Who I am ---------- Disclaimer Automotive glossary Shock Absorber Synonym: Damper

Definition Shock Absorber: The shock absorbers are security relevant parts of a vehicle and serve for extenuating the vehicle oscillations, which arise from driving motions and uneven subsurface. Otherwise te oscilations would lead to the vehicle being uncontrollable and result in accidents, especially when braking or going around bends. Usually they are built in as McPherson suspension struts, i.e. as a unit of spring and shock absorber. The shock absorber is for fastly making the oscillations fade away, whereas absorbing the impact, that is transferred into the interior by bumpy streets is the task of the tires and the springs. The usually applied hydraulic shock absobers use the flow resistance of a fluid, which is being pressed through narrow canals by the oscillation energy, converting it thereby into thermal energy. The proper function of the shock absorbers can be roughly checked by digging down the car body sharply above the wheels and observing, if the vehicle swings after. Loss of fluid means a defect as well. All definitions