B.I. Official e34 lowering, new suspension, wheels, and thrust arms!

[Scott H]

the front is called a strut when it's an insert type with spring surrounding it, and it acts as a rotational point for the steering

the rear is called a shock because it is fixed and bolted to the rear trailing arm

Scott, I always thought the picture what I showed was the strut, item 1 and the shock absorber goes inside that.

[Bill R.]

The strut refers to the type of front suspension which is a macpherson strut design which basically means that strut/shock/spring assembly replaces what would have been a upper control arm and shock assy. This macpherson strut becomes an integral part of the front end. A number of cars have started using this setup due to costs,weight savings, simplicity, the term strut refers to the whole unit, the strut insert is what you used to think of as a shock absorber. These can come as an insert which goes inside the strut assy. or they can come as a complete strut unit , housing and shock all one piece, you can't take this type apart and replace the shock insert you have to replace the whole unit. Many cars are this way, the bmw's have a replaceable insert in them Wikipedia has a somewhat accurate description here of the macpherson strut front end

The rear suspension is also a mcpherson strut type , only its a called a chapman strut, Colin Chapman of lotus fame, mr. cheap and light himself came up with this modification of the macpherson strut for the front and adapted it to the rear suspension of his cars. Technically these are still called inserts on the rears and its still a strut type suspension since its acts as a member of the entire suspension not just as a shock absorber.

These mcpherson and chapman struts were all intended as cheaper lighter more cost effective replacements for the traditional double wishbone suspension that most of your exotics still use such as the corvette and ferrari's.

the front is called a strut when it's an insert type with spring surrounding it, and it acts as a rotational point for the steering

the rear is called a shock because it is fixed and bolted to the rear trailing arm

[Anthony (M5 in Calgary)]

Also, the shock absorber is properly called a damper. The spring is what absorbs the shock, the damper controls its oscillations.

[Scott H]

I was just trying to get the point across that the insert was the strut, not the housing itself......

This thread is going to be about correcting a lot of misinformation....

The strut refers to the type of front suspension which is a macpherson strut design which basically means that strut/shock/spring assembly replaces what would have been a upper control arm and shock assy......

[Bill R.]

page is fairly accurate and current or is a lot of this no longer used?
Here

Also, the shock absorber is properly called a damper. The spring is what absorbs the shock, the damper controls its oscillations.

[Anthony (M5 in Calgary)]

page is fairly accurate and current or is a lot of this no longer used?
Here

I'm not an Englishman but I play one on TV. Actually my mum is from Blighty and I'm familiar with many of these slang words. Of course, she emigrated in 1952...

[Erwin8r]

Great thread, Handyman! Let's not argue over semantics ("strut" vs. "strut insert" or "strut cartridge"... geesh!!), or who's more right or wrong. I'm doing suspension very soon, and seeing as how Steve Haygood has never steered me wrong (Rotors, pads, plugs, filters, coolant hoses, hubs, center support bearings, etc., etc., etc...), I will turn to him for the Ployurethane or M5 bushings (trying to decide..... LOL!!). This thread is very timely....

[HDhandyman]

necessary to do the job (4 springs, 2 struts, 2 shocks, short bump stops, strut retaining collars) but nothing is assembled. The springs are Eibach and the boge turbo gas sport shocks are custom valved for the spring they are applied to. The sachs kit is stiff and still puts plenty of stress on other parts.

Thanks, Scott! That's actually what I had initially in the post, but got paranoid and decided to take it out. I was still under the impression that the stuff would come pre-assembled--so good to know what would really come shipped. Definately, the kit will put more stress than stock, but I was told by my Indy and BMA that it would be less stress than another "sweet" combo due to the combined design. Is this wrong?

Thanks to everbody for playing Devil's advocate. We don't have too many people posting dummie questions right now, so I guess I'll just have to be the dummie. Anton still wants to know if the Poly bushings need to be lubed.

And, Bill R. now that we've had all this info about strut/shock etc., is there anything that I need to clean up in my post other than the Sachs, stuff?

P.S. Thanks 88 for the Koni vouch! I said BMA was the largest Sachs kit distributor, not BMW. Maybe that helps!

Thanks,
Stephen

[liquidtiger720]

Picture of actual sachs kit and how it comes.

[632 Regal]

Looks like the average piece together kit, cool those are special calibrated shocks.

I like red and black.

Picture of actual sachs kit and how it comes.