Monroe Sensa-Trac Strut

[DownSouth]

I'm considering these for my base '93. Is this a good strut?

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=951301

[3X00-Modified]

KYB will have a better feel to them. KYB's are not the BEST you can do, but for a street driven vehicle they will work nicely... Monroe's are just crap.

[Money pit Beretta]

I had some Sensa-Trac's, slow to react and the car floated like a 70's Caddy if you hit a bump.

[Barry]

I would go out and say all these factory replacement struts are the same, factory replacements. Kyb is just another one that has stock dampening.

[DownSouth]

KYB will have a better feel to them. KYB's are not the BEST you can do, but for a street driven vehicle they will work nicely... Monroe's are just crap.

Crappy ride/feel or crappy quality?

I had some Sensa-Trac's, slow to react and the car floated like a 70's Caddy if you hit a bump.

Well this is my DD so I would like a comfortable ride but I don't want a boat that's for sure. We do have pretty good roads down here so a little stiffer strut/shock shouldn't be too bad.

fyi - I do have strut and shock tower bars.

I would go out and say all these factory replacement struts are the same, factory replacements. Kyb is just another one that has stock dampening.

I read that the KYB's are used with lowering springs,...so I thought they have stiffer dampening than factory replacements.

[woody90gtz]

I just swapped out Monroes for KYBs and the ride is better.

[DownSouth]

I just swapped out Monroes for KYBs and the ride is better.

Did you use the factory coil spring?

[woody90gtz]

No, both had Eibachs.

[3X00-Modified]

I would go out and say all these factory replacement struts are the same, factory replacements. Kyb is just another one that has stock dampening.

Not true... The KYB's matched with Eibach's respond in NO way shape or form as the Monroe's matched with Eibach's. I bet if you brought them somewhere to be dyno'd you would find that the KYB is a bit more aggressive on the rebound vs the Monroe's. Hell the Monroe's don't even match FE3 or FE7 specifications. KYB may be FE3 or FE7 equivalent and Monroe's are FE1 bouncy bouncy.

[Money pit Beretta]

My Monroe Plus are not too bad. For Monroe it is all about how stiff they are. The Reflex are sub standard replacement and the Plus are better all around for street/low end performance. The Sensa-Trac is ultra soft and I felt like they didn't react fast enough to bumps if there were more than one in a row. The tires felt like they were still in the air.
Check out the Plus
http://www.monroe.com/products/Monro-Matic-Plus
They are cheap if you don't have the money for KYB's.
I must have got a bad set of KYB's on my Cav with Eibachs. Rides like a truck and I was told that they are not for lowering springs.

[DownSouth]

I know most everyone replaces the springs, with lowering springs, when they replace the struts. I don't have a set of those so I was just going to reuse the factory springs. Do springs usually need to be replaced with the struts? Mine have 118K on them. If so, I may just purchase a complete assembly.

[Chad91GTZ]

I'm buying a set of 26 dollar Gabriels from rock auto tomorrow. I'll let you know how they ride (read: float) lol

[3X00-Modified]

My Monroe Plus are not too bad. For Monroe it is all about how stiff they are. The Reflex are sub standard replacement and the Plus are better all around for street/low end performance. The Sensa-Trac is ultra soft and I felt like they didn't react fast enough to bumps if there were more than one in a row. The tires felt like they were still in the air.
Check out the Plus
http://www.monroe.com/products/Monro-Matic-Plus
They are cheap if you don't have the money for KYB's.
I must have got a bad set of KYB's on my Cav with Eibachs. Rides like a truck and I was told that they are not for lowering springs.

Monroe-Matic-Plus is listed under Economy and Equivalent ride quality has the sensatracs... I wouldn't think something marketed as cheaper would ride any better.

Riding like a truck is what you get with lowering springs... If a strut was not meant for a lowering spring then you will get bad bounce and the car will not absorb the bump. If you want to lower your car you are shortening the distance the shock has to absorb the impact so you need to stiffen the shock up since the travel is reduced, equating to a STIFFER ROUGHER ride. I am still blown away when people complain about a lowering spring combo and struts riding like a truck... thats what happens... If you want a caddy then buy stock stuff and don't lower the car.

For lowering KYB is all we have over the counter that can take the abuse to an extent so I don't care what anyone says what they are meant for... you can do J-body inserts for Koni but thats another option that will "ride like a truck" trust me, they are STIFFER than KYB's.

If you are using stock springs then Gabriel's or Monroe's which ever version is probably fine since the spring doesn't bounce back as hard.

[Money pit Beretta]

All I can say is that I have had both and I like the Plus alot better on my stock Beretta spings. The market is geared to the soft ride, most people are not going to hit a turn hard and push the car. The valve action is good not great on the Plus, but they are low cost and easy to get at any NTB.
If I had the money I'd get some AGX for the Cav. The Cav guys laugh at me because they have cars that are lower than mine and don't have the harsh ride. But they have spent the money for high end shocks/struts. They call KYB GR2's junk and say that if you are going to use them you could go with Monroe if your foolish. Those guys have alot of money(most are boosted in some way) and have more brands to buy.

Now 3X00 why do think that I am going with the stock FE5 or FE7 for the Beretta? I feel what you are saying, in more ways than one.

[DownSouth]

Again, should I replace my factory springs? How do you know when they are shot?

If they are good, would a KYB/factory spring combo be ok?

Keep in mind I'm not looking for Corvette handling, just something decent for my DD.