Is it damping or dampening when it comes to shock tuning? This might be the question of all suspension questions that no one asks, but everyone definitely has an answer to. To help get the right answer, the team over at Fox Shocks explains the true answer to the question.
So, is it damping or dampening? It’s damping. Damping is defined as a decrease in the amplitude of an oscillation because resistive forces drain energy from the system.
It is a pretty technical definition, but it can be simplified into three parts:
- Oscillation: compression and rebound
- Resistive forces drain energy: shock (damper) controls the movement
- The system: your vehicle (or bike) and wheels
Now with those terms explained, damping is a decrease in the amplitude of compression and rebound because the shock controls the movement of your vehicle and wheels.
Even Fox could not figure out why people say dampening as it doesn’t even appear in dictionaries and to a point, isn’t even a word. Whether it's been used correctly or not, now we all know what is damping.
For more on Fox Shocks or to find shocks for your vehicle, be sure to visit their website.
