Does the Fusion have rear struts or just shocks?

[wakum6]

I have a 2008 Ford Fusion SEL V6 with a little over 50,000 miles on it and it needs some suspension work. I can tell it's about time to get new struts/shocks because it's been starting to ride rougher and bottom out a little easier (damn New Jersey roads). Anyways I was wondering if it has rear struts or just shocks? I do all of the work to my own cars, with my dad's expert help, but unfortunatley I don't know a whole lot about suspension. The reason I ask is because I can buy front struts without a problem but I can't seem to find rear ones. Thanks.

[2010SEL]

Regular shocks on the rear.

[Waldo]

Technically they are shocks on the front as well, not struts.

[2010SEL]

Of course a "strut" is also a "shock". But a MacPherson strut does a lot more than a mere shock absorber. It has the coil spring attached to it, and acts as an attachment point for many suspension/steering parts.

[Waldo]

While the shock in the front of the Fusion does have the coil spring attached to it, it does not act as an attachment point for any suspension or steering parts.

 

A strut is designed to resist lateral loading. The Fusion shocks do not resist any lateral loading, thus they are not struts.

[drolds1]

A strut is thus, a combination of a number of suspension components viz. spring, damper, bump stopper, upper control arm and probably one ball joint.

 

This another one of those terms that have somehow become interchangeable with related terms, albeit incorrectly. For instance, people now referring to any 6-cylinder engine as a 'V6', or "chip," when they mean a hand-held tuner. ECU's haven't used replaceable chips in probably more than a decade.

 

Rims vs. wheels, engine vs. motor. We could go on.