What You Need to Know About Struts

For many of us, when someone says the word “strut,” the first thing we think about is going out on a Saturday night and the way we walk into a club or bar when we know we’re looking good. But for others, “struts” immediately call to mind the suspension on their vehicles and an important part involved in making sure you’re comfortable on the road. We’re not going to argue about which type of strut is better. Instead, we will discuss the struts on your car, truck, or SUV and what you need to know about them. Proper maintenance and occasional strut replacement can make the difference between a safe, comfortable ride and one that either puts you in danger or has your friends opting to use a ride-share service rather than catch a ride with you when you’re going out on the weekend. Let’s look at what struts are and what you need to know about them.

What Are Struts?

Your suspension does many different things on your vehicle, but one of its most important roles is providing a smooth ride as it protects your vehicle from the chaos of the road. While driving, you’re constantly going over uneven terrain with small bumps and dips, not to mention the occasional speed bump, pothole, or other obstacle. Your vehicle’s suspension allows your car’s wheels to travel up and down to adjust to these obstacles without your entire vehicle constantly slamming down into the road. But if all you had were springs to protect your chassis, you’d have a very uncomfortable ride as the vehicle bounces up and down in response to changes on the road.

That’s where struts come into play. The struts are a part of the suspension designed to help absorb some of your suspension’s up-and-down movement while driving. It helps keep you and the rest of your vehicle more stable, even if the road is anything but. While springs allow the suspension to absorb bumps, struts force it to stop that movement once it is no longer necessary, keeping your tires planted firmly on the road surface. Otherwise, your vehicle would continue bouncing up and down long after the initial bump has passed.

Are Struts and Shocks the Same?

Not all vehicles have struts. Some vehicles only have shock absorbers. In some cases, you might have shock absorbers on one set of wheels and struts on the other.

In many ways, shocks and struts fulfill similar functions on a vehicle, but they’re not the same, and the two terms shouldn’t be used interchangeably. Shocks are a separate component that are not a structural part of your suspension. They provide the same damping for your suspension as struts but don’t provide structural support for your vehicle. Struts, on the other hand, fulfill both of these tasks. Typically, the spring and shock absorber parts of your suspension are integrated into a single unit. This bolts to the body or frame of your vehicle as well as to the wheel hub, and is an integral part of the suspension on vehicles that have them. To know which type of damping you have on your vehicle, you can check your owner’s manual, look under your car, or let our technicians look at your suspension.

How Do Struts Impact Your Ride?

Assuming that you have struts on your vehicle, what kind of impact do they actually have when you’re driving? There are several different ways they affect your vehicle’s performance, all of which are important.

• Comfort While Driving: Without struts, you’d constantly be shaking and bouncing around while driving, even on roads that look pretty smooth. Your suspension and struts are directly responsible for how comfortable your ride quality is.
• Control and Stability: All those bumps would also send your vehicle out of control if your struts didn’t help smooth things out. By absorbing and reducing bumps and dips, you get better contact with the road and superior handling.
• Smoother Tire Wear: As part of your suspension, your struts also help with wheel alignment and keep your tires in proper contact with the road. This keeps wear on your tires even so they last longer.
• Handling While Braking: You may not realize it, but your vehicle’s weight shifts forward when you hit the brakes. Struts help counteract this force. Without them, the weight would throw off handling and make it harder to control your car when you hit the brakes.

These are all important factors when you’re on the road. If something’s wrong with your struts, you’re probably going to feel it. That’s why proper maintenance is vital to ensure your struts last as long as possible and provide you with the comfortable, safe drive you deserve day after day.

Proper Strut Maintenance

The good news is that proper strut maintenance is easier than other suspension components. For the most part, the only thing that needs to be done is to inspect your struts regularly for any signs of wear and tear or physical damage. You can keep an eye on your struts if you perform routine inspections involving looking underneath your vehicle. Otherwise, we’re happy to inspect your struts while performing other scheduled services like an oil change or tire rotation.

When to Replace Your Struts

It’s often hard to see visible damage to your struts, but there are other signs that might need replacing that you can watch for. If you can feel your vehicle’s weight shifting forward and your car’s nose dives down excessively when you brake, then you likely have an issue with your struts. Similarly, if you feel your vehicle sway from side to side when changing lanes or taking a turn, your struts might have a problem. Unusual or excessive wear on your tires can also indicate that your struts might need to be replaced.

Essentially, if any aspect of your usual steering, braking, handling, and overall performance feels off, then there could be an issue with your suspension, and the struts might be the culprit. Over time, your struts will naturally wear out and need to be replaced, especially if you’re hard on them by going off-road or driving on uneven surfaces daily. When the time comes to replace a strut, you should replace them in pairs on the axle. So if you have a problem with your rear-left strut and need to replace it, replace the rear-right one, too.

Let Us Take Care of Your Suspension

Cars are complicated machines with many interconnected moving parts, which is why proper maintenance for each part and component is so important. This is also why diagnosing an issue can be so difficult, particularly when you try to tackle things on your own. A steering problem could be an issue with the steering column and assembly itself, but it could also be due to the alignment being off, the wheel balance being incorrect, or your suspension having an issue, which itself could be due to shocks, struts, or other parts. All of these things impact how well you can remain in control of your vehicle and stay safe on the road. Whenever something feels off, let our expert technicians take a look and make sure your vehicle is in the best shape possible every time you get behind the wheel.