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Opinions on struts

T

thewaitinggame

New member
I need struts for my 03 grand prix. I've been looking on the forum to see what people like but can't really find an answer I'm looking for. Most posts are about lowering cars and I'm not looking to do that. My first option for the easiest is the monroe or kyb assembled struts. I would like these because it would be fast but they are pricey. I've been spending enough money lately on my car and would like to do it cheaper than those.

I see a lot people say stay away from monroe and get kyb. I currently have all stock suspension. If I were to buy just the struts and use the springs and other stock stuff, would that be fine to do? Or what else should I buy if I just buy the struts? It's been a while since I had to replace them on a car so just looking for some help. I basically just want to replace the stock setup. Thanks
 


You may want to just buy the assembled struts, unless you have replaced your strut mounts recently (They tend to rot). By the time you buy all the parts, its usually cheaper just to get the whole assembly.
 
Yeah that's what I was thinking, if I need to replace other parts too it wont be much of a difference in price. But wasn't too sure what else would need to be replaced along with the strut or what usually is worn out on the current strut assembly. I see the mounting plates are about 20 a piece. So i guess it will add up if I need to replace more. I might have to spend the extra money and just get the assembled ones.
 
I just changed my 03 struts. Got them at NAPA, part numbers 171661 quick struts and 71662 sensatrac struts. They have some good rebates right now.

They have a great web-site showing options for struts as well as all other parts.
 
Yeah I think I will get the assembled ones. I just did lim and uim that took a full saturday and I'd like these to be a fast swap out. Plus I should probably have new springs and the rest new because I've got a lot of miles on the stock stuff. I think I'm going with the monroe assembled because of price and the rebates, from Rock after rebate they will cost 421 shipped. The KYB everyone likes will be 694 shipped. Its a big difference in price that I just don't have right now. I know a lot of people the use monroe and like them for other vehicles and I did use them on an 87 monte carlo I had, may have been shocks though. Hopefully they are decent struts to use as stock replacement.

I looked at Napa's site and didn't see any rebate info, maybe I missed it.
 


I looked at Napa's site and didn't see any rebate info, maybe I missed it.[/QUOTE]


My local store had a display at the counter:buy one get one free and up to a $150 rebate.
 
Madness said:
I looked at Napa's site and didn't see any rebate info, maybe I missed it.
Click to expand...


My local store had a display at the counter:buy one get one free and up to a $150 rebate.[/QUOTE]

oops, it was buy 3 get one free, be sure to save the box ends it you go with these, sorry bout that
 
over $600 for assembled KYB gr2 srtruts? what a waste.

you can get those struts for $200 and the strut plates for another $160-170 or so. you don't need new springs. It shouldn't be that much more of a pain to put you springs and new strut plates on the new strut.

i was thinking about assembled monro sensatracs for the price and reviews, but i heard those will raise your ride height
 


Warbeaver said:
over $600 for assembled KYB gr2 srtruts? what a waste.

you can get those struts for $200 and the strut plates for another $160-170 or so. you don't need new springs. It shouldn't be that much more of a pain to put you springs and new strut plates on the new strut.

i was thinking about assembled monro sensatracs for the price and reviews, but i heard those will raise your ride height
Click to expand...

really? Raise?

Is this just because of the less worn springs or what?
 
Well I'm going to check prices this weekend but if I'm going to spend about 370 on struts and mounting hardware, i might just get assembled monroe's for 420 after rebate. Maybe if its near the 320 like in one of the posts, maybe for $100 difference maybe it will be worth it to do it that way. I guess I should also check out my springs. I have no noticable sag on any side more than another, all pretty even spacing. But I guess if my spring look bad then I would have to replace them too.
 
really? Raise?

Is this just because of the less worn springs or what?
Click to expand...

idk, its something with the springs i would assume. Because one guy at Branson used stock springs on his monroes and his car looked lower than stock. my buddy said he put them on his gp and it raised his ride height a bit. im sure the car feels great, but no need for a bigger fender gap lol
 
Just did my struts today. I got the monroe quick struts from rock. The first front driver one was a pain to get back in because the lower bolts weren't lining up right. The rears were way easier. I'm glad I got the quick struts because it only took about 2-3 hrs to do all 4. Would have been faster if we weren't fighting the first strut in place. The whole arm lifted up a little and was hard to push back into place to put the new strut in. But got it straightened out on how to do it for the next one.

But It's a big difference in my ride now and didn't really notice a big difference in height. At first I could but after driving and the springs settling down, not a huge difference. Probably about where it should be. My original springs had 140,000 on them so they were probably a bit worn out. Got all 4 wheels aligned too. Thanks for all the suggestions too.
 


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