Shock struts play a crucial role in the suspension of each car, because it is on their “shoulders” that the main function of absorbing impacts and ensuring reliable grip of the wheels lies with them. Therefore, every self-respecting car manufacturer pays special attention to shock absorbers and tries to supply their cars with the highest quality racks. Moreover, they are not developed by the automobile manufacturing concern itself, but by a separate company. For example, most Japanese cars have Kayaba racks, which are officially delivered to the conveyor. Today we will consider in detail what functions the front struts perform and what is their essence.
Appointment
The front struts and their functions do not fundamentally differ from the rear racks. Therefore, regardless of location, they perform the following functions:
- Provide damping of vibrations and forces when a car runs over unevenness.
- They play a crucial role in car safety - they are a reliable guarantee of direct contact of the wheels with the road. Because if the rear or front struts are malfunctioning, the drive will not simply return to its original place when it hits a pit. Thus, the impact wheel “shrinks” a little relative to the body and does not return, thereby provoking a loss of controllability and maneuverability.
- Reduce the load on other parts of the suspension. You have probably heard that if you neglect the replacement of shock absorbers, it will be bad not only for you in terms of comfort, but also for the car, and more precisely its parts. In this case, the rack does not provide normal shock absorption, and their balance falls on other running gear.
Thus, the main essence of the operation of the rack is to damp the vibrations, that is, to convert the vibrational energy into thermal energy. And how much energy will be absorbed by the shock absorber depends on the mass of the car, speed and, of course, road conditions.
Varieties
There are currently several types of car racks:
- Oil.
- Gas and gas-oil (they are often referred to the same category).
The first type is the most common and, accordingly, available on the market. Oil front struts are equipped with the vast majority of cars. It can be a car (the same Hyundai Accent or Daewoo Nexia), a minivan (Mercedes Vito), a minibus (Ford Transit), or even a truck (all saddlers, 5 and 10- tons). Due to their prevalence, the front oil struts (including the 2110th VAZ) are not only the most affordable, but also cheap compared to gas-filled and gas-oil ones. The second type is most often used on sports cars. Their rigidity and a 30 percent higher price are not the best factors for their use on simple cars, especially in Russia with pits and potholes on the roads.
Front struts: price on the Russian market
The cost of this spare part in Russia today can vary from 900 rubles to 4 or more thousand.