What Is Suspension Damping?

Your vehicle’s suspension system makes your ride as comfortable and stable as possible. Shock absorbers, also known as dampers, play a big part in this. Today, we’ll be tackling shock rebound and how suspension damping affects it.

Basic Shock Rebound and Compression Explained

To understand shock rebound, you need to understand shock compression. When a shock absorber absorbs shock, the force compresses it, sending the center shock shaft into the shock body. This uses up some of the kinetic energy that would’ve otherwise given you a bad bump in the cabin. The shock then converts this energy into heat, which naturally dissipates. Shock rebound is the shock returning to its original state. Rebound also occurs during acceleration and braking, to the front and rear tires respectively.

These two videos illustrate what happens when shocks totally lose their ability to dampen suspension rebounds:

What Is Damping in Suspension?

Now that you understand shock rebound and compression, let’s look at what suspension damping is. There’s a reason shock absorbers are also called dampers, after all. Shocks control how fast the vehicle’s suspension springs compress and rebound, damping their movement as necessary. They do this by utilizing damping force.

The shocks generate damping force in the shock body by controlling the oil flow between the main piston and the base valve. As the shock shaft enters the shock body, the oil inside the body is displaced and forced to move through the base valve. The base valve controls how quickly the oil can move out of the shaft’s way. On a low damping setting, the valve allows the oil to move quickly, and on a high damping setting, the valve forces the oil to move slowly.

This process is also how shocks convert the kinetic energy from hitting a pothole into heat energy. The oil in the system gets hotter from being forced through the base valve, and that heat dissipates into the air.

Shock Rebound Rate

A shock’s rebound rate is how fast it returns to its original, uncompressed state. Low rebound damping results in a faster rebound rate, and high rebound damping results in a slower rebound rate. Generally, if your shocks have low rebound damping, you’ll notice that the ride is stiffer. High rebound damping, on the other hand, allows for a softer ride. While several factors affect ride quality, shock dampening can make a big difference.

Shock Compression Rate

As you would expect, shock compression rates depend on how quickly the shock compresses. These rates also depend on damping settings. If the shock has high compression damping, the shock compresses more slowly. Low compression damping allows the shock to compress more quickly.

Aftermarket Shocks and Suspension Damping Settings

Aftermarket dampers, both spring-matched and coilovers, typically adjust rebound more than compression. Some coilovers can adjust both, but they require more setup than dampers that only adjust rebound. Many aftermarket dampers have a knob on the damper body for easy rate adjustment.

Enthusiasts appreciate the added stiffness from increased rebound rates. Adding more rebound to rear shocks can help improve cornering on a track. On the other hand, reducing rebound will likely result in more understeering. You can increase grip when driving around corners by adjusting dampers that sit opposite to each other.

Why Damping in Suspension Matters

Suspension damping helps the shocks absorb kinetic energy from bumps and potholes on the road.

In addition to their primary purpose of absorbing shocks, dampers also control suspension spring rebound to keep your tires on the road. Although the shocks and suspension springs can return to their uncompressed state much faster, suspension damping keeps the shocks and springs from decompressing too fast. This allows for a smoother ride and keeps the tires from launching off the road from the force of the rebound.

Now that you’re more familiar with suspension damping, you can appreciate just how hard your vehicle’s shocks work to keep you comfortable and your vehicle grounded.

How to Get Quality Replacement Dampers

Your vehicle’s dampers are an important part of its suspension system. Faulty dampers can make your drive bumpier than usual. It’s best to replace your inoperative dampers once you notice they’re failing. Good thing you can purchase new, quality dampers from CarParts.com.

CarParts.com offers a wide range of durable aftermarket parts, including excellent replacement dampers. Our customer-centered guarantees are in place to allow you to order online with confidence. For instance, our price-match guarantee means you can tell us when you see one of the dampers on our site in a competitor’s ecommerce store for cheaper. We’re happy to meet or beat their price on the spot. We also offer a lifetime replacement guarantee for our dampers, meaning you can return them when they come to the end of their lives. We’ll issue you a refund when they arrive as thanks.

Don’t continue to suffer through bumpy rides if your vehicle’s shock absorbers are inoperative. Buy a new set of dampers from CarParts.com now.