i called about getting a price on having new shocks put on but they told me i have struts. what is the difference. where can i get some struts at a good price. or what do i need. please help.

thanks Brandon

 

You have struts.

Search for your options...

 

Front are struts, rear are shocks. Think of it this way, a car could be driven without shocks, but not without struts.

 

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....=shocks+struts

 

Tell me how you could remove the "shock" from the rear of our cars and still drive it please? We have struts all around. A strut is the combonation of spring and damping device as one unit. This is what's on all 4 corners of our 4th generation Maximas.

The shock absorber is the damping device in a McPherson Strut assembly.

 

Where did you read that 4th gen Maximas have four struts? Front are struts. Rear are shocks. Look at the assembly and you will know what I mean. The fronts have struts which are an integral part of the steering assembly. The rears don't have to turn, so they are mounted directly to the control arm/beam axle. Probably saved Nissan 50 cents per vehicle to use that arrangement.

 

Wheather the strut/shock assembly turns with the front steering is simply a design issue. For instance, the Honda Prelude has 4 wheel double wishbone suspension, so does most BMW's. McPherson struts are on all 4 corners of both cars. The strut/shock assembly does not move with the steering on a Honda Prelude or a BMW or any car with double wishbone suspension. However they are called McPherson Struts.

A McPherson Strut is a shock absorber and spring combination assembly which saves space and cost on manufacturing. Our Nissan Maxima's have this setup on all 4 corners. It doesn't matter if it's attached to the steering hub or the axel beam. It's called a strut. A strut has a mount which a spring sits on. Both front and rear struts on our cars have this mount.

Search the web for "McPherson strut" and read up on how a strut is designed. Take a close look at a breakdown of the rear suspension in our cars, then please correct me IF I'm wrong.


The following site has a very clear explanation of the McPherson Strut. Please note that page 2 describes how the Strut is used in the rear end.

http://www.users.bigpond.com/jack_st.../struts_1.html

 

you are wrong..

 

I am correct. READ THIS Page 2 describes how the strut is used in the rear end.

http://www.users.bigpond.com/jack_st.../struts_1.html

 

I will agree with you that one characteristic of a strut is that it contains an integral spring mount. And yes, that is what the shock absorber in the rear of our Maximas have. However, if you look carefully at the lowest mounting point on the rear shock, it has a single bolt mount. This appears characteristic of a shock absorber, not a strut.


Looking in my Haynes manual, it appears that in the 3rd gen, which does have rear struts, the rear strut assembly is actually attached to actual rear wheel hub. In other words, you remove the strut along with the hub and wheel. In the 4th gen, you can remove the rear shock, and the wheel/hub assembly can still be attached to the vehicle.


Hope that helps. I can certainly see where you are coming from thinking it is a strut. It certainly looks like one. But on the 4th gen, it is not.

 

how come companys sell it as struts in the front and shocks in the back?...such as konis...they say strut/shock for maxima for front/rear

 

Please tell me you are joking. Read the posts again.

 

actually Koni only sells shocks for the maxima

 

so, wait...what is a maxima?

 

https://maxima.org/maxfaqs/sub_gener...html#General_1

 

if i recall correctly....my tokico receipts says the front is strut and the rear is shock...

 

You are wrong. Most BMWs use a MacPherson strut front suspension and some sort of semi-trailing arm type in the rear. The only one I'm not sure of is the Z8. But the rest are set up like I've described.