Nitrogen shocks use presserized nitrogen to asorb shock, as opposed to hydraulic which uses an oil. The oil in a hydraulic shock may foam under heavy use and lose efficiency.

 

That's incorrect. Nitrogen is used in addition to hydraulic oil to ensure that the shock piston is in constant contact with hydraulic fluid, thereby reducing the chance of aeration (bubbles, foaming, etc.).

THe nitrogen shocks also use oil. The nitrogen charge is on top of the oil and helps keep the oil from foaming because the nitrogen will not mix with the oil and keeps the oil molecules packed tighter thus reducing air bubbles being introduced into the oil "foaming"

This is true in many monotube and dual-tube shocks. However, in an emulsion shock, the nitrogen and oil do "mix" and are intended to be "mixed" for proper shock operation.

JPR:

At a minimum, read this "Shock Design" section of an article on Pirate 4x4, but feel free to read the rest of it as well as part #2. This will give you some needed insight.

Pirate4x4.com - The largest off roading website in the world.

 

THe nitrogen shocks also use oil. The nitrogen charge is on top of the oil and helps keep the oil from foaming because the nitrogen will not mix with the oil and keeps the oil molecules packed tighter thus reducing air bubbles being introduced into the oil "foaming"

 

Thank you so much guys..

JP

 

I think this article will describe the answers to your questions much better.
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Basically hydraulic shocks have no nitro gas, but just air in the twin tube.

AS to emulsion shocks. They have nitro in them but no dividing piston. Thus making it easier for the fluid and gas ot mix. That is why a dividing piston is used in many application to separate the fluid form the gas and provide better and more consistent performance. The emulsion has the advantage of getting more travel in the same shocks body length though, as no space need to be budgeted for the floating piston.

 

I hope this isn't a thread-jack: I am just trying to understand not just the theory but the application using my example.

I have the bilstein height adjustable shocks on the front and the heroic forum friend that helped me install them said I should really think about nitrogen charged rear shocks too.

As a penny pincher I'm still running the stock rear shocks; but I have been eyeing rough country or procomp nitrogen shocks for the rear, as they are half the cost of bilstein rears.

So it might not be the case that the Rough Country nitro shocks will have more similar performance characteristics to the Bilsteins I have up front than do the stock hydraulic shocks?

Not being an engineer, a generalization is really what I'm after. For example, it may be true that a nitro shock can be made to be very soft, and a hydraulic shock very stiff, but in the real world, nitrogen charged shocks may tend to be stiffer because it's a technology better suited to that kind of shock. (This may be untrue, I'm just trying to express what I mean by a generalization)