ok someone at NAPA told me my car doesn't have shocks. is that true? cause the back of my car bounches like crazy,sounds like a horse gallupe. im asking if the back have Shocks or Struts? (i have a USDM hatchback GT if matthers)

thats true you dont have shocks you have sturts in the back you should just upgrade to kybs

yea im gonna have 2 thanks.

They are struts in the back but there is shocks. When you buy rear struts for our cars, you can't just buy the shock.

lol you have shocks tell the guy at napa thanks, and go somewere else. struts are just the whole thing mount and all, shocks are inside em, if its bouncy you probalby do need new ones, kybs would be a good choice but if your using stock springs you'ed be fine with monroe or whatever brand they sell that are oem replacements. (most shops like that done sell kybs)

Your car would be jacked if you didn't have shocks. You can tell also because just springs wouldn't be able to hold your car up, take for example, if you have worn shocks, it sits lower than when it was new.

^ not exactly, the springs can and do hold the car up, shocks dont hold weight they obsorb impact, like if you hold a shock in your hand you can push it down slowly, but its very hard to push it down fast, this is how it absorbs the impact.

^ I know what you are saying but if you have really worn shocks and you replace them to brand new, you'll notice they do get a bit higher, which in turn what I mean it does help hold the suspension up.

Here's the basics of the whole strut tower setup. There are two components, a dash pot (commonly known as a shock absorbed) and a spring (helical spring). A dash pot compresses a fluid, was occurs through stress (pressure), this means the response force of the shock is based on velocity, i.e. the quicker the impact, the greater the forced. A springs displacement is a function of force, whihc means they apply a linearly increasing response force, as load increses. So, if your car is baning every time you hit a bump, it is probably the shocks. An easier way to tell is by pushing down on the trunk and releasing. The initial rate of return wll show the condition of the springs, the settling time (how long it takes to stop), shows the condition of the shock absorbers.