Monroe - Quick-Strut Complete Strut Assembly

Well, I completed my strut change.  The height definitely came up some, I'd say about an inch.  It in no way looks objectionable to me, and it may settle some as I drive the car.  All the 10mm bolts holding the ABS and brake lines were frozen, and I didn't have any heat.  One bolt broke so I was able to save the bracket for the ABS on the passenger side.  The brake line bracket, I had to snap off.  I wire tied it up for now.  That happened on both sides.  The ABS bracket is still on the drivers side strut.  Gonna see if I can keep hitting that with PB blaster and free it up.  The only other problem I had was lining up the 2 big bolts on each side.  The front Addco sway bar was holding the lower control arm up.  I had one of my 250 lb. friends step on the control arm and I managed to get the bolts in.  The whole job took me about 2 1/2 hours, not bad.  Here is what the car looks like after both struts were replaced.



The passenger side was lower than the driver's side because of the broken spring perch.  You can see it in the picture below on the left.  The spring unloaded down and hit the tire.



Here is a before and after.  I tried to hold a tape measure up for reference, but it was a cloudy day and the contrast wasn't good enough to see the tire edge.





Here is a side by side of the Gabriel strut (G56929) and my old Delco. (the one that didn't rot out)

I wish the Quick Strut was available several years ago when I decided to change my struts.

I ended up buying all the individual parts from GM except the strut's themselves which I got from Monroe.

But I ended up building a complete new strut assembly including springs, from GM and the shocks from Monroe.

I spent a lot more than what these complete units are available for now.

I still have a lifetime warranty on the struts from Munroe and am thinking that this next spring I will try and get them to honor that warranty.

All Y'All that have bought a loaded strut these days are lucky. They weren't available back when I bought my Riv.

Rickw wrote:

I wish the Quick Strut was available several years ago when I decided to change my struts.

I ended up buying all the individual parts from GM except the strut's themselves which I got from Monroe.

But I ended up building a complete new strut assembly including springs, from GM and the shocks from Monroe.

I spent a lot more than what these complete units are available for now.

I still have a lifetime warranty on the struts from Munroe and am thinking that this next spring I will try and get them to honor that warranty.

All Y'All that have bought a loaded strut these days are lucky. They weren't available back when I bought my Riv.

Yes, the job was quite easy. The hardest part was getting those 2 big lower bolts in. The Addco sway bar actually prevented me from pushing the LCA down far enough to line everything up.

The few times I've had my struts out I just unbolt the endlinks. Takes 2 minutes and makes the job a lot easier IMO.

matt270avian wrote:

The few times I've had my struts out I just unbolt the endlinks. Takes 2 minutes and makes the job a lot easier IMO.

Yup, next time My fat friend came in handy.

Thanks for the pictures. I'm still not happy that they use the same spring as the Park Ave. The ride height is definitely wrong. I guess if it doesn't bother you than that's okay. That's the problem with the quick struts - they are coming with the wrong springs. Everything else is new, which is really nice.

I'm curious if you notice a drop in your highway MPG with the new stance.

deekster_caddy wrote:

Thanks for the pictures. I'm still not happy that they use the same spring as the Park Ave. The ride height is definitely wrong. I guess if it doesn't bother you than that's okay. That's the problem with the quick struts - they are coming with the wrong springs. Everything else is new, which is really nice.

I'm curious if you notice a drop in your highway MPG with the new stance.

Derek, I took this picture of my car when I got to work this morning. The springs may have settled after some driving.  IMHO, these Gabriel springs are right on.  My old springs are original to the car.  They have to fatigue some in 17 years.  You be the judge, I don't think the car is sitting up in the front at all.  Looks pretty level to me.



This is a picture taken about 3 or 4 years ago,



If anything, the car sits up in the back slightly.  My ALC works perfectly.

Thanks Larry. Maybe Gabriel is doing something better than Monroe. I don't see how they can use the same spring for the Park Ave. I wonder what the original wheel arch gap is.

deekster_caddy wrote:

Thanks Larry. Maybe Gabriel is doing something better than Monroe. I don't see how they can use the same spring for the Park Ave. I wonder what the original wheel arch gap is.

I just looked in my FSM, volume 2 of 3. On page numbers 3-6 and 3-7 under Trim Height, they tell you to measure exactly 23 1/2" back from the front wheel center line to locate the front under body point. Then measure from the front under body point to the ground. The spec for the Riviera is 6 7/16"- 7 1/4".

The rear under body point is found by measuring exactly 23 1/8" forward from the center line of the rear wheel. Then measure from there to the ground. The spec is 8 3/8"- 9 3/16". It would seem that the car should sit up in the back.

They specify level ground, nothing in the trunk except spare tire and jack, etc., and a correctly functional ALC.

I'll have to see what mine measures.

Just got to work.  Inflated the tires and took everything out of my trunk.  The under body points are roughly where the jacking points are.  I measured from the ground to the metal edge of the jacking points (closest point to ground).  The front measured 7 1/4", and the rear, 8 1/8".  The front is at the high point of normal and the rear is a bit low.  The back of the car is a bit higher though.  The car stance looks normal to me.  It rides better with new struts of course.  Handling is the same.  Gas mileage?, I really don't think it is impacted even if the front was higher.

I looked around in the FSM, there is no spec for wheel arch gap that I can find. I'm perfectly happy with the Gabriel ready struts. I'm going to leave them as is.

Great, thanks for checking it all out.

Your MPG would be affected on the highway if the front was much higher than the rear - the underbelly of the car would become like an air scoop instead of a low pressure area. But you would need to do a majority highway driving to notice, probably.

deekster_caddy wrote:

Great, thanks for checking it all out.

Your MPG would be affected on the highway if the front was much higher than the rear - the underbelly of the car would become like an air scoop instead of a low pressure area. But you would need to do a majority highway driving to notice, probably.

Yes, that would affect gas mileage. I'm completely satisfied with the Gabriel ready struts. I have no plans to swap back my old springs. The car sits slightly up in the back, and more importantly, the stance looks right to me. Maybe someone else will try the Gabriels and we'll see if their results are the same. It is important that the ALS works so that the rear is at proper ride height. When I first bought my Riv, the ALS was not working and the rear of the car was low. Ride height in the rear affects proper wheel camber, in fact that is how I became aware of it. A friend was following me one day and remarked how both my rear tires seemed to be tilted in at the top (- camber). I figured it needed an alignment, but when I brought it in, there was no adjustment for camber and we quickly discovered that the tires righted themselves if we raised the rear manually. I diagnosed the ALS with the trouble chart in the FSM, turned out to be one wire between the sensor and relay under the rear seat. If the rear of the car is low, that might cause someone to think the front was high even though the front ride height was correct.

Well, it will be interesting to see if someone else tries the Gabriels or another quick strut besides the Monroe. Either the Monroes used the wrong coil spring entirely, or they have since corrected the kit after complaints, or the springs provided in the other kits are correct. Is the PA really much heavier than the Riviera? Even if the front end of the Riviera is lighter, it would have to be at least 500 lbs. lighter to change the ride height that much. I find that hard to believe.

finally completed my project. Sits up nicely and is firm. I measured the headlights on a wall before and after strut replacement. 2 inches higher after.

All AC Delco parts from Amazon, I'm at $423 counting the hoist. Alignment will make it 500.

Question: I'm hearing some noise from the new struts .. break-in make this go away or do I have to start looking for something?

Q: The originals have the Orion Assembly stickers on top of the struts. Next to it it says either right or left. Is that for factory inventory?

The Roadmaster wrote:

finally completed my project. Sits up nicely and is firm. I measured the headlights on a wall before and after strut replacement. 2 inches higher after.

Question: I'm hearing some noise from the new struts .. break-in make this go away or do I have to start looking for something?

Q: The originals have the Orion Assembly stickers on top of the struts. Next to it it says either right or left. Is that for factory inventory?

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Struts don't give you ride height. Springs give you the ride height. The only way it should've changed is if you replaced the springs. However, they will "settle" after a couple hundred miles.

Noise? What kind of noise?

That label probably was for factory inventory considering the right and left hand sides are different. They were probably pre-assembled at the factory for easy installation.

Yes, new springs. I prebuilt the struts with all new parts. Nothing indicated a right or left with the parts. I compared the new with the takeoffs and it all lined up properly so on they went.

They spring seats looked properly indexed so I installed them. Now there is a rumbling sound that wasn't present with the old struts when driving on cobby streets. Almost a thumping sound

Did you tighten the strut rod nut enough? It wouldn't rattle/thump until you got over some rough terrain.....

Yes, impact driver took it down a couple of more threads deeper than I could get it without being on the car under load.

The Roadmaster wrote:

Yes, impact driver took it down a couple of more threads deeper than I could get it without being on the car under load.

Ok. The way I tighten them down is I hit them until they kick. I always have my left hand over the top of the mount. I hit the nut with my impact until the mount gives me the distinct "kick" that tells me they're tight....right at the point that I cannot physically hold the mount from spinning any more.

If they aren't TIGHT, they'll rattle like crazy. Go too far, and you stretch the strut rod and risk breaking it.

Does it sound like the noise is from behind the dash? Or is it a rattle from underneath?

under

Weird. What all did you disconnect to install the struts? Only things that have to come off are the WSS and the Brake Hose. There isn't anything on the strut itself that will rattle or thump underneath the car. Anything strut related would be heard through the mounts.

7 bolts per side. Nothing more.

It sounds like the rear struts on a Taurus now. Kind of a hollow thump.

A friend of mine told me it was the bumpers. Give them a few miles and it should go away. I don't buy that.

Well, if the jounce bumpers were completely free sliding on the strut rod then yes, it's a possibility that's what the noise is. They wouldn't necessarily thump though. It'd be more of a flutter. After all, they don't weigh shit.

It seriously sounds like the strut rod nuts aren't tightened properly. Get a 21mm on a long 1/2" ratchet and try to tighten them up with the car on the ground. See if they move. Use discretion, of course.

Thanks ... I'll give it a try.

Can't say enough good about the difference, less the noise. Corners like a dream and brakes nicer.

Looking forward to that inner lane curve Eastbound on I 94 by Harper. Last trip to Algonac she was fighting to stay in that lane at speed limit.

Ha! I personally like the I-696 entrance ramp to westbound I-94

If you can't get it handled, shoot me a PM. You aren't far from me. I have no problem coming to listen to it....

OR, I'm at work right now until 3pm. Troy Motor Mall. I had the Tranny apart on the Aztek. Just buttoning things up, then I need to align it.