Anybody ever heard of Unity?

[daves87rs]

http://unityautomotive.co/


I've never heard of these guys and their struts. At least until today. My neighbor was helping a friend of his put some struts and other stuff on his oldish sunfire. He said that he picked them off of amazon (full strut assemb) for like 65 bucks.(Keep in mind, the cheapest I've ever seen for QS for a J body (since I own one) is around 100 bucks for Monroe Economy version...

I nosed around through some other models of cars...and found that they were like sometimes like 50-60 bucks cheaper! Pretty sure I'm not going to stray from my monroe or Kyb choice, anyways, but I figured I'd ask, as it might be a good choice for somebody's beater...

Also noticed a local shop undercutting others on price....now I think I know why....

 

[artificialist]

I would be nervous. Many of the newest quick-strut clones are being made in China by some mystery company. They might be good, but I really don't want to find out on one of my cars, or a car that belongs to a member of my family.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: artificialist
I would be nervous. Many of the newest quick-strut clones are being made in China by some mystery company. They might be good, but I really don't want to find out on one of my cars, or a car that belongs to a member of my family.



Similar to what someone told me...To me, I'd rather just have some sensa tracs shipped from rockauto if I was going to go budget. The roads here in MI just killed one of the Reybestos struts I put on the wife's car (they held up great until then). Then again, I see KYBs die a quick death here too...


But I'd figured I'd let people know either way....

 

[01rangerxl]

They have a pretty slick website for a likely Chinese repackager. Notice they do private label (store brand, generic brand) parts too. The text on the website was at least written by someone fluent in English. The satellite view for their address in FL is some nondescript junky industrial building. Nothing big enough for any kind of manufacturing.

The fact they are selling parts for much less than even the cheapest Monroes would scare me. They have to be cutting corners somewhere.

 

[Vikas]

Aren't they *all* made in China? If I were to buy Monroe Quik-strut, the chances are it will be from China. Having said that, usually one can find great deals on Monroe, so one should not have to resort to buying off-brand struts to save the money.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
They have a pretty slick website for a likely Chinese repackager. Notice they do private label (store brand, generic brand) parts too. The text on the website was at least written by someone fluent in English. The satellite view for their address in FL is some nondescript junky industrial building. Nothing big enough for any kind of manufacturing.

The fact they are selling parts for much less than even the cheapest Monroes would scare me. They have to be cutting corners somewhere.


Kinda my thought as well. I happened to be shopping struts for my Cobalt as just happened to come across these while shopping.

I figure this question was going to come out some time or another, hence this thread. I figure when someone did a google search on them, they would at least have something to go on, good or bad.


Heck, I noticed when googling Service Pro oil, my thread from a few years ago still pops up....

 

[tommygunn]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Aren't they *all* made in China? If I were to buy Monroe Quik-strut, the chances are it will be from China. Having said that, usually one can find great deals on Monroe, so one should not have to resort to buying off-brand struts to save the money.


No. Monroe is usually made in the US or Mexico, although some European applications are made in Spain and Belgium. Very few are Chinese.

Stick to the name brands like Monroe, Gabriel, Raybestos, KYB, and Moog.

The off-brands barely last 10000 miles even on decent roads.

Also, Monroe and Gabriel often go on rebate, usually in the spring and in the fall; their most recent rebate was in April. If you can wait until the next rebate promotion, you can get quality struts for the same price as the cheap Chinese junk you're asking about.

 

[artificialist]

I frequently deal with Monroe products that get made in Australia and South Africa. That in mind, it sounds better than an nameless company in China.

 

[daves87rs]

Picked up some details on this so called "good deal"

Turns out my local shop just put these (customer provided) on a older chevy Malibu. Front right front broke after hitting a smaller pothole a few days after.

You really do get what you pay for.....

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Aren't they *all* made in China? If I were to buy Monroe Quik-strut, the chances are it will be from China. Having said that, usually one can find great deals on Monroe, so one should not have to resort to buying off-brand struts to save the money.


The last two orders of Monroe OESpectrum that I received, were from Spain and the USA.

 

[zzyzzx]

All of the Monroe's that I have used were made in USA.

 

[Vikas]

This is great to know!

 

[Quest]

For you/your own safety's sake: invest a bit more money on reputable brand name replacement struts/shocks.

I personally had experiences with cheep replacements such as leacree, etc. and they all failed to meet my bare minimum expectations (no, I didn't use them on any of my cars, but per client's request: on a couple of them corollas).

You'll have a lot more confidence and safe riding miles even out of the most basic set of brand names such as KYB black, Monroe OESpec or whatever they have under that price range.

Remember this: you can go cheep on anything but if you do so with your tires, brakes and suspension (components, including shocks/struts), you'll lose manoeuvrability, proper handling capability, and proper stopping distance, period.

It's your life your betting on, so play it safe.

Q.