How Do Struts and Shocks Work?

Earlier this year, Advance Auto asked us to make a video for them explaining the functions and differences between shocks and struts. And since we're going to be featuring more aftermarket suspension content on the channel soon, we thought a quick primer on suspension might make sense for the channel.
*DISCLAIMER: Devin (@devinst1), who owns the Focus ST seen bouncing around at 3:39, asked me to just point out that he was on cheaper aftermarket suspension when we filmed that footage, a brand that rhymed with Tegan, as opposed to the Fortune Autos he's on now.
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[@brandonktm9]

I build suspension and I still clicked on this just because of how high your production quality is. Love you guys.

[@thatcopenguy]

7:32 that civic oversteers smooth AF.

[@nathantiller889]

Dude that Honda at the end was gettin it

[@maxxas5067]

They're always shocked when they see me strut

[@jeffreyw6609]

Maxxas Crow Nice

[@xXAsunaxKiritoXx]

The door is over there by the way.

[@josef6658]

The water method was a great way to explain it.

[@fahimahmed8103]

we wouldn't require schools if we'd have videos like this on every topic. love you guys

[@jjwa5410]

Hey guys just a heads up. I went out of my way to buy from Advanced Auto parts because of their sponsorship of this channel.

[@jeldibye]

Short Ben: Look at my late model F150 Platinum! Tall Ben: Look at my 90’s landscaping company truck!

[@Wilbure]

Good vid. Remember kids suspension is no joke - always use spring compressors when working with springs and use jacks to slowly lower trailing arm style suspension to get springs out. Don't cut springs and torque everything to spec. People have legit died or lost vision from uncontrolled spring release.

[@fullsend6232]

How this channel doesn't have 1 million subs?

[@lxrdvader2021]

Cuz ppl rather see loud and obnoxious supercar owners that clickbait :/.... its sad really cuz this is some high quality content

[@SFH_Jenkins]

Because it's quality content and not quantity content.

[@yehovayeshua]

The fact that you removed the shock at the beginningn of the video really helped make the point so I will remember that the shock is not an integral support member whereas the strut is, thanks.

[@minivanin]

I think the water bottle demonstration was a great idea to explain to people who have no clue how dampers work. I feel like now ima start using the term "not enough water bottle" when tuning suspensions now

[@tomfrantz]

You are Caltech, MIT, and Cal Poly SLO wrapped into a great video. Love the simple water bottle display. Also you have a gift of teaching. Thank you. Bought 8 Fox 2.0's from Shock Surplus (great company Steve Boggs)

[@setunedouche]

These guys are brilliant at what they do!! Excellent video brothers!!! 👍🏼 Keep killing it!!!

[@mohammedsalimahmed5230]

Wish this video came out earlier when I was doing my final year project on Dampers/suspension system.

[@donhoonda]

Great job as always guys!👏

[@beefy45]

We need more stuff like this!

[@kottyking]

Happy Saturday my GG family

[@christophersiner8851]

Thank you for the video, I'm looking into doing a lot of work on my Sonic this winter and listening to you guys talk about how you're working on your cars relieves some of the anxiety I get about breaking my car. I'm not going to the extremes on anything, its just hitting 100k miles and well, everything is still stock.

[@julianmuller9567]

Love it. You guys should do way more educational content like this!

[@SuperSideKian]

Awesomely done and informative!

[@FLPLASTICSURG1]

Informative and entertaining! I always enjoy and learn a great deal from your videos. Please keep up the great work🤜🏼🤛🏼

[@IIWantedII]

This is one hell of a video! The quality is superb!

[@xaquison]

Great video!! Thank you for posting.

[@rodricktrinidad]

Keep them coming. Now I have to wait a whole week for your next vid. Great job as always.

[@Speakerboxers]

This is an excellent masterclass-level video. Thank you

[@dadaking]

Nice video guys. Thanks.

[@pastorraudel1261]

Love this channel!

[@nusketinc.8748]

You guys make such high quality videos, so glad I found your channel

[@twowheeledwaffle7847]

Looking forward to your uploads. Keep the quality content coming

[@ashwinravishankar1701]

Gears and Gasoline going all informative! Nice. Keep making great content. Love from India. 😊

[@jdm132]

Always interesting to watch

[@DaleDriven]

This is so educational!

[@NeverMyRealName]

Great video the example was quite good at explaining the mechanism at work here

[@albinkrn1]

Eagerly awaiting the informative/DIY videos.😊

[@devinherndon56]

Wonderful video as always!

[@moto324]

The quality on this channel is amazing. This channel is definitely gonna keep growing

[@yaesakura114]

I hope to see this more tuoe of video from you guys! It's really great.

[@antonyadelaar]

Great vid, thanks

[@roebbiej]

again an awesome video. you guys are amazing!

[@jmc7701]

Very informative

[@hawkertyphoon4537]

Hey thanks for the Intel! Though you made a crude as FFFF demo, i have a starting point to dig deeper into the subject.

[@syam8346]

You guys are awesome!! Keep it up

[@RP752000]

BRILLIANT !

[@doanerific9908]

Learned something new today! More educational videos please! :)

[@devinjones9614]

great video! keep it up!

[@caseylockwood5512]

Water bottle demonstration was pretty sweet, never would have thought of that!

[@sammorse2030]

great video

[@branislavsamac680]

When i heard "enterely new project car coming to the channel" i straight taught to that older video can you track your daily driver with the normal lancer bec it would be also nice to see what can man acomplish with a normal stock production car. Thats just my opinion but still nice video keep up the good work 👍👍👍👍

[@vasanthselvan7258]

Nice content, can you please add contents on what kind of suspension setup goes into various kinds of motorsports like rally, time attack,formula d, pikespeak etc

[@CorneliusQuiring]

I learned stuff. Woot woot.

[@liamlyda2116]

New Project Car? YES PLEASE!!!

[@dreilavadia]

fire content!

[@arielsaga]

OK... I got it... Tq Ben

[@MrDroid0518]

The dopest FWD drift I've ever seen @7.32

[@latrellstokes8569]

I would love if you guys did more educational things. Especially around suspension

[@skuylerknisely404]

For your next road trip you guys should do the Gambler 500 in Oregon!

[@anuka86]

More Vids on the D21 please 😃

[@mixtape1542]

Nice.

[@SFH_Jenkins]

I wouldn't mind if you guys make educational videos too. I want to become a mechanic, so this will come in handy to learn about car parts.

[@raymondkoledoye9941]

Cool!!

[@dylan8736]

The more i know. Thanks!

[@ThomasPowersYouTube]

You hair is looking great Ben

[@lostfan5054]

Theres so much i dont get. Do you have any videos about how the other parts fit into thid system? If I'm replacing a strut, do I also need to do the control arm and sway bars?

[@dromany5894]

Looked boring but the quality is so good and this channel knows how to keep ur attention

[@shaju2796]

What is the difference with digresive vs Linear vs Progressive suspension setup? Would you make a video on that please?

[@diobrando754]

We need another road trip series

[@calebmitchell2873]

Are those fortune auto 500 or 510(the all blue ones for the Evo)? I bought the same ones used and idk what type they are, they ride nice though.

[@ric8361]

Have you ever wonder why some kids do well in math or other subjects much better than others? Well, natural interest is one thing. Another important thing is how teaching is done. A good teacher can make the subject easy to understand, interesting and seduce you to proceed further. I was forever confused with the words "strut" and "shock". This video solves my confusion in 10 minutes. Teachers matter.

[@jerrellcyrille1293]

Hey he got tan and that was amazing way to show about suspicious

[@zokonjazokonja]

One question about this dampening force inside shock. Is this dampening force same in both directions or different? To my logic, dampening force should be weaker during shock compression, and higher during expansion so that impact force is mainly transfered to spring and less to shock and car body.

[@darrelcheong8369]

more!

[@carsonclonan228]

nice

[@alanaudi640]

👍🏻useful

[@wayne1141]

good

[@yuephoria]

Great video! We need to see more of glasses-free Asian Ben! @2:10

[@TameToothSGA]

so. how many vehicles do you have tall ben? evo, protege, this, that other car, you still have the miata?

[@basithph8958]

Struts and shocks are good first mods for your car

[@tellurium96]

Why is the rear shock at an angle while the fornt one is usually vertical?

[@bree_amputee]

Good info. Now i know whats wrong woth my car

[@yeltsinr381]

If upgrading to coilovers, do you only need the shock and spring? Or the strut assembly as well?

[@yeltsinr381]

@Ross Bourne I used the OEM strut mounts.. the coilovers I bought only came with the strut and spring, but it's been giving me problems..

[@rat_king-]

Thicker fluid? depends on what racing your doing... also what about thermal conductivity?

[@halkaracing4632]

When are more gridlife videos coming out?!!?!

[@jdaza1987]

63k miles on a '15 c7 z51. Front struts went out twice both around 30k mile. Any tips or advice?

[@BarbecuedPossum]

buy aftermarket shocks that aren't GM shit

[@jonathanperry8331]

I love the way he how he explains how it works by pushing a piston through a small orifice and exchanging fluids through small holes LOL. I couldn't help butt to laugh pun intended

[@thedriverux]

Yay, the replacement for Science Garage.

[@john3Lee]

I wonder how many of these aftermarket kits for cars are street legal... I did some research the other day about exhaust & suspension systems, and was very surprised at my findings... I think as part of this education series you ought to cover the subject in more detail.. If you closely look at the promotional statements, the distributors often say "only suitable for track and not for road use"

[@slaytalera]

Problem is "legal" can and will vary from country to country, and, if youre in the USA, not only state by state, but sometimes county by county as well. The burden is on the buyer or the buyers local tuning shop to know what is legal and what isnt. Offroad/track use only is a legal catch all so that a manufacterer doesnt have to research and stay up to date on literally thousands of different legal jurisdictions

[@martingt3107]

Hey guys

[@michaellopez9711]

Shocking

[@alext2k3]

Are strut bars actually beneficial?

[@tomwagemans1872]

It depends on how much flex is in the chassis of your car. Some don't need them.

[@blackwatchbandstudio]

Okay but tall Ben's truck is really good looking

[@thelifeofguyon]

how to tilty wheels

[@alexmoran2460]

More of the Nissan pickup🖒

[@snztr3178]

Idk

[@Affalterbach1967]

2:57 is pure car porn.

[@laurencewolf5611]

*Not dampening. Damping*

[@tomfrantz]

My Fox shocks are worth more than my beater 2003 ford f250 damage title John Deere service truck.

[@tabishahmedparkar9734]

(Insert dirty joke here) 😂😂😂

[@nescockk]

Dis Like

[@SFH_Jenkins]

Dislike Or This. Like. ?

[@setunedouche]

These guys are brilliant at what they do!! Excellent video brothers!!! 👍🏼 Keep killing it!!!