the shock of the
wheel hitting a bump or a hole. The shock absorber really should be called an
"inertial damper". As noted below the shock absorber simply dampens the
vehicle's tendency to bounce after hitting that obstruction. Another very
important function of the shock absorber is to hold the wheel on the ground
over rough road so as not to loose steering or traction control. This is not
really a separate process but it can seem that way at first glance.
----- Original Message -----
From: <dardal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, January 08, 2003 11:28 AM
Subject: Re: IML: How does a shock absorber work?
A common misconception about shocks is that they affect the ride height. As DB
said, they only apply force when you are trying to move the piston, and they
have no effect on ride height (except for some gas shocks, the gas can act like
a spring).
The reason why shocks are needed is the following. The typical coil spring (or
torsion bar) will deflect when disturbed, but it will keep on bouncing up and
down like a pendulum. So, you need something to absorb this mechanical energy
(convert it nnto heat) and stop the up and down motion. This is what the shock
does. It resists proportionally to how fast the suspension moves.
The "harder" the shock, the faster it will eliminate the up and down motion, or
eal low frequency vibration. When the vibration stops, the shock is doing
nothing, its there for the ride!
D^2
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