Monroe Quick-Strut springs: Use as-is or swap?

[MarkStock]

Saw this a little late, but in general KYB are recommended for Japanese cars as they are often the OEM.

On the other hand, the Monroe rebate is hard to turn down, especially when KYB are already 25% more expensive and don't have any offers.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

Update:

Well, the front struts went in fine. After I got it up on jackstands, the first one took about 45 minutes but the second one only about 20. The Corolla does not have adjustable camber on the front beyond whatever play is in the bolt holes, so the alignment is barely off. Everything went back together well. The quick test ride I took afterward tells me the Quick-Struts are a bit softer than I'd like for new parts, but damping is improved a little and the spring rate seems close if not the same. I do wish both were a bit stiffer but they're on there now. They sit about 5/8" higher which is barely noticable.

Unfortunately, the rears were an issue, but not with the struts themselves. I couldn't get the sway bar link off the tab on the strut and ended up ruining it in the process by rounding out the allen head. What a stupid design. New links from Beck/Arnley are being shipped so hopefully I'll get this sorted by next weekend. Looks like I'll have to drill them off the end of the sway bar from underneath. Great.

(not my photo) http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q2B2pa6pitU/S37Mx-aty5I/AAAAAAAAAoI/nAf20ODmlww/s1600/mods020.jpg

One minor issue: The strut bellows and bumpstops were different on these, not matching from right to left. One side had a very generic looking rubber one-piece bellows/stop that didn't cover all of the shaft and certainly didn't seal it against the elements. The other side had a nicer-looking two-piece system with a larger but softer bump stop and a very large, very flexible bellows that covered everything. I looked at the rears and they were the same way, one of each style. I guess they were from two different batches or something but I sure do wish they all had the nicer two-piece style. I guess you get what you pay for.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

So this project is finally done. Drilling out the old rear sway bar links was time consuming but generally easy. The new Quick-Struts were a direct swap except for some initial alignment issues getting the top hats through the body. Piece of cake on the fronts, not so much on the rears since they are inside the cabin. The new Beck/Arnley links look to be good quality (made in Turkey?).

Like the front, the rear now sits about 5/8" higher which is negligible and fortunately even. The new rears made more of a difference than the new fronts did, and as I suspected, was more in need of replacing. The ride seems quite a lot better with a bit of the 'new car' steering precision restored but I still wish the fronts were firmer. I'm thinking the spring rate is a tad softer than stock which I was initially concerned about, but at this point, it's done and I'm satisfied.

Now, just waiting on that $125 rebate from Monroe...