Is A Strut A Strut?

[Mustang5L5]

i THINK, ford calls it 'modified' is because the mustang II's use to have a true macpherson design, but where the fox came out they redesigned the front suspension so it because 'modified'. I'm not positive but it's the best thing i can come up with

1st gen, 2nd gen, and 5th gen have a true MacPherson design while the 3rd gens and 4th gens run a modified mac setup. The modified design consisted of copying the design of the chevy nova by moving the springs from the struts to perches on the A-arms.

 

[blackfang]

Struts also replace a few components that a shock system would need like upper ball joints, upper control arms, etc.

 

[Mike97gt]

at 60k + miles no matter what you go with you will notice a difference.. i did mine at 50k or so with stock replacements front and rear including quad shocks and the car rides and hooks better.. when i have too money i will get some good aftermaket ones.. but i got a deal on my ford ones..

 

[tomustang]

at 60k + miles no matter what you go with you will notice a difference.. i did mine at 50k or so with stock replacements front and rear including quad shocks and the car rides and hooks better.. when i have too money i will get some good aftermaket ones.. but i got a deal on my ford ones..

hey Mike View attachment 493177

 

[stangGT97]

Greetings,
I own a '00 GT 'Vert.
It's time to replace my OEM stock struts @65k miles.

My question is this.
Is a stut a strut? Meaning, does the brand name of a strut really count for quality and/or for a good ride?
What would be the difference if I took my Stang to Ford to have them replaced, or to take it to Midas or even Sears to have them replaced?
I have heard the brand names ...Monroe and McPhearson(sp?)
Are these good brands to go with? Or, as my Thread asks, is a strut a strut? I just want a bettter ride than my worn out struts are giving me now, and I don't want any problems with the ones I will be replacing shortly.
Thanks for any advice.

StangVert00

I'm currently using Bilstein HD shocks/struts, and I love them! But my car is also lowered and I was buying them for performance. My brother had Monroe struts/shocks in his Jeep and it rode very smoothly, and would definitely be a viable option if you don't care too much about cornering. Check out stangsuspension.com and look at some of the strut packages they have there

btw, I noticed you're from Stoneham? I'm from Reading... small world haha

 

[Kilgore Trout]

The stock shocks and struts are absolute garbage IMHO. I replaced mine with Gabriel SVTs, easily did all the work myself, and spent less than $100

I would say Gabriels > Monroe and if you want to spend some money go Tokico or one of the premium brands.

And personally I think modified McPherson strut vehicles are a lot easier to work on than true McPherson struts...

 

[stangGT97]

Well, in the grand scheme of things, both Gabriel and Monroe suck @ss compared to tokico, bilstein, etc, but are both okay if you wanna save some money

 

[blackfang]

Well yeah. They are just designed to be a little better than oem that wont sink the budget. They are not designed to be a performance shock and you see them as a good oem replacement.

 

[03ghoststang]

The stock shocks and struts are absolute garbage IMHO. I replaced mine with Gabriel SVTs, easily did all the work myself, and spent less than $100

I would say Gabriels > Monroe and if you want to spend some money go Tokico or one of the premium brands.

And personally I think modified McPherson strut vehicles are a lot easier to work on than true McPherson struts...

i agree with kilgore for money savers go with the gabriel SVT's but if you want top notch shocks then tokico or bilsteins

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Oh absolutely, I am not trying to say Gabriels are in the same class with the premium shocks... But they are much better than stock for me so far.

 

[StangPro]

Ok, school time!

A strut and a shock are basically the same thing. What makes a strut a strut is that it is an integral part of the suspension and therefore has to be built to accommodate side loading.

What this means is that for example on a SN95 stang that if you remove the rear shocks, you can stil drive the car as they are shocks (not integral). Sure it'll ride awful, but it works. You cannot do this with the fronts as they are struts.

Besides the obvious quality differences between brands, the more obvious difference is valve code. This determines the forces of the damper (shock or strut) and how the car feels at different suspension speeds whiel driving.