Do front shock absorbers on a car turn when the wheels turn?

James is all wet! Modern Toyota Cars don't have shock absorbers. They have struts that are clamped in the spindle and they do turn when ever the steering wheel turns. Toyota's also have lower ball joints and upper strut tower bearings. The rear struts are obviously stationary inside the rear spindles.

I wish you had given us an example car (a few rear wheel drive cars) still have shock absorbers that does not turn even when the steering wheel is turned. An example would be a 1953 - 2016 Corvette, original Chevelle, original GTO, original 1960 - 1969 Impala or the NASCAR cars you see race Saturdays and Sundays. In each of these cases the lower shock mount is on the lower A-frame.

Shock absorbers no but strut assemblies yes. The bottom of the strut acts like the upper ball joint. It swivels at the upper strut mount.

Yes. They do at least on my car. I have front struts. Not shocks. The coil spring as well as lower assembly (the strut itself) rotates.

"shocks" have not been standard fare on cars for nearly 30 years and the answer is NO to that. Struts = yes

Depends on the design of the front suspension system.
If the car has strut-type front suspension, the dampers (shock absorbers) sit inside the struts, which do turn with the wheels in most cases.
With any other suspension design (e.g. double-wishbone, multi-link) or more complicated strut-based systems fitted to some high performance cars (e.g. Revo-knuckle, Hi-Per strut), the steering knuckle has a second, upper pivot point, meaning the damper is separated from the steering and does not turn.

no. they are mounted to the front suspension, away from the steering.

depends on the design of the front end, the standard MacPherson strut will turn the body of the shock absorber, while the inner rod would stay stationary. older style double wishbone systems, or truck style systems, the shock absorber won't turn with the wheels

NO. They are hooked to parts that ONLY go up and down, not forward or backward or rotate.

no.......obviously you have no idea what shock absorbers look like, lol .

see how suspension and steering works:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=0uPB8s6jSl4#t=140

not on my toyota

No!

No they expand and compress

No.
They are inboard of the steering joint.
This is either a CV joint on a front or 4 WD or a king pin on a rear wheel drive.

No, the shock absorbers and springs are part of the suspension which supports the body of the car above the frame. They cushion the ride of the body. The wheels turn independent of this suspension.