Good brand of ready-struts?

[Blinker]

I’ve used the Monroe Quick struts on a few vehicles and they are nice units. However, I do think it’s application dependent. I’ve heard a lot of complaints regarding the Quick Struts in Toyota vehicles. I recall people saying that the Camry 4 cylinder, Camry V6, Solara 4 cylinder, Solara V6, and the Avalon all use a different strut or spring spec but Monroe uses the same components or something.

Don’t quote me on the exact issue but it was discovered that Monroe will design a strut to meet the needs of multiple vehicles. Meaning it might not be quite OE performance.

 

[oilmaven]

I know it's been awhile but I wanted to post an "update" to the ready strut saga on the old Camry. In the end we installed a set of Monroe ready struts. The result was awful. Clunking and popping right out of the box...not much improvement from the Gabriel's. I determined that they might improve over time after "settling in". No dice...although the car isn't driven a lot, the accumulation of a few hundred miles didn't change anything. The ride was OK but like the Gabriel's, the noise and clunking (which you could feel) was distracting. Anyone else would have just lived with it...but I didn't. After checking out all the front suspension (for the umpteenth time) for other issues, we ordered a set of KYB ready struts. Voila!...from the first roll out from the garage we knew we had a winner...no clunks, no pops...just an unbelievably smooth and supple ridride

 

[oilmaven]

Ok...it's early and I hit the post button before I was done. The KYB' s on the Camry were the clear ticket on the old girl and have restored the ride...quiet and supple...if anything better than OEM (trying to remember how it rode before). Despite my concern about ride harshness, these units obviously work great in this application. I just wish I'd gotten them in the first place...

 

[vwmaniaman]

A trip to a U-Pull-It may have been your easy fix on that one. Sometimes it is just that the OEM has already fixed this problem.

 

[BigCahuna]

Alot of people are hung up on OEM parts, I'm not. I believe the only reason a mfgr uses any give needed parts is because they get the best deal on a bulk purchase. When the struts went on my '02 Explorer, I read all the reviews and opinions on here for which to use. I settled on a aftermarket brand I've never heard of before. SEN SEN, They offered the best warranty then monroe or motorcraft or other brands unknown to me did. There's was 10 years vs 1-2 on the other brands. I bought them and I noticed while changing them out, the original springs were badly rusted and 3 had broken springs. So much for OEM being of better quality. The SEN SEN brand struts made the car sit about 2 inches taller. I guess I just got used to the car being sagged down, so it was noticeable. It rides fine to me, maybe a bit bouncy on rough roads like pot holes that never get fixed in New Jersey. That was approx 6 years ago, and the cost back then was around $230 if I recall. If I was going to sell a car and it needed struts, I would throw the cheapest I could find on that car. But I plan on keeping the Explorer until the wheels turn square.,,,