Knobs on top of shocks?

[Dave1027]

In my engine bay, on the shock towers, I can see the shocks have black knobs on top which can be turned. My question is, are these adjustable shocks and did '06 ZHPs come standard with those?

[Johnmadd]

Picture of knobs?

[Hermes]

huh? pic please

edit: John beat me to it... maybe PO installed adjustable coilovers?


and to answer your question - no, ZHP's did not come with adjustable suspension from the factory

[Dave1027]

I'll take a pic and post. May not be knobs. Might just be caps but they do turn with resistance like an adjuster.

[derbo]

If this is a stock zhp, they should be stock dust caps on them :)


I assuming they look like these?


http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t166/TheAndrew87/Strutchange003.jpg

[echo46]

I'm pretty sure he is just talking about the caps that cover the strut nut. They spin freely but have no other function except to hide the top of the strut rod and nut.

[Dave1027]

Yep, that's them. Just caps. Thanks for clearing that up, guys.

[danewilson77]

Keeps dust outta the FSM (Front Shock Mount) bearing.

[Johnmadd]

Keeps dust outta the FSM (Front Shock Mount) bearing.

And it keeps dirt out, and your whites white

[echo46]

I don't mean to be "that guy" but as a technical matter aren't the fronts called struts and the rears call shocks? Or does the term shock describe the front and rears in general and the specific term for the front shocks is "strut?"

[Hermes]

^ you are correct, fronts are known as strut inserts since our cars are MacPherson strut setups. Most people just know that if you say front shocks, it means strut. Newer cars seem to be using a different setup but I haven't bothered to learn what it is yet

[echo46]

So in the Macpherson set up the fronts are referred to as struts but if the car does not have the MacPherson setup they may be referred to something different?

[Hermes]

maybe... but I think it's only the newest few chassis codes that no longer use MacPherson strut. Other manufacturers may use a 'shock' up front opposed to a strut, but I rarely work on non-BMWs so I dunno

[wsmeyer]

Shocks and struts are two completely different things. They both absorb shock but struts are an integral part of the front suspension as they replace the upper A-arm.

You would either have an upper and lower A-arm and a shock absorber, or one A-arm and a strut.

[echo46]

Thanks, good stuff.

[Mr Paul]

And technically speaking they are both considered a damper, or even more technically speaking, a dashpot.

[echo46]

Now we are getting to the second and third level answers. I like.