How do shocks work?

[Canuck 93 Civic Si]

Does anyone know a good page with a good illustration about how variable rate shock dampening works? Ive looked all over and cant seem to find anything good.

Thanks
Sean

 

[Citizen_Insane]

howstuffworks.com

 

[Canuck 93 Civic Si]

Originally posted by ktanaka@May 5 2004, 08:02 PM
howstuffworks.com

I checked there first, they had nothing.

 

[tab]

Springs and valves work together to control a fluid dampening of motion. IE, fluid pressure slows down the motion. Like trying to clap your hands under water. That's pretty a simple explanation.

Oh, as for the Variable part. Some of the illustrations that I have seen are still pretty simple. A sudden rise in pressure(a sharp bump) causes a valve to close, slowing down the fluid transfer rate, thereby slowing down the upward motion of your tire. When the pressure drops, the valve is allowed to once again open. This is a good design, because it allows the shock to absorb more impact when needed, and yet provide a decent ride when the road is not so bumpy.

Remeber that the dampening effect has nothing to do with spring preload, suspension travel, or the spring rate.

 

[Canuck 93 Civic Si]

By variable dampening, i mean that you can adjust the dampening rate with a knob or dial like Tein or Konis.

 

[xj0hnx]

 

[jdmvteccrx]

good question i have been tryin to figure out how a shock works for years!