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Rear Struts KYB favorite...but.


snippits
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92 Cutlass Supreme needs some rear struts, and I know KYB's are favorites around here, but they are very expensive. Can pick up two Monroe OE Spectrum(Sensatrac) struts for 28.99 each shipped. The Monroe strut mate mounting kit 902941 Napa branded for $17.00 each shipped. Two complete rear struts with all new parts for $92 to my door sounds like a good deal to me. Just have to assemble the strut mate kit, and it will be a fully assembled ready to mount strut.

 

What you guys think? I know KYB has a good reputation, but money is talking.

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I have Monroe struts all around on my Cutlass and I stand by them. KYB is good if you're lowering your car or want a hella stiff suspension but Monroe does the job and if you're just a casual cruiser you'll get by with em. I'm a more spirited driver and I've been doing fine with the Monroes.

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I bought KYBs for mine from Rockauto for not much more than the cost of Monroes....unfortunately, between my work travel, and the power steering hose fiasco, they are still in the boxes.

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I put KYB GR-2's on my old 95 Regal, and the "grandpa" springs (FE1 suspension) didn't mesh well with the hella-stiff KYB's. The suspension would recoil violently if you took a corner or on-ramp extra fast. I would say don't bother with KYB's unless your car has FE3 or aftermarket springs...

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The monroe's will be fine as the others said. I have those in my parent's '94 Regal and it rides pretty much like it did with good factory original struts. It has the FE1 suspension with the cruise-ship ratio steering rack in it. :D I installed those in 2010. I had to go back and replace one of the fronts in 2014 due to a seal failure. They're lifetime warrantied through the local parts store, so it was a free replacement with me installing it. They have right at 35,000 miles on the other three since 2010(I keep very detailed maintenance records and just looked it up out of curiosity).

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Opinions probably will be all over the map, as very few, if any people posting here or on the Internet more broadly have done proper comparisons between either brand in any sort of scientific way.

 

KYB rears didn't make a lot of difference for me. Probably the biggest overall change to 'feel' on the rears was installing the Moog spring blocks (see my signature line). The extra half an inch compressed the spring and seemed to give the whole rear suspension a different feel.

 

I did the rears, and found the fronts really needed it as well. So highly recommend, if this is the first time struts are being done, that you do all 4. Fronts are a piece of cake if you can rent the tool.

 

If you've never done the job before, keep in mind that you'll have to compress the auxiliary spring, using a bolt, prior to taking it apart. There's either a special tool, or alternatively a bolt can be used for that.

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In AutoZones system the KYB struts are listed as OEM parts.:thumbsup:

 

Also any idea what size bolt one would need to compress the aux. spring? Or at least a ballpark size?

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BTW, KYB 236003 on Amazon for $31 free shipping. Pretty much the same as your $29 Monroes.

 

http://www.amazon.com/KYB-236003-Excel-G-Replacement-Strut/dp/B000C44BY0

 

Check those monoleaf pads while you're in there and replace if indicated.

 

Only thing is about the those KYB's is that the other parts(bellows, top mount, etc.) are outrageously priced. Don't know if a Monroe strut mate kit would fit a KYB or not.

 

I looked at where I think those monoleaf pads go, and there is not any. No sign of anything being mounted at the end of the spring closest to the tire.

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In AutoZones system the KYB struts are listed as OEM parts.:thumbsup:

 

Also any idea what size bolt one would need to compress the aux. spring? Or at least a ballpark size?

 

Most struts come with that bolt. That bolt compresses and holds the rubber dampner. Here is two videos from a guy that is doing it on a 94 Cutlass, and my 92 looks just like his in the rear.

 

 

 

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Nice videos

 

I bought my KYB as a kit from a guy here and they didn't come with the bolt. But I remembered I just need to remove them not compress them. Could be good info to know for the future if anyone needs to compress that spring though.

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Only thing is about the those KYB's is that the other parts(bellows, top mount, etc.) are outrageously priced. Don't know if a Monroe strut mate kit would fit a KYB or not.

 

Yeah I'm not sure either. I want to say yes, because a mount is a mount. But Murphy's Law tells me I'd be wrong for some reason or another. I personally went with the SR4026 package ('quick-struts') with my KYB's, but my existing mounts were in perfectly good shape and I probably could have re-used.

 

{QUOTE]I looked at where I think those monoleaf pads go, and there is not any. No sign of anything being mounted at the end of the spring closest to the tire.

 

Well definitely do something about that, whether you go with the glue-on pads, or the white nylon Moog pucks.

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Nice videos

 

I bought my KYB as a kit from a guy here and they didn't come with the bolt. But I remembered I just need to remove them not compress them. Could be good info to know for the future if anyone needs to compress that spring though.

 

"M10 x 1.5 x 90mm"

 

From a post I typed a few years ago. I tried for a minute to find that via the search here using almost verbatim to what was typed in my old post, but no dice. Google to the rescue.

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Well definitely do something about that, whether you go with the glue-on pads, or the white nylon Moog pucks.

 

Ok will do. I will go with the Moog pucks. I will have everything tore down anyway, so I might as well get two birds with one stone.

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"M10 x 1.5 x 90mm"

 

From a post I typed a few years ago. I tried for a minute to find that via the search here using almost verbatim to what was typed in my old post, but no dice. Google to the rescue.

 

google has failed me again. I did search first but only got results about the front springs or for springs for other cars. Thanks, im trying to recreate my personal W-body notes I lost on my last hard drive which is the why for a lot of my recent noob questions.

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Those of you using the moog plastic isolators may want to check your spring condition. A member here posted picture of a spring being damaged by those if I remember correctly. I've been meaning to pull them from my car just to see if there's any noticeable wear on the spring.

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Those of you using the moog plastic isolators may want to check your spring condition. A member here posted picture of a spring being damaged by those if I remember correctly. I've been meaning to pull them from my car just to see if there's any noticeable wear on the spring.

 

Yes I saw the picture of that in that thread. Looked like the end of the spring was being whittled down. But I do wonder if the Moog pucks were installed upside down. Instead of the flat side contacting spring, it looks possible to me that the other side of the puck could have done that type of damage.

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Those of you using the moog plastic isolators may want to check your spring condition. A member here posted picture of a spring being damaged by those if I remember correctly. I've been meaning to pull them from my car just to see if there's any noticeable wear on the spring.

 

I use 'em, but I justified such in terms of if I get 100k miles out of them, that's the remaining life of the car most likely. But fact is, those glue-on pads more closely resemble the original pads, and are most likely to be free of issues.

 

I inspected the pads after roughly 5k, and it appears most of the wear is occurring to the moog pads themselves and not to the spring. But really won't know, of course, till its too late. In which case, if I still have the car, I'll probably spring for a set of steel Birchmounts which I'll pick up next time in Mississauga.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just finished replacing my struts with new KYB GR2's new KYB mounts and KYB bellows in the rear. Total parts cost from Rockauto was around $150.00. My Cutlass has FE3 suspension, from what I can tell so far, the ride is notably firmer, but not harsh. The passenger side strut had pretty much fails to a point that it was obvious the strut had bottomed out a few times, the plastic retainer for the bellows that sits inside the mount had crush damage.

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Just finished replacing my struts with new KYB GR2's new KYB mounts and KYB bellows in the rear. Total parts cost from Rockauto was around $150.00. My Cutlass has FE3 suspension, from what I can tell so far, the ride is notably firmer, but not harsh. The passenger side strut had pretty much fails to a point that it was obvious the strut had bottomed out a few times, the plastic retainer for the bellows that sits inside the mount had crush damage.

 

Sounds good.

 

I just bought a new pair of Gabriel ready mount fully loaded for $61.16 shipped to my door. The seller only has one more set left. It says $22.xx shipping to me on the page I was looking at, but gave me the option of choosing Fedex ground instead of Fedex Smartpost on checkout which saved me $6.00 more.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251537344592?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

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Just got the Gabriel loaded struts today. They are brand new in the box. They are in CarQuest packaging, but the ends of the boxes is all Gabriel. Going to get them put on this coming Monday. Hope they ride good.

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Installed the Gabriel struts yesterday, and that annoying clunk is gone now from the left rear. Rear left was shot. Looked at the part number that was on the old strut housing that got replaced, and it had the old Gabriel part number stamped on 736514 which is an Ultra Strut. Not sure if that was an original GM part or not. Did a Gabriel catalog part search for 736514, and it said it was G56708 Ultra strut.

 

It was hard without any impact wrenches. Dang grizzly bear must have tightened the strut to knuckle bolts on the right rear. Rubber mallet plus 15/16 wrench got it done though. Thought I might have problems with the strut tower bolts, but they came out fairly easy. I soaked them the night before with Kroil, so that helped too. No rust in either side of the strut towers.

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Only thing is about the those KYB's is that the other parts(bellows, top mount, etc.) are outrageously priced. Don't know if a Monroe strut mate kit would fit a KYB or not.

 

I bought the KYB mounts, bearings, and boots. I was glad for the mounts and bearings, but my 20-year old boots still looked good after only 80K miles on the car. I washed them good and hit them with Armorall and they look great! The KYB boots are still in the box. The originals are huge honking things but do a good job of keeping things covered and clean.

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I bought the KYB mounts, bearings, and boots. I was glad for the mounts and bearings, but my 20-year old boots still looked good after only 80K miles on the car. I washed them good and hit them with Armorall and they look great! The KYB boots are still in the box. The originals are huge honking things but do a good job of keeping things covered and clean.

 

 

Were the new KYB boots the round cylinder shaped? https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1300675&cc=1223233&jnid=466&jpid=4

 

My Gabriel's have the round shaped boots just like the KYB loaded strut that I linked above. With the round shaped boot, it does not hug the strut housing like the older type did. The boot is a good bit larger than the strut housing, and when I went to zip tie the bottoms, there was no way to get the bottom of the boot zip tied without overlapping the boot itself because of how much bigger it is at the bottom than the strut housing. Hope I explained that good enough. If you mouse over the first picture of the KYB strut, you can see what I am talking about.

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