Kia Sportage Rear Shock Absorber: Specs, Fitment & Common Faults

Genuinely worth knowing: the Sportage shares its rear suspension design directly with the Hyundai Tucson — many rear shock listings cover both cars under one part number.

Illustration of a rear shock absorber and coil spring

Illustration for editorial purposes

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Confirmed: Genuinely Shared Parts With the Hyundai Tucson

Genuinely worth knowing when searching for parts: the Sportage and Hyundai Tucson are built on the same shared platform, and this extends directly to the rear shock absorbers — many genuine and aftermarket listings cover both "Hyundai Tucson Kia Sportage" together under a single part number for a given generation. If you can't find a listing specifically for "Sportage," checking under "Tucson" (or vice versa) for the same generation years is worth doing.

A further genuinely important distinction: AWD and front-wheel-drive versions use different rear shocks, and hybrid/PHEV models carry additional weight from the battery pack that affects suspension travel — aftermarket lift kit manufacturers specifically note that hybrid/PHEV Sportages need shock shaft extensions to avoid the suspension "topping out" under the added weight, confirming a genuinely different suspension characteristic even where the shock itself might share a part number with non-hybrid.

Kia Sportage Rear Shock Absorber: The Part That Takes Every Bump Before You Feel It

The Kia Sportage's front end tends to dominate suspension conversations since it steers the car, but rear shock wear happens at a comparable rate — just with subtler warning signs that often get blamed on road noise until they're too obvious to ignore.

Before you buy: AWD vs front-wheel-drive, hybrid/PHEV status, and left/right side all affect fitment. Always confirm against your VIN before ordering.

Kia Sportage Rear Shock Absorber: Watch: Replacing It

🎬 Watch: KIA Sportage 2012 replacement rear shock absorbers (Russian-language title)

Watch on YouTube ↗

This video is of an earlier generation of the same model; the job is similar but the mounts and fixings can differ slightly.

Kia Sportage Rear Shock Absorber reference plate

OEM Part Number: confirm via VIN — rear shock absorbers (aftermarket) Monroe 376252SP / Sachs 560527

Accuracy note: Covers the Kia Sportage (2016-2022) as listed in the UK aftermarket catalogues. Rear shock absorbers are replaced as a pair across the axle, because a new damper beside a worn one leaves the car feeling uneven. The right one depends on the engine, the suspension type (standard, sport or heavy-duty, and electronic damping on some models) and sometimes the body style. The references below are UK aftermarket catalogue listings for this generation, labelled by brand with the fitment details the catalogue gives; carmakers rarely publish the genuine number against these, so match a genuine damper against your VIN if you want a guaranteed fit. genuinely worth knowing: confirm your exact generation year range before ordering — as with the shared Tucson platform, references change across generations even where the Tucson/Sportage cross-reference holds within a generation.

Rear shock absorbers (aftermarket)	Monroe 376252SP (gas, telescopic); Sachs 560527 (gas, telescopic); Febi Bilstein 1002838 (gas, telescopic)
Genuine (OE) numbers quoted	None quoted in the catalogue listings — the genuine damper varies by engine, suspension type and body style, so order it against your VIN
Front-wheel drive, right	Genuinely a different part number from the left-side shock, and from the AWD version below — confirmed shared with the equivalent-generation Hyundai Tucson
Front-wheel drive, left	A genuinely different reference from the right-side shock above
AWD, right/left	Genuinely different references from the front-wheel-drive shocks — multiple suppliers list AWD as a distinct fitment from FWD
Hybrid/PHEV	May share a base part number with non-hybrid, but confirm via VIN — the added battery weight is a genuine engineering consideration even where the shock reference itself doesn't change

One-sided replacement can leave mismatched damping across the Kia Sportage's axle, which is why doing shock absorbers in pairs is the more consistent choice, even with just one visibly failed.

Kia Sportage Rear Shock Absorber: What It Does

On the Kia Sportage, how quickly the rear suspension compresses and rebounds over bumps comes down to the shock absorber, a separate function from the coil spring. Wear here shows up as excessive bounce that doesn't settle quickly after a bump.

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Kia Sportage Rear Shock Absorber: Warning Signs, DIY Difficulty & Aftermarket Advice

These are the same regardless of make or model — see our full Rear Shock Absorber Guide for symptoms of a worn shock, confirming fitment against your VIN, and OEM vs aftermarket guidance.

More Kia Rear Shock Absorber

The same part, covered across other Kia models.