Shock Absorbers

A shock absorber, or damper, controls the movement of the spring. Without it the car would keep bouncing after every bump; as dampers wear, the car wallows, takes longer to settle and grips less well over uneven surfaces.

The dampers here run from like-for-like OE replacements to sportier performance lines, and the product data separates them further:

• Construction: most are gas-pressure units and a few are oil-filled.
• Adjustment: most are non-adjustable. Some are rebound-adjustable, some self-adjusting (with valving that adapts as it works), and a few electronically adjustable for cars with factory adaptive damping.
• Position: each damper is listed for front or rear and, where the two sides differ, for left or right.

There are also a few steering dampers.

Match the damper to the springs you will run. A performance damper suits standard or mildly lowered springs; a significant drop calls for a shorter-bodied damper made for lowered cars, or a matched spring-and-damper kit. If the car left the factory with electronically controlled dampers, check whether the replacement keeps that system working or needs a cancellation kit.

Dampers are replaced in axle pairs. The top mounts, bump stops and dust boots wear alongside them, so renew those while the strut is apart, and use a proper spring compressor on strut-type suspension. Have the alignment checked after any work that disturbs it.