FAQ: Shocks & Struts Options

You pretty much have me sold on these now.
And i found these for sale on buyKYB.com for 175 shipped , however the site seems a tad fishy to me.

i wish i had gone that route when i did my suspension the first time. it is worth it to have the lower/stiffer sts springs, but piecing everything out gets pricy if you do need the new components.(you will almost always need bearing,and upper/lower insulators)
if you part everything out you will spend about $375 if you reuse the upper plastic isolator and oem spring.

or you could get the complete kit for $350.
...need i do the math?


oh, and anyone need some good condition KYB's for their 96?? $20+shipping

I recently put rear struts in a Ford Taurus and bought Monroe "Quick Struts" for it - comes all assembled and includes springs. Easiest strut job I've ever done, plus it turned out one of the original springs was broken. Do they make "Quick Strut" assemblies for the Riv? Absolutely the way to go if available.

I looked into getting the Monroe Quick Struts for my 98, but not available for that year for some reason. That's when I started buying all the individual parts.
I think they are available for the 95-96 though.

I can see Monroe making them for the early 95-96 cars, when you look at the production numbers alone.

I have a 1996 riviera. What struts should i look into buying?

KYB GR-2s up front and Monroe Max Airs for the rear.

My choice would be:

Monroe Sensa-Trac for the struts, and Delco Air for the rears. That's what I have... However, for the rears, I've heard that there are Max Airs that plug into the factory fittings...

I like Monroes all the way around. I did that and think my car rides great. Sensa-Tracs up front and Max-Airs in back.

KYB GR2s on the front - still firm after running 100k miles.

I got the Sensa-Tracs locally with a lifetime warranty. The warranty was what sold me.

I don't think you would be unhappy with any of the choices mentioned above.

I've had KYB GR-2's up front, with the Monroe shocks out back for over a year, and they ride great. The Monroes are a direct repl for factory rear air shocks. If your current stuff is worn out, anything new will be a huge ride improvement.

I was told Monroe doesn't do lifetime warranties anymore... maybe just on the air shocks?

I don't recall what the warranty period was when I bought mine.

where would be the best place to get KYB-GR2s?

Try your local auto parts stores. I know I can get a set locally for my car.
Or you can shop at many of the online stores that are listed on this site.

or you can buy my set


FWIW, my local auto parts stores dont carry kyb's. i ordered them from rockauto. ebay has them occasionally too.

I got my KYB GR2's and mounts from RockAuto last week. I actually installed them Thursday (good write-up in this sub-forum, even without pictures). My factory front struts were almost completely shot.
All I can say is that my Riviera is almost like a completely different car. I now like it even more.

Cheers.

going on what ash just said, my rears were completely worn out and I just put in some new monroe max-airs and holy shit what an incredible difference. I would highly reccomend these to anyone. also I had tire rub on the fenders with my aftermarket wheels, and that is now gone thanks to the monroes!

Hey my right hand side shock is blown. I was wondering what you guys were putting in for aftermarket shocks to stiffin the ride? I hear KYB KYB all the time but i need a part number so i can order something up..

Thanks

Get the ones made to fit the car.
KYB's are for the front.
Get Monroe Max Airs for the rear if your still using the factory level ride & air shocks.

You have 9 pages of opinions and P/N's to read.

I just noticed Rock Auto has a Monroe Rear Shock Conversion Kit P/N 90007 which is a pair of shocks with external springs. Don't know if it's adjustable or not but I'll bet that you could remove the Air Shocks and Springs completely and install these.
I would like to experiment with the ride a little bit.
As we have mentioned many times before, the stock rear springs along with Air Shocks is a bit much.
I don't load the trunk or passenger compartment with any weight, so for me they may work out well.
I'll have to research that part number Monroe shock a bit more and find out if the outer spring is adjustable.

Rickw wrote:

I just noticed Rock Auto has a Monroe Rear Shock Conversion Kit P/N 90007 which is a pair of shocks with external springs. Don't know if it's adjustable or not but I'll bet that you could remove the Air Shocks and Springs completely and install these.
I would like to experiment with the ride a little bit.
As we have mentioned many times before, the stock rear springs along with Air Shocks is a bit much.
I don't load the trunk or passenger compartment with any weight, so for me they may work out well.
I'll have to research that part number Monroe shock a bit more and find out if the outer spring is adjustable.

Outer spring is probably progressive but not adjustable, I'd assume the pari adds ~ 1000 lbs capacity, which would approximate the air ride when fully puffed up. DIfference is, ride will be stiffer when unloaded and your trim height won't be correct loaded.

After reading Monroes site on these shocks that have just become available for our cars in Feb 2010, the conclusion is they are not an adjustable shock / spring combination and would probably jack the rear of the car up even higher than it is when unloaded.
Oh well, I was hoping i found something that would allow some tuning of the rear suspension without having custom shocks made for it.

Albert, your assumption was dead on. No new technology here, just a rehash of old technology.
I'd rather keep my air adjusted system as it works OK for me.
Although removing the Air Shocks and OEM springs and being able to install some coil-overs that allow some rebound and dampening adjustments would be nice.
Probably nice and expensive as well.
It would be something to look in to if all the components in the rear suspension were no good, including the pump and controller.

Rickw wrote:

After reading Monroes site on these shocks that have just become available for our cars in Feb 2010, the conclusion is they are not an adjustable shock / spring combination and would probably jack the rear of the car up even higher than it is when unloaded.
Oh well, I was hoping i found something that would allow some tuning of the rear suspension without having custom shocks made for it.

Albert, your assumption was dead on. No new technology here, just a rehash of old technology.
I'd rather keep my air adjusted system as it works OK for me.
Although removing the Air Shocks and OEM springs and being able to install some coil-overs that allow some rebound and dampening adjustments would be nice.
Probably nice and expensive as well.
It would be something to look in to if all the components in the rear suspension were no good, including the pump and controller.

If I had my way I'd replace the stock springs with progressives that were set to stock trim height, put on a set of Addcos bars, and keep the air ride. Air ride would adjust trim height when loaded. Progressives would help in spirited driving, but not as much as the Addco bars alone. However, what they'd do that the Addcos can not do is give me a better margin of control on smooth, twisty secondary roads than stiffer sway bars alone.

Funny - it'd end up riding like a late model Marauder or police interceptor Crown Vic... goodbye Boulevard Dynaride... heh heh

Albertj