What Struts to buy? Gabriel? Monroe? KYB?

[GemStater]

Looking at quick strut options for my Dodge Caravan family hauler. The mentioned three brands have rebates going on now. Gabriel and KYB are about the same price while Monroe would be about $60 bucks less.

What are your Suggestions? Opinions? Experiences?

 

[anonobomber]

I personally go with KYB and have never been dissatisfied. They've always given a very good ride and I have not run into any problems with longevity.

edit: I have no experience with their quick struts only with their bare struts and shocks. I always rebuild the strut using the old spring and mount as they've been in good shape still when I have had to do it.

 

[Jimzz]

I prefer KYB and have Gaberial and Monroe as my 2nd choices.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

I was impressed with the KYBs I bought for my Subaru. Not so much with the Monroes for my wife's Corolla.

I just saw that KYB rebate the other day. I'm almost tempted to replace the Corolla's Monroes with KYBs and Craigslist them or something.

 

[zzyzzx]

For a vehicle like that, I'd get the Monroes. You don't want the stiff suspension for a family hauler that you would get from Gebriel or KYB.

 

[Bgallagher]

I have Monroe shocks and struts on my Equinox and they are nice. I have their reflex truck shocks. Good handling and still maintains a good ride. I know their quickstruts have a lifetime warranty as does Gabriel. Not sure about KYBs

 

[Indydriver]

Originally Posted By: Bgallagher
I have Monroe shocks and struts on my Equinox and they are nice. I have their reflex truck shocks. Good handling and still maintains a good ride. I know their quickstruts have a lifetime warranty as does Gabriel. Not sure about KYBs

I put the same on my 2007 Tahoe. Satisfied after 5,000 miles.

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

I put Monroe Sensatrac quick struts on my 94 Plymouth GV 2 years ago. Work well, not problems. On the 2000 GC I used Raybestos pro quick struts. (on sale @ rockauto). They are doing fine.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Any of the three will be fine, but my choice would be KYB. I've used Gabriel with no problems as well. No experience with Monroe.

 

[Vuflanovsky]

I would be tempted to say any of the three if you're not going after a specific performance / handling goal, etc. I swapped out the stock struts on a Mazda 3 at 50K miles with the KYBs and didn't notice much of a difference. There may be more of a difference used in a minivan with more mileage but I would tend to think that's probably not the case and they'd be similar. I've had Monroes in previous vehicles and found them to work fine.

 

[GemStater]

Thanks for the comments.

I'm now thinking of opting out of quick-struts and instead swapping over the factory springs. This is how I've always done it and have never experienced a problem.

Also, after reading around the internet a bit, one guy said the Monroe quick strut increased his ride height by about two inches. I know anytime suspension springs are replaced, ride height can be affected be it temporarily or for a longer duration. This is especially concerning to me because in this application, I have struts on the front and shocks on the rear.

Also, I've only heard good things about KYB so that's probably the rout I'll go.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Even with the spring issue, I'd still use the quick struts. Why mess with a spring compressor when you don't have to?

And you can always replace the rear springs, too.

 

[JustinH]

I put the monroe's on my wifes old pontiac when we lived in New York.

The spring was majorly rusty after one winter.

I do not think they are treated for rust as well as an OEM spring.

It was so rusty you could not even see any paint on it.

 

[anl0109]

I want to say that my Subaru had stock KYB struts which worked without issues for over 100K miles. Not sure about brand though. But I replaced fronts with a fresh pair of KYB's. So far so good after about a year. No experience with other brands or quick struts.

 

[NHGUY]

There are 2 Monroe quick struts.181 and 171 series.The Econostruts have zero warranty.Zero.That would explain why they are cheaper.Buy the better ones.

 

[GMBoy]

I've had decent results with the Monroe Quick Struts except in their "OE SPECTRUM" line - they suck. I have installed about 3 or 4 sets of their regular struts which were the sensa-trak flavor. Then I did an import with the OE SPECTRUM and after about 10k miles the customer was completely dissatisfied. The ride and noise were awful. Thankfully, they provided those parts so I didn't get stuck trying to warranty them and source new ones.

 

[Rat407]

The shop I take my vehicle too for all the front end alignments highly recommends the Monroe Sensatrac. They get great reports from all their customers. This shop is a family run business that has been open for 40 years now. It will be a sad day when they close, since they are all getting to the point that they are ready to retire.

 

[OneEyeJack]

I installed KYB's in my 84 Honda 200K miles ago. I keep testing them ready to replace them but they're still working just fine. I have no idea why they are still okay but even a couple of mechanics that have tested them and agree.

 

[GemStater]

Update:

At Amazon.com, sold through Just Suspension, I ordered two KYB Excel-G struts and two KYB Excel-G shocks. $133.96 shipped! Plus I applied for the Amazon Store card and got $40 bucks off. So with the $40 MIR, all said and done, $53.96. Not bad!

 

[babyivan]

Monroe is offering a great rebate deal till April 30th.
I just ordered a complete set of their quick-strut complete assemblies for my newly acquired Camry through Rockauto and got a $120 rebate. $470-120 = $350 for complete suspension overhaul that I can install myself..... I love the advent of complete strut assemblies!!