The term 'shock absorber' is therefore actually misleading - strictly speaking, it's a 'vibration absorber'.Checked 2026-08-12
Struts and shocks
The dampers that control suspension movement; a strut also carries the spring and locates the wheel.
Also called: strut · shock absorber · damper
What it means
Definition
Both are dampers: they control how the suspension settles after a bump rather than hold the car up, which is the spring's job. ZF, an OE damper maker, makes the point that the term shock absorber is therefore actually misleading — strictly speaking, it is a vibration absorber.
Why a buyer cares
What it changes
They wear gradually, so a short test drive rarely reveals them. Inspection codes give a definite failure test: Virginia fails a vehicle where shock absorbers are missing, disconnected, broken, bent, loose or do not function properly.
In practice
Where you meet it
On inspection sheets under suspension, and felt as float over undulations or clunking over sharp bumps.
Two things that look alike
Not the same as
Shocks is used loosely for both, so an invoice or an inspection report may say shock where the car has a strut.
Read next
Related terms
Where it shows up
Related problem files
Where this comes from
Sources
Vehicles designed for shock absorbers or cross stabilizer links, if any are missing, disconnected, broken, bent, loose or do not function properly.Checked 2026-08-12
The usual distinction — that a strut carries the spring and helps locate the wheel while a shock only damps — is not drawn here, because no quotable sentence for it was found. ZF's damper page names suspension struts without defining them, and Virginia's suspension section does not use the word at all; both were re-read on 2026-08-13.