preassembled struts...your opinion?

Madhelpermonkey · Post by **Madhelpermonkey** » 26 Jan 2012, 19:37

I learned about Monroe Quick Struts last year and at that time they had none for the 850. The Saturn forum I use talked about them as easy but they squeaked. Today I learned the Gabriel now has something similar and has a unit for the 850. Amazon has them for about $152.

Aside fror not being OEM or other popular brands real volvo owners like, what is the concensus on these for budget strapped owners for low use cars? (less than 7k per year.) Seem quite easy to install and have some form of lifetime guarantee

Chris

Post by **Matty Moo** » 26 Jan 2012, 22:01

Honestly....I'd pass for a few reasons.

1. Gabriel is low-line stuff.
2. The included spring seat and strut bearing/mount are probably the cheapest they could get.
3. The price is about the same you would pay for a new oem strut with a new oem spring seat and paying somebody to swap springs.

You could go the Monroe route through amazon...$55 per strut. I've had mine for about 9 months...for the price they aren't bad and have held up well. They've actually settled to the height they should be at.

I don't think I would use Gabriel for anything.

Madhelpermonkey · Post by **Madhelpermonkey** » 27 Jan 2012, 04:25

Thanks Matt..anyone else?

Post by **wheelsup** » 27 Jan 2012, 07:32

From FCP

Sachs OEM strut $98 x 2 = $196
Sachs OEM Strut mount $63 x2 = $126
Sachs OEM spring seat $22 x2 = $44
Dust boot $10 x 2 = $20
Bump stop $15 x 2 = $30
--------------------------------------
$416 minus FCP coupon code "maxrossi20" for 20% off thru mid-feb, = $333.

It's possible your dust boot and bump stops are fine, mine were practically turned into dust so I went ahead and replaced them @ 175k.

The spring probably does not need to be replaced - it's typically a lifetime item unless it rusts thru. I didn't even see an OEM spring on FCP's web site, although they sell the Scantech for around $100 ($50 x 2) or an additional $80 after discount.

I don't know anything about Gabriel, I would look into what the lifetime guarantee entails, how the product is swapped out (ie local or do you have to ship those heavy parts back on your dime?) etc.

I can tell you when I was replacing my stuff I personally wanted to put the Monroe quick struts on but they don't make them for our cars. So I settled on the OEM Sachs stuff.

Post by **matthew1** » 27 Jan 2012, 10:31

In case you go with Monroes, this may help:

"Please note that the price of Monroe 71699 Sensa-Trac Strut has decreased from $50.11 to $45.59 since you placed it in your Shopping Cart. Items in your cart will always reflect the most recent price displayed on their product detail pages." -- my Amazon cart

Monroe 71699 Sensa-Trac Strut
Direct link with MVS affiliate embedded.

Post by **jblackburn** » 27 Jan 2012, 11:07

I used Monroes on a Honda Accord and it all it did was roll around corners like cow. Worse than the 20-yr-old, 200,000 miles struts already on it.

It did stop squeaking, though.

Post by **wheelsup** » 27 Jan 2012, 13:50

His question was about the entire assembly not the individual strut.

Post by **matthew1** » 27 Jan 2012, 14:19

Here's a list of Amazon's Monroe Quick Struts. I don't know which one you need. That link has MVS code embedded if you'd like to help out MVS financially and choose to go the Quick Strut route.

dwyerob · Post by **dwyerob** » 29 Jan 2012, 18:31

I recently replaced most of my front suspension for about $600 almost exclusively from IPD. It was one of the easiest suspension jobs I've performed on a vehicle, it only took me about 3 hrs and I'm no master mechanic. I wouldn't risk poor quality parts if you're worried about ease of installation.