Shocks and Struts...What's the diffrerence?

[cableguynoe]

I took my car in to Sears so they can check my suspension. The car hasn't been feeling right lately.
The guy calls me and tells me that they did find that the struts were soft, and they recommended replacing them.
But when I went to pick it up on the copy of the workorder they gave me, the mechanic had circled 'shocks' as the ones that needed replacement.
I dont know the difference. Are these the same thing? Or did they screw up?
They told me that they would have to order the parts, so when I go to schedule an appointment in a few weeks, do I tell them I need shocks? or do I make them re-test the car?

 

[beaups]

#1. don't take your car to sears for service. take to dealership
#2. you should only get shocks done @ dealership because many here have complained the aftermarket shocks (monroe IIRC) are crap
#3. Lincoln LS uses shocks only, no struts.

 

[cableguynoe]

I was planning on having the work done at stealership....but Sears does free inspections. Cant beat that.
Positive about the struts?

 

[SoonerLS]

Yes. The LS uses coil-over shocks, not struts. Anybody who tells you there's a problem with your struts is a moron, and should not in any way, shape, or form be allowed to work on your car. Period.

The difference between struts and shocks is that struts are structural suspension parts. If you remove the shocks from an LS, you'll have a horrible ride, but the car will still be able to travel down the road. If they were struts, once you removed them, part of the structure of the suspension would be missing, and the car wouldn't be going anywhere.

And yes, you want Lincoln shocks, unless you're going to fork over the money for Ledas--and if you're going to do that, talk to Ken (GrayGhost1), who runs LSKoncepts.com.