At one time, other than air shocks, all shocks were filled with oil. With gas shocks, are they 100% filled with gas or is there some oil in them? If so, does that mean they are compartmentalized?
Do all shocks have oil or some oil in them?
- Thread starter JLawrence08648
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Read the third paragraph - quick and dirty explanation.
https://www.ipdusa.com/techtips/10032/gas-shocks-vs-non-gas-shocks
https://www.ipdusa.com/techtips/10032/gas-shocks-vs-non-gas-shocks
Lets put it this way, I don't know of a shock that doesn't. The fluid (in most cases oil) along with orifices/valves/shims is what provides damping. Their some clever shocks that incorporate magnetic particles in the fluid along with an electromagnetic to alter the fluid characteristics and thus damping.
Originally Posted by JLawrence08648
At one time, other than air shocks, all shocks were filled with oil. With gas shocks, are they 100% filled with gas or is there some oil in them? If so, does that mean they are compartmentalized?
An emulsion shock mixes the gas with the oil.
A floating piston shock "compartmentalizes" the gas and oil as you suggest. The gas is under high pressure on one side of the floating piston and the oil is on the other side of the floating piston. The "valving piston" travels through the oil, and is connected to the shiny chrome rod (shaft).
A third type uses a gas filled bag that is inserted into the shock body.
At one time, other than air shocks, all shocks were filled with oil. With gas shocks, are they 100% filled with gas or is there some oil in them? If so, does that mean they are compartmentalized?
An emulsion shock mixes the gas with the oil.
A floating piston shock "compartmentalizes" the gas and oil as you suggest. The gas is under high pressure on one side of the floating piston and the oil is on the other side of the floating piston. The "valving piston" travels through the oil, and is connected to the shiny chrome rod (shaft).
A third type uses a gas filled bag that is inserted into the shock body.
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In the bicycle world, some shocks were designed with "air damping" (Cane Creek Cloud Nine, for example). I'm not sure how well they worked. At the time, they seemed well received by users, but oil-damped is the dominant design for quality mountain bike shocks.
I ran a cane creek AD-12 and cloud nine shocks on my early FS bikes. Air damping worked ok there with the limited amount of weight to control, but on a vehicle, I would expect oil shocks are the best bet. Don't confuse "Air Spring" with "Air shock" and they perform very different roles.
Hardly Abelson used the best dampers $10 could buy, although they have been getting better their valving is generally not so good. my Victory Hammer with a big 40 series tyre rode hard on the cheap OE shock but a built for ME Penske rear shock with a seperate fluid + gas setup smoothed the ride a lot. cheaper vehicles be it car, truck, or motorcycles generally use cheap short lived dampers!!! my 08 base Colorado had poor OE dampers i changed quickly, but my 2011 Nissan SV rides great + handles better than a truck has a right too in its price range!!
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