Shock Guide - From The Track To The Trail
Here's an X-ray view inside a shock. The shock rod connects to a piston assembly. The piston moves up and down inside an oil-filled chamber. Above the oil chamber is a nitrogen-charged chamber that's separated from the oil chamber by a floating piston (aka dividing piston). The purpose of the dividing piston and the nitrogen chamber is to keep the oil from foaming as it heats up during hard use. The size of the nitrogen chamber varies with the temperature of the shock oil below. Hot shock oil expands. This in turn pushes on the dividing piston and shrinks the nitrogen-filled chamber. If the shock oil were allowed to turn to foam, the shock would be rendered ineffective. A shock piston moves through oil in a controlled manner. A shock piston moves through foam much too easily and with no control.
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