Ya, I know, but it is political season, what other kind of a statement would you expect? But this bit of nonsense happens to be all to true. The main purpose of a shock absorber is and always has been to stop the oscillation of the spring when the vehicle goes over a bump or a wheel drops into a hole. When a spring is flexed it winds and unwinds, even a flat leaf spring. When it rebounds it goes past the neutral point and then winds up again. Those of you that have ridden in an old Buick with 4 wheel coil spring suspension and bad shocks know the action. That is were the nickname “boat” I think came from of these old big cars, the floating action of the springs. Coil spings require the most dampening with leaf springs next and torsion bar springs the least.
When the oscillations occure a dangerous situation can happen. The wheel then becomes part of the oscillation party and begins to jump up and down off the pavement as well as the car bouncing up and down. Now we all know that when a tire is not in contact with the ground that you have no control over the acceleration, braking, or steering! So, the prime purpose of the shock is safety, then ride quality and handling.
A good well balanced shock will do these three things well. However there are some things that a shock will not do. It will not effect the ride height or correct a lean to one side. It will not jack up a sagging front or back end. That is by itself, unless it is an air shock that has an inflatable air bag around it or it has a coil booster spring around it. It will not add to the load carrying ability of the vehicle unless it is one of the above. And then it is not the shock that is doing the lifting action.
Gas pressurized shocks may lift the rig a tiny bit over the old shock but the gas pressure in a shock is there to make sure that the fluid does not foam when the shock is being worked hard over bumpy roads. The efficiency of a shock depends on the fluid saying a liquid with no foam air bubbles in it. A shock is nothing more than a hydraulic piston moving up and down in a cylinder.
At each end of the cylinder there are valves that are set when the shock is made to open and close at a specific pressure. This slows the flow of fluid down and controls the action of the spring. It is how the engineer sets the pressure of these valves that makes the difference between brands. Koni has a dial in adjustment that the owner can make when installing the shocks, like soft, medium, and firm. This can change the way the vehicle rides and handles. One thing that we can be sure of is that it is a delicate combination of springs, shocks, sway bars, alignment, tires, and track bars that make or break a vehicles handling.
Now, which shock is the best for you? Next week we will look at some different brands and their claims. Might just be fun. Anyway keep camping.