difference btwn shocks/struts?

[gilboman]

what are teh differences between those two? i just got the TRD springs and the ride is kind of bouncy...so i want to stifen it up..should i get shocks or struts or are they the same thing?

[KSilver2000]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I have a GT and I think that struts are for the front and shocks for the rear.

[pitcrew]

Struts are a multifunction suspension member, that perform spring damping (commonly mis-refered to as shock absorbing), mount the spring, as well as form the upper portion of the suspension, taking the place of an upper control arm and upper ball joint in a conventional double wishbone independent suspension. If you remove a strut, the suspension collapses. A shock absorber (more correct: oscillation damper) may also serve as the mounting for the spring, but otherwise is not a weight bearing or geometry critical member. On the Celica, the front oscillation dampers are struts, on the rear they are shock absorbers.